Tag: unit1

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Discussion prompts for Week of 6/1

This week you’ll begin injecting into this conversation about diversity and inclusion that we’ve been reading about. Each of you will suggest an article to add to this body of information, so that we can all continue to expand our understanding of the issues. Please be sure to reread the last page of the  unit 1 assignment sheet.

First, a quick refresher on rhetorical situation. This is the idea that everything is written by someone, for someone, for some purpose, and within some broader context. Considering these different elements of a text can give us a window into how the text works, why it looks the way it does, whether it is likely to be successful for its intended reader, etc. You’ve already seen rhetorical situation represented in visual form like this:

Just a little something to keep in mind as we move into discussion for the week–we’ll be thinking a lot this week about how authors respond to their writing situation in order to produce successful communications, and in particular about how an author’s audience connects to his/her purpose in writing.

On to the prompts–this week everyone should respond to the 1st question and then select 1 of the other 2 to answer. Responses should be >150 words each. Please tag your responses with “unit1,” “weekof6/1,” and [your name]. Categorize as “Discussions.”

  1. It’s time to get moving along with your unit 1 assignment. For this assignment, you will be adding to the set of sources we’re reading about diversity and organizational culture (which amount to a canon of sorts–a collection of important texts). We’ll expand this canon by suggesting additional valuable resources. So, for your first discussion post this week, please tell us a little about how you’re doing that: what kinds of material are you looking for? what topic are you following up on? what sort of expert(s) do you think we need to hear from? how are you looking (i.e. what particular databases or search tools are you using)? what techniques or strategies are proving helpful?
  2. This week’s readings move from the theoretical conversation about diversity that unfolds in the pages of scholarly journals to the practical–consideration of what is actually involved in creating and maintaining a diverse workforce, this time through the lens of (dis)ability. Let’s start to put the pieces together, as we’re adding to our growing foundation of knowledge: construct a they say/I say sentence (or series of sentences) that connects one of this week’s readings about disability inclusion with one of the readings from the last 2 weeks. (There are a number of templates in chapter 2 of TSIS that might help you with this work.) You are welcome to include yourself as an I in this formulation, but you may also choose to use 2 theys here–i.e. While Austin and Pisano contend that…. Kaplan and Donovan suggest that… Be creative, and use this work to further your understanding both of the texts you’re employing, as well as your own perspective.
  3. In chapter 1 of Rewriting, Joe Harris asks us to consider a writer’s project when we’re trying to make sense of a particular text. That is, he encourages us to think of “something far more complex than a main idea, since it refers not to a single concept but to a plan of work, to a set of ideas and questions that a writer ‘throws forward (Latin, pro + jacare)” and to recognize that “a project is something that a writer is working on–and that a text can only imperfectly realize” (Harris 17). Thinking in these terms, how would you characterize the project that Kaplan and Donovan undertake in “Key D&I Concepts”? That is, what do you think they are “working on” in this article? (Review Harris’s steps at the bottom of page 15.)
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Week 5/25

1. When it comes to the topic of organizational diversity policies, most of us will readily agree that these policies have some relation to the success of an organization. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of how these policies affect minorities. Whereas some are convinced that these mission statements pursue means of promoting multiculturalism, others maintain that they may pursue means of value-in-individual differences or value-in-homogeneity within an organization. 
For this approach, I first focused on choosing one statement, one that still aligned with the article but was challenging. I found it difficult to represent the article while still following the statement’s foundation with the blanks. This proved to of course be challenging, but manageable, and with this challenge I was able too further dive into my interpretation of Gundemir’s means of experimentation when it came to organizational diversity policies. I found this framework to be useful, and one that I can see myself using more often. I would use these statements in the particular case that I am having trouble understanding an article. I feel that the frameworks given are ones that are not too complicated to fill in but are also just difficult enough to jog some though into and encourage myself as a reader to analyze the text even deeper.
2. I believe my understanding of organizational diversity has expanded since reading these two articles. The first, Gundemir’s article focusing on minority representation and diversity, was fascinating to myself in ways I had not expected. The results of the two experiments were intriguing, seeing how different policies can produce an outcome from the participants. Seeing that when mutliculturalism and value-in-individual differences are endorsed, the participants perceived this as a more diverse approach in comparison to the value-in-homogeneity. Little did I think, until reading Austin and Pisano’s article, that those who suffer from neurological disorders fall into the diverse category and indeed they do. These individuals see the world from a different perspective, one that should most certainly be represented but I would assume is most certainly not the case when observing organizational diversity. From my perspective before being so definitional, I did not think to question what diverse would mean in this instance, how it would pertain to anyone who is not considered the majority or privileged. Through both articles, they present the positives to this diversity, and why it should be incorporated in the business world more often than it is. The stigmas and issues surrounding being a more inclusive company are presented, but after reading both articles there is a clear understanding that the positive outcomes outweigh the worries some may have.
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Discussion post – week of 5/25 (Dan)

1)           According to the findings of the Gundermir article, Organizations should strive to create diversity policies focusing on multiculturalism and value-in-individuals. Gundemir defined the former as policies that explicitly acknowledge the positive characteristic of diverse social groups. The latter is defined as a policy that acknowledges each individual for their characteristics without explicitly addressing ethnic groups. Though I agree that our society must focus on developing company mission statements that vocalize inclusion, I believe that there may be more effective ways to increase the morale of all employees and create an open-minded environment without focusing most of our attention on mission statements.

Using the writing technique of framing what “They say” first has certainly helped me organize my thoughts and formulate my argument in a way that has set me up for further explanation. I agree that writing in this manner will help me stay on track and keep me from straying away on tangents.

 

 

2)           My reading of the Gundemir et al article and the article on neurodiversity has been very thought provoking for me. I understand that our society needs to strive for continuous improvement in inclusion to become more accepting of everyone’s differences. This, I agree, will be beneficial to our society on many levels. I also acknowledge that there is still much work to be done as certain groups may be underrepresented in leadership roles in companies. Though I found it interesting, for example, that the Gundemir article states that African Americans hold around 10 percent of board seats in fortune 100 companies. This doesn’t seem to be drastically far off from the percentage of African American population in the United States of around 13 percent. On the other hand, the article on neurodiversity possesses a fact that is truly startling to me. That is that the unemployment rate for these individuals runs as high as 80 percent! At my company I work with and am good friends with people from many different parts of the world. But I can say that I do not know a single person that I work with who would be classified as non-neurotypical. I know that my company often addresses the importance of ethnical inclusion, though they have never once discussed the issue of minimal representation of the nuerodiverse community in any level of the business. I would be very interested to further explore this topic as I have some close ties with this. I have a great relationship with my fiancées cognitively impaired brother. He struggles to understand how to interact with others in certain situations and he does learn at a slower pace. Though I know that he could make positive contributions to organizations if more of them will adopt the practices at SAP, HPE, Microsoft and others included in Austin and Pisanos article.

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Responses week of 5/25

  1. One approach from Chapter 1 of They Say / I Say which I will be taking is: In discussions of organizational diversity, one controversial issue has been if having organizational diversity policies show any changes among employee minorities’ self perceptions and goals, and if these changes are positive or negative. On the one hand, Gundemir argues that Mulitculturalism and Value-in-Individuality Differences prove to have a positive effect on the self perceptions and goals of minorities. On the other hand, the Value-in-Homogeneity policy emphasizes equality and uniformity of treatment rather than individual uniqueness, which is what several companies may choose to follow. I definitely found this approach to framing quite useful because it made me think outside of the box. Now I understand what the preface / introduction was talking about when they mentioned templates. I feel as though having this guide made me reference back to the article by Gundemir and dive much deeper into the content and comprehend it, rather than just read the paragraphs over and over again without understanding the information displayed.
  2. The readings for this week strengthened my thoughts on why diversity is so important, and why I look forward to reading more passages in this class. As I was reading Gundemir’s article, I associated the connection to improving the minorities’ self perceptions and goals just with overall self confidence, and what this can do for a person. By using the policies of Multiculturalism and Value-in-Individual Differences, there is so much room for self growth which can they be carried into a work environment. As a result, these policies make it easier for those not belonging to majority groups to feel more comfortable in who they are, radiate happiness, and boost their self – esteem. In just the two weeks that I’ve enrolled in this course, I already have become way more educated on the topic of diversity which I am very grateful for. Having a company that includes many different mindsets / outlooks / perspectives on life that people of all races and ethnicities can bring to the table is much more beneficial than just a bunch of employees doing every single task with the same idea, which is hopefully a bold step that more businesses are looking to take in the near future.
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Week of 5/25-(Mikayla)

 

  1. While they rarely admit as much, members of minorities and marginalized groups offer benefits and skills that are of immense value to workplace communities granted that they fail to uncover their true potential due to unequal representation and lack of opportunity. Whereas some are convinced that valuing the group rather than emphasizing the value of the individual unites more groups, Others maintain that emphasizing the value of the individual rather than the group focuses on the skill and leadership one person can contribute to the company. 

I used these two templates to depict the aspects of Gundemir Et Al article and the different stances the companies take. They both hold the position that minorities hold many skills and achievements yet they fail to demonstrate them in the workplace. However, they disagree on how to make the workspace more inclusive towards the individual. These two sides were highlighted in the article as Multiculturalism and Value-in-homogeneity, However, with the use of the They say/ I say templates it wasn’t necessary to explicitly state which side held which argument.

 

2.  In this weeks passages from Gundemir Et Al and Austin/Pisano, I found myself very intrigued and I came to appreciate the ideas uncovered in the articles. Throughout my entire life I have struggled in an attempt to pave a path for myself and become a successful individual despite the way that I am depicted in society. As a minority I constantly find myself underrepresented and undervalued in terms of school, work and everyday life. It has been a constant battle to push myself ahead despite constantly being underestimated by those who wish to see me fail. However, these articles were a breath of fresh air for me. To see that underrepresentation of minorities in the workplace is a widespread issue and that there are worldwide attempts being made to make communities more understanding and inclusive is amazing to me. These articles show us the power that we have to make a change in the lives of each individual and show them how much they are truly valued.

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5/25 Responses

  1. From the templates in They Say/I Say I will be using this approach: In recent discussions of organizational diversity, a controversial issue has been whether structured organizational diversity policies affect minorities’ leadership-relevant self-perceptions and goals. From the perspective of Gundermir et al’s argument, his data shows that companies that use programs specifically for multicultural diversity increase diversity within their organizations. On the other hand, some companies choose to have a Value-in-Homogeneity policy.

I just used that template to structure a practice statement about Gundemir et al’s argument. I began with the They Say to set my writing up for my own opinion on this topic and give the reader context about what I am writing about and why they should care. This template helped me focus on the information in my writing more than just the filler words that structure it. A lot of the time when I first begin writing I find myself not knowing how to begin. Having the words from the template there for me to use made it much easier to start and I felt like I could use my time writing more efficiently.

2. This weeks readings from Gundemir et al and Austin and Pisano add to my understanding of diversity in organizations greatly. On one hand, Gundemir’s article answered a lot of the questions that last week’s readings brought up for me, such as what the strategies used to increase and maintain diversity in a company are. Gundemir’s research showed me that diversity in companies can be maintained by programs that these companies create to make people feel comfortable and included. From the data, I could see that companies with multiculturalist ideologies made diverse workers feel valued, and equal resulting in those employees feeling more comfortable to strive for leadership roles and advancements within that same company. Austin and Pisano’s article expanded my knowledge of diversity but in a very different way. They discussed neurodiverse people which I didn’t think to include in the discussion of diversity till after I read this. Learning about neurodiversity supported why diversity is so positive in companies. Austin and Pisano highlight how neurodiverse people can add so much benefit to a company. They also educate on how including them and creating programs for them to get through job interviews, and thrive at a company is  so important. In conclusion both readings this week expanded what I thought I knew about diversity and made me think about what is considered diverse in a company.

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Responses- Week of 5/25

When it comes to the topic of diversity, most of us will readily agree that it is an important and healthy part society and culture. Where this argument usually ends, however, is on the question of organizational culture. Whereas some are convinced that a Value-in-Homogeneity policy is best for an organization and its culture, others maintain that a Multiculturalism or Value-in-Individual Differences policy is better for minority employees, the organization and its culture.

I used a sentence outline designed to open a debate to describe Gundemir et al’s research. It worked for my sentence because, as a minority, I am biased towards multiculturalism-focused organizations, which the sentence demonstrates. It also worked because the results of Gundemir et al’s research did support the hypothesis that “minorities [would] report more positive leadership self-perceptions and leadership-related goals” in a company focused on multiculturalism rather than homogeneity, so it’s likely that many believe Multiculturalism or Value-in-Individual Differences is better for an organization’s minority employees.

I found that the messages behind the Gundemir et al article and the article from last week about organizational diversity were similar in that both articles were ultimately promoting the acceptance of diversity in the workplace. As a minority, reading both of these articles was refreshing since I had never really thought about diversity in a business setting and it felt like the authors of both articles had a mindset similar to mine. In my limited experience working at FedEx and Costco, I hadn’t heard anything about company diversity policies, but there were policies about harassment and respecting other people and their cultures. I hadn’t noticed in the moment, but since reading these articles and thinking about my coworkers, almost everyone I worked with at FedEx was different from me, whether they were a different race, religion, or sexual orientation versus Costco where everyone was relatively similar.

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Discussion Responses

1) What are some of the researchable questions that this week’s readings raise for you? In other words, what issues do these readings make you wonder about? What questions would you be interested in exploring further?
Both the readings definitely brought up some interesting questions from both. The first, focusing on organizational culture, had be wanting to look more into “Who were the people responding to this question?” Although a broad question to research, I was initially curious how these individuals were creating their rendition of the definition for ‘organizational culture’; that maybe influences of their education, work place, and status may have a reflection on the answer they provided. For the other reading, focusing on why diversity in the workplace matters, I was curious to then further research what some of the companies I support have to say about their workforce diversity. Thinking about different brands and labels I buy into; how many of those companies advertise the diversity they have within their business, and is it features like these that make the company more appealing? I would be fairly curious to look further into both of these questions, as I believe that by doing so it would reveal more about each of the conversations both aim to start.
3) Select one of the definitions from “What is organizational culture and why should we care” OR one statistic from “Why diversity matters,” and discuss what questions this sparks for you? What do you think is interesting or significant about this idea?  In other words, how does your look at this article open up questions about what organizational culture is and why it matters?
Focusing on the ‘Why diversity matters?’ article, I found that the most eyeopening statistic was that, “while certain industries perform better on gender diversity and other industries on ethnic and racial diversity, no industry or company is in the top quartile on both dimensions”. This was a statistic that really started to jog my thinking about both demographics. I immediately questioned: Which of these two demographics – racial or gender diversity – matter more to a company and why? Clearly there was no company that was able to secure top rating for both, so I wondered why exactly. Could some companies value the gender diversity of their company with little regard as to what is to be said about the racial diversity – and vice versa? Connecting back to organizational culture, this statistic in a way shows that there is no equal representations for all demographics within a given company. Furthermore, I think that this, at least for myself, confuses the definition and idea of organizational culture because there is no company that is able to identify and support all cultural backgrounds their employees may stem from. 
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Unit 1 Responses

  1. The readings from this week about culture and diversity made me question many factors. The reading on organized culture piqued my curiosity because it never gave one definition of culture. We are used to having one definition in mind for a word so seeing many variations made me think about what my definition of culture was. When I thought about it I wasn’t sure about how I would define it. The different discussions about what culture was also made me think about who the people writing the responses were and why they each had such a different definition of culture. Another question that I would like to further explore is how do companies that are racially and ethnically diverse describe their culture vs how companies who are gender-diverse describe their culture. The article “why diversity matters” talk a lot about how companies that are diverse in race, ethnicity, and gender are more likely to be successful but they never mention why. I would like to research more as to why that is.
  2. After reading “culture is consistent, observable patterns of behavior in organizations,” I began to think about culture in organizations that I am involved in. One organization I am apart of at college would be my major. As a Communications Design major, I have been in class with the same teachers and students since my first day of freshman year. That has created a culture between us in the classroom. The classroom culture reminded me of Robbie Katanga’s response titled “Culture is how organizations “do things.” My experience relates to his response because as a class we have developed patterns that are as Katanga states “consistent, observable patterns of behavior in organizations.” Every year I take classes for my major and have a very similar experience to the year prior. I think that is because the teachers create a structure that stays the same along with the people that are in the class, therefore, creating a pattern. I think that the pattern created and the behavior that comes from it creates our culture.
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Responses – Week of 5/18

This week’s readings made me think about culture and diversity in the workplace which I’ve never really considered, but it’s interesting. The article about why diversity matters made me question how an organization would even achieve diversity in the workplace, do they stop hiring people of certain genders or ethnicities once they reach a set amount? I’m definitely in favor of diversity in the workplace, and it doesn’t surprise me that more diverse companies are financially more productive, but I question how companies become diverse. The article about organizational culture made me think about just how different every organization’s culture is, and how it’s constantly changing because of new employees, locations, and acquisitions. I was curious about the relationship between organizational success/productivity and organizational culture, but the other article suggests that a more diverse organization and, as a result, a more diverse organizational culture typically means more success/productivity.

There are a handful of definitions and explanations in the article about organizational culture that lead to me think about what organizational culture really is and what it means. The definition “Organizational culture [is shaped by] the main culture of the society we live in, albeit with greater emphasis on particular parts of it,” from Elizabeth Skringar isn’t farfetched, but what is the society “we” live in for a multi-national organization operating in the context of many different cultures? The author, Michael Watkins, mentioned that “a company’s history of acquisition also figures importantly in defining its culture and subcultures,” which would also make it difficult for an organization to identify with a specific society or culture. The last definition of an organizational culture where Abdi Osman Jama calls it “living” is close to what I would’ve said. I hadn’t heard of the phrase “organizational culture” until I read the article this week, but I’m fascinated by its ambiguity. I’d definitely be interested in exploring this topic further.