Organization Behavior - - Essay Example

Discussion #3 – “Eye of the Storm” Discussion #3 – “Eye of the Storm Jane Elliot conducted her room experiment over 40 years ago. Do you think discrimination still occurs in this country? Why or Why Not?Answer:Watching this video, it was a perfect idea for Ms. Jane Elliot to present it to Children in class. The manner in which Ms. Elliot presented the video to her class was indeed creative. After watching the video, “Eye of the storm,” I can say that discrimination still exists in different ways and shapes.

People still experience discrimination in schools, companies as well as social gatherings. Discrimination begins at home. If children are brought up by parents who are discriminatory, they will most like adopt this kind of lifestyle. Consequently, there will be difference between people and this causes discrimination based on the level of intelligence, body shape and wealth besides color and religion and nationality. In general, to shrink this phenomenon (discrimination), it will need a lot of good raising and education for children. 2. One of the goals of the civil rights movement was to ensure equal opportunity for every U.S. citizen, irrespective of race.

When the civil rights movement began, the legal system did not grant the same rights to blacks and other minorities as it did to white. Today, those laws have been changed, leading some to argue that the U.S. has achieved a level playing field for all. a. Is the field level? Is success based exclusively on merit and luck, or is race-based “privilege” still a factor? Answer:In personal point of view, the playing field is not still absolutely level. The race-based “privilege” still plays an important factor in who gets which job.

Despite the fact that the U.S. laws have bee changed to promote equal opportunity for all individuals of different races, discrimination still exists between people and they are still practicing it today. Complete elimination of discrimination is difficult because it needs to start with changing people’s attitudes, which is one of the most challenging tasks. b. How was affirmative action policy crafted to address issues of privilege and discrimination? Has it been successful?Answer:Affirmative action aimed at eliminating issues of privilege and discrimination by ensuring equal opportunities for all genders of all races.

It was crafted to achieve gender balance by ensuring that the workplace is not male dominated and that both female and male genders are equally represented. Yes it has been successful because it has reduced the level of discrimination through its stringent policies that require employers to abolish discrimination based on gender. However, it has not reached its full potential because there are many people still practicing discrimination. 3. In Jane Elliot’s “experiment”, how did the negative and positive labels place on a group become self-fulfilling prophecies?

What was the impact of these labels on performance?Answer:In Ms. Elliot’s “experiment,” labels (Blue and Red) performed the same behaviour as in person. It was a shock that the second labels, when given chance, did to the first label what the first label did to them. Nonetheless, both of the labels understood the point Ms. Elliot was communicating, which is respecting all people regardless of the color of their skin.4. Can you think of job qualifications that might be racially or gender biased?

Answer:A job qualification, for instance which locks out applicants of a particular race, discriminates on the basis of race. Some jobs that are racially biased include Teaching, Police-Man/Police-Woman or Human Resource (HR) presenter. These jobs entail selection of employees on the basis of recruiters’ best judgment about the situation because they need to get best fit, which is often discriminatory. 5. Do you think employers have an ethical responsibility to create a diverse workforce? Why or Why Not?

Answer:Yes, employers bear the responsibility of creating a diverse workforce. Employers need to exude ethical practices by ensuring that their recruitment programmes are non-discriminatory. This will create positive image for the company and the company will also benefit because diverse workforce means better problem solving ability. Also, employees interact directly with the customers of the company and a diverse workforce would make different customers feel represented in the company and hence remain loyal to the company.

In general, employers dictate who they should employ and who should not employ. As such, the ethical responsibility of creating a diverse workforce is vested on them.