Analyzing the material in the article using concepts and frameworks. Not all the
ID: 396642 • Letter: A
Question
Analyzing the material in the article using concepts and frameworks. Not all the concepts need to be included but ensure that at least one or two are include in your material. Should be no more than 3-5 pages. Concepts to include:
1. Organizations and Organization Theory
2. Strategy, Organization Design, and Effectiveness
3. Fundamentals of Organization Structure
4. The External Environment
5. Interorganizational Relationships
6. Designing Organizations for the International Environment
7. Manufacturing and Service Technologies
8. Using Information Technology for Control and Coordination
9. Organization Size, Life Cycle, and Decline
10. Organization Culture and Ethical Values
11. Innovation and Change
12. Decision-Making Processes
13. Conflict, Power, and Politics
Up until recently, sexual harassment claims at Nike Inc. followed a familiar trajectory in the #MeToo era. Women who worked at the company shared information about the abuse they faced at work. Shortly after, a group of executives left.
Now four former female Nike employees are suing the athletic apparel giant—not for sexual harassment, but for pay discrimination and limited opportunities for women to win promotions. The plaintiffs are seeking damages and an end to Nike’s alleged discriminatory policies. If the lawsuit clears the difficult hurdle of attaining class-action status, a lawyer for the plaintiffs says, she expects at least 500 more women to join.
“Just firing a few people is not going to change something that has been in the making for many years,” says Laura Salerno Owens, the plaintiffs’ attorney. “That’s not how this works.”
High-profile departures by men such as those at the NFL Network and CBS Corp. have been followed by those companies also being sued for sexual harassment. What makes the Nike suit different is that it aims to take down an alleged system of discrimination in which harassment is only one part of a larger problem. It also may mean that the ousting of bad actors may be just the beginning of a company’s legal trouble, rather than the end. High-profile departures by men such as those at the NFL Network and CBS Corp. have been followed by those companies also being sued for sexual harassment. What makes the Nike suit different is that it aims to take down an alleged system of discrimination in which harassment is only one part of a larger problem. It also may mean that the ousting of bad actors may be just the beginning of a company’s legal trouble, rather than the end.
“If there is a culture of harassment within an organization, that probably suggests broader problems around gender equity,” says Emily Martin, vice president for education and workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center. In the Nike case, those broader problems include accusations of depressed starting salaries and failure to promote women to the highest-paying jobs.
Harassment and pay discrimination often go hand in hand because they’re symptoms of the same disease, women’s rights advocates say. Christina Chen-Oster, who is part of a class-action pay discrimination case against Goldman Sachs Group Inc., for example, said her career went downhill after a sexual assault from a co-worker. And Lilly Ledbetter, who took her pay discrimination case against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. to the Supreme Court, this year also acknowledged the sexual harassment she says she experienced while working there. “Often harassment is paired with other sorts of discrimination, since harassment is an expression of devaluing women in the workplace,” Martin says.
Nike has acknowledged problems within its workplace and is making some changes. It recently introduced an anonymous hotline for employees to raise office concerns, is offering companywide unconscious bias training, and is providing additional mandatory training for 10,000 managers. The company also recently hired its first chief diversity and inclusion officer.
The changes aren’t enough, say some former employees, because they do nothing to address a broader environment that demeaned and undervalued women. Kelly Cahill, a former senior producer, says a superior (who’s since been fired) used an anti-gay slur to refer to women on several occasions. Cahill, who now works for Adidas AG, also says she was paid approximately $20,000 less in 2017 than a man on her team who did similar work. Nike says its female employees make 99.9¢ for every $1 paid to men.
To achieve class-action status, plaintiffs have to prove systemic discrimination that goes beyond discrete incidents. That’s a high legal bar. Earlier this year, female engineers at Twitter Inc. were denied group status when a judge to achieve class-action status, plaintiffs have to prove systemic discrimination that goes beyond discrete incidents. That’s a high legal bar. Earlier this year, female engineers at Twitter Inc. were denied group status when a judge ruled that their experiences were the result of actions by individual managers, not companywide policy.
Still, suing as a class for pay discrimination is an easier legal route than for sexual harassment, which often boils down to one employee’s word against another’s. “You won’t have a company policy that says, ‘We harass women,’” Martin says. But companies may have pay practices that result in discrimination—and are therefore illegal. The problems at Nike, the lawsuit argues, begin with starting pay, which had been partially based on prior compensation. Nike also ranks its corporate employees and issues bonuses in a way that causes women to receive less compensation, the plaintiffs claim. As of last year, Nike’s senior leadership was 77 percent male, and those making promotion and bonus decisions are also mostly male.
That inhibits women from being fairly considered for promotion, according to the women. Those who are, the women say, are often channeled into positions that the company views as less valuable and therefore less likely to lead to continued career advancement.
In July, Nike revamped its pay structure, raising the salaries of about 7,400 employees, or 10 percent of its global workforce, and tying bonuses primarily to the success of the overall company. It’s also enabling gender-blind résumé reviews. Despite occurring within weeks of the dismissals tied to complaints by female employees, Nike said the changes were aimed at making it more competitive with other apparel companies. In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for the company said diversity “is critical to driving our business forward.”
The lawsuit also accuses Nike’s human resources department of enabling the hostile workplace. In one instance, plaintiff Sara Johnston told HR that a male co-worker—one she often worked with and who contributed to her performance reviews—had sent her unsolicited naked photos. The HR department said no disciplinary measures were needed and promised to better train supervisors on handling sexual harassment complaints, according to the lawsuit, which says the training never happened.
In a statement, Nike said it “opposes discrimination of any type and has a long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion” and that a “majority of Nike employees live by our values of dignity and respect for others.”
Many of these pay practices aren’t unique to Nike. Basing salaries on previous compensation, for example, is common. To close the gap between men’s and women’s starting salaries, some states, including Oregon, where Nike is based, have made it illegal. (Nike has said it will stop the practice over the next year.) But most organizations keep a veil of secrecy around salaries, making it difficult for people to know about discrimination.
That changes when a #MeToo moment hits a company, however, experts say. Women start talking to each other—not just about sexual harassment, but all forms of discrimination. And public-relations campaigns or even high-level dismissals may not be enough to extinguish that fire. “Companies should be put on notice,” Martin says. “Addressing harassment is not as simple as ensuring that when the complaint arises, it is addressed.”
Explanation / Answer
With organisations going global as predicted by Thomas Friedman, the world seems really to have become flat, resulting in subsequent uniformity in organisational culture, environment, structure and problems faced due to such globalisation and evolution of organizations. Globalisation has been essentially a widespread and fast paced process making it extremely difficult for organisations to keep up with the changing external, as well as internal environment. Very few organisations have exhibited the dexterity required for successful adaptation to external challenges along with control of the ones which arise within the organisation. Interaction among employees within an organisation has undergone a drastic change due to a major shift in organisational culture from hierarchical to adhocratic or clan culture. This has resulted in extensive informal interaction and communication within employees across departments and levels, which also facilitates quick and efficient flow of communication through the organisation for effective management. Every change has lateral consequences, especially a cultural change within the organisation may require adaptation and fine tuning which may be ignored overlooked by the management, largely due to the presence of a diverse workforce from different cultures. This makes it essential that acceptable behaviour within professional environment be clearly outlined as part of organisational policy by the HR department. The policies should be designed keeping in mind the diverse cultural backgrounds of all employees and ensuring that the behaviour is not construed as offensive or excessively dominating or sexual for any culture. All policies and behavioral guidelines need to be clearly embedded in the mission and vision statements of an organisation. It is essential that for any to be implemented across the organisation it has to have adequate support from top management and leadership as the tone at the top becomes the voice of the organisation internally as well as externally. Aklia policy Framework for sexual harrassment needs to be outlined by the Human Resource Department as sexual harrassment suits can result in widespread damage to the brand name with extensive financial implications which may lead to firms closing down also. This is also because sach cases tend to have a cascading effect with it all starting due to a single complaint of harrassment or discrimination on the basis of pay scales or any other issue faced by an employee. In spite of quick corrective action by the organisation, it's me not be adequate to control employees coming out in hordes with similar or other complaints resulting in a massive problem which may require tough decisions with serious implementation or result in mass exodus with severe implications for the organisation. Every organisation therefore especially the ones like Nike who have a global presence with a diverse workforce, 2 understand the serious implications of unacceptable behaviour within the organisation and implement a system of monitoring and control which is not simply lip service and also ensure that adequate independence and empowerment exist at every level of employees by actively discouraging conflict, power and politics within the organisation. How the top management any level of management handles complaints and grievances which are small sends a clear message throughout the organisation of the policies an attitude of the management towards unacceptable behaviours.
Sexual harassment refers to any action verbal or physical which may be considered as unacceptable behavior of a sexual nature being derogatory, as well as threatening, to the person intended for. The extensive prevalence of sexual discrimination at the workplace, as well as its uncontrolled growth due to lack of a strong legal framework acting as a deterrent, led to the enactment of the sexual harassment amendment, for protection from unwelcome sexual advances in the workplace deeply impacting the fundamental right of women to be able to work freely and attain growth and advancement in their careers. The issue of sexual harassment especially of women, was brought to light by various literary works such as Sexual Harassment of Working Women by Catherine MacKinnon, Saturn's Rings by Mary Rowe and In our time: Memory of a Revolution by Susan Brown Miller, to name a few. At the same time a series of sexual harassment cases the focus of society upon this important issue.
The sexual harassment liability under Title VII of the Civil rights act of 1964, prohibits discrimination on the basis of compensation, terms of employment, privilege of employment, hiring and firing, work conditions, awarded on the basis of religion, sex, race, color or national origin. Sexual harassment is included in the discrimination on the basis of sex and is also applicable for employees of the same sex being harassed. The various forms of sexual harassment which may exist listed under the act as Quid Pro quo sexual harassment and hostile work environment sexual harassment. Quid Pro quo essentially refers to a form of harassment where certain rewards due to an employee are withheld, with intention that they will only be released upon granting of certain favors. Also certain perks and benefits, may be offered on the job, in exchange for sexual favors. For taking legal action and hostile work environment it is essential for an employee to prove that they were subjected to unwelcome advances, these advances of a sexual nature, they were Syria and resulted in the employee feeling abused and the terms and conditions as well as working environment of the employment were greatly impacted and but the employer was aware of the harassment but did not initiate any action. An employer is liable for harassment by supervisory personnel only if they are aware of the harassment and has refused to initiate any action against the perpetrator. The affirmative defense option is available to an employer if the employer can prove that a policy enabling protection against sexual harassment, through an available procedure for complain and subsequent action, is implemented within the organization but not availed of by the victim. This defense is however not available to an employer if the harassment results in the employee being demoted or their services terminated. In their article on the website isacs.org, James W Albert and Bridget A Neuson, also state that an employer can be held liable for sexual harassment of his employees by non-employees in cases where the employer should have been aware of the harassment and taken immediate action to remedy the same. The damages that can be claimed apart from all simultaneous fees and costs incurred, are calculated on the basis of the size of the organization, and may range from $50,000 to $300,000.
The law though offering justice to an individual facing sexual harassment at the workplace fails to be able to tackle this all pervasive problem effectively. Social issues such as this have the foundation in deep-rooted mindset and social norms which have been in practice and prevalent for centuries. Therefore, it is very difficult for a simple legal enactment to provide a solution to a problem as common place as sexual harassment, as well as, discrimination. Many of the cases of sexual harassment go largely unreported due to the inability of the victim to prove charges as well as a constant fear of backlash, as well as social stigma, which may make it difficult for the victim to find another job, thereby, effectively ruining their careers. Also, the law cannot become excessively strict and stringent by according action for even minor flirtatious remarks as the law made in be extensively misused by many individuals.
Given the seriousness of the offence I would draw out a list of rules and consequent action, approved by management, to be circulated among all existing employees and implement it as part of the agreement between the company and employees through compliance.
I COMPLIANCE PROGRAM :
1. Code of Conduct. The following principles shall be applicable to every employee and strictly adhered to. Any situation not covered by these guidelines may be analyzed by application of same general principles. Each covered individual is expected to abide by the following general principles:
Responding to Detected Offenses and Developing Corrective Action Initiatives.