Individual diversity is an important concept in organizational behavior. People
ID: 401720 • Letter: I
Question
Individual diversity is an important concept in organizational behavior. People can be described by a number of categories that are both inherent (e.g., age, race, gender, ethnicity, physical capability) and acquired (e.g., geographic location, income, marital status, education, seniority, work content/field). Many other categories exist than are noted here, and some might debate whether various categories are best understood as inherent or acquired (or a combination). For this assignment, examine some of the diversity present in your current organization. What different types of diversity do you observe? Is your organization becoming more diverse or less diverse? What problems does diversity present? How does diversity influence the way individuals behave? What benefits or opportunities does diversity provide? After a brief discussion of your observations regarding diversity in your organization, identify some of the best practices for managing and leading in the midst of diversity. These best practices might come from your experience in your organization or from research. Based on your findings, write a three- to four-page paper in APA format. PLEASE list at least one referenceExplanation / Answer
A number of theories have been used for studying race/ethnicity as a central variable of interest.1
Most of these theories come
from a micro-theoretical perspective and attempt to explain behavior from an individual, or within work group perspective.A majority of these theories come from the ?elds of social psychology or cognitive psychology and stem from our cognitive and
social need to categorize ourselves and others based on surface-level or readily perceivable characteristics such as race. These
theories often have been used to introduce or justify hypotheses that have focused on negative outcomes or predictions as a result
of race/ethnicity differences.
Some of the basic assumptions made about people and human nature contained in many of these theories are that: 1) humans
judge each other on surface-level characteristics, such as race or gender, in the absence of additional information, 2) group membership
based on these characteristics implies true similarities or differences between people which then creates the formation of in-group and
out-group distinctions, and 3) these judgments ultimately result in outcomes that may have negative effects for minority or out-group
members (e.g., lack of mentors, stalled careers, lower performance evaluations) or group productivity.
Within the literature on race and ethnic diversity, there also are some theories that focus on positive predictions or possible
positive outcomes of racial/ethnic diversity. This comes from a