The New Travel Agent - Research Paper Example

Running head: CASE STUDY Case Study - The New Travel Agent - Number and Number Submission Number of Words: 1,523 Introduction Drinking problem of employees is one of the most serious problem HR managers should solve without the need to discriminate or unfairly treat employees. In order to improve the work performance of Will, Paulina Ross – the assistant manager of the World’s Away Travel Agency had to confront his drinking problem. Human resource management (HRM) today are focused on managing cultural diversity particularly in three perspectives known as: (1) access-and legitimacy; (2) discrimination-and-fairness; and (3) integration-and-learning. In line with this, strategic ways on how Ross could take advantage of making use of these three perspectives will be tackled in details. Analysis Among the three diversity perspectives, discrimination-and-fairness perspective is one of the most common cultural diversity practices that most companies adopt. This type of diversity perspective is based on recognizing the fact that work discrimination is not a legally accpetable business practice (Ely et al. 2003, p. 324; Thomas & Ely 1996, pp. 363 – 364). There are several situations mentioned in the case study that will prove that the concept of discrimination-and-fairness perspective is being carefully observed in the given case. First, Ross shook the hand of Will – one of the newest agent before asking him to sit down (Case Study, p. 145). To lessen the authoritative gap between Ross and Will, Ross decided to come out of her desk to sit in a chair next to Will. By doing so, Ross created a less intimidating situation for Will. A business organization is usually composed of majority and minority groups. Regardless of the organizational structure, it is necessary on the part of the majority groups or leaders to promote work diversity among the minority groups in order to enhance the overall business performance of a company (Maalouf 2003). Aiming to narrow down the gap and win the trust of Will, Ross decided to sit beside Will rather than make use of her authoritative power when discussing the work-related problems with Will. With the effort of calming Will, Ross carefully explained that the reason why she called Will for a meeting was purely because of her concern on his job performance rather than controlling or regulating his time outside the office hours (Case Study, pp. 146 – 147). The second situation is when Ross confronted Will about his declining work performance. Despite knowing the Will has alcohol problem, Ross managed not to discriminate will one way or the other. Rather than asking Will directly about his alcohol drinking problem, Ross started the conversation by asking “I have noticed that you have been late for work several times in the last few weeks” followed by commenting that “she was concerned about his job performance and that she had heard that he had been sick in the employee lounge the day before” (Case Study, p. 146). Showing sign of concern for Will is important since it could enable Ross avoid unnecessary miscommunication between the two individual. Likewise, it will also make it easier for Ross to connect with reach out for Will without the need to make him feel discriminated or being controlled. This strategy is effective in terms of letting Will admit about his alcohol drinking problem. Once Will admitted his drinking problem on his own, Ross will be free from possibly being unfair or discriminating on the part of Will. To improve the work diversity at the World’s Away Travel Agency, Ross should refrain from focusing only in the application of discrimination-and-fairness. Discrimination-and-fairness perspective is considered as a good strategic move in terms of strengthening the morally acceptable working practice by promoting fair treatment and justice to all people who wishes to be employed at the World’s Away Travel Agency (Ely et al. 2003, p. 324). However, it is possible that the reason why Will has been recently drinking alcohol is because he is not happy or contented with his work. One possible reason why Will is not happy with his work is because of lack of professional growth within the business organization. Therefore, the application of integration-and-learning perspective can be considered as the best framework that will gives employees the opportunity to learn from one another by encouraging employees strengthen their own cultural identity (Janssens & Zanoni 2005; Ely et al. 2003, p. 234; Thomas & Ely 2001).. The use of integration-and-learning perspective could strengthen Will’s learning ability in terms of being able to fully understand the real meaning of cultural diversity. It also perceives cultural diversity as a valuable resources that could enable the business organization meet its organizational goals and business objectives (Janssens & Zanoni 2005). As soon as Ross applies this perspective at the World’s Away Travel Agency, she can easily encourage Will to learn not only from himself but from one employees. It will also enable Will to develop their own cultural identity and allow each employee to value and respect the cultural identity of their co-workers. There are many ways in which Ross could strengthen the cultural diversity at work. Similar to the case of Will, one of the major factors that causes problem in managing diversity is the behaviour of people within the working environment (Henderson 1994, p. 133). Since Will acknowledges and admitted that he has been drinking alcohol recently, making him feel respected and understood would make it easier for Ross to talk with Will regarding the need to improve his work performance by setting aside his personal agenda. When we talk about respecting other employees, we are basically referring to the acceptance of their value as a member of a subgroup which builds up the entire business organization as a whole. As a rule of thumb, respecting employees should not come solely from Ross alone but also from other members of the workforce. In line with this matter, the ability of Ross to develop a pro-social culture could make employees like Will more willing to cooperate and commit themselves not only on self-improvement but also in reaching the organizational goals (de Cremer 2002). After examining how disrespecting and respecting could significantly affect the performance evaluation of employees, Simon & Stürmer (2003) was able to verify that acknowledging the importance of respect within the working environment could increase the collective identification as well as employees’ willingness to participate in group work. Since employees are more willing to participate in teamwork, it will be so much easier on the part of Ross to be able to make Will comit himself in terms of improving his work performance. Although Ely and Thomas (2001) expressed that even though all of the three perspectives of work diversity are effective in terms of motivating managers like Ross to exert extra effort in diversifying their staff members, only the integration-and-learning perspective is capable of providing the workforce with rationale and guidance necessary in making the group achieve more sustained benefits out of promoting diversity since this type of diversity perspective enables employees to feel valued and respected. In case the World’s Away Travel Agency adopts the integration-and-learning perspective, the business organization develops and strengthen its own cultural diversity. This strategy will minimize the risk wherein Will could feel devalued, disrepected, undermined, marginalized and/or exploited. As a result of strengthening its own cultural identity, Will could end up establishing a learning culture by unfolding their own creativity in terms of developing new ideas. This way, employees will have the opportunity to learn and grow from their own experiences that takes place within and outside the workplace. Conclusion Considering the tight competition in the global markets, the role of Ross as the assistant manager at the World’s Away Travel Agency becomes more complex as compared to its traditional role such as selecting and recruiting human resources needed by the business organization. Since diversity at work becomes a significant part of the modern business transaction, the role of Ross is no longer limited with the need to study, search, and implement new diversity paradigms which could strengthen cultural diversity at the World’s Away Travel Agency but also to solve internal problems which may cause a promising employee like Will to become less competent at work because of alcoholism (Janssens & Zanoni 2005; Muncherji & Gupta 2004). When confronting Will, Ross should adopt the concept of discrimination-and-fairness to avoid work discrimination practices and prejudice which could only result to more serious internal conflicts with Will. In terms of increasing Will’s motivation at work, integration-and-learning perspective is the best among the three types of diversity perspective since this paradigm consider work diversity as a valuable resources that could enable the business organization meet its organizational goals. Therefore, Ross should consider taking advantage of integration-and-learning perspective in order to improve Will’s work performance. As a promising employee, Will is concern about keeping his job but admits his drinking problem. To come up with a win-win situation between the two, Ross should work together with Will to solve his drinking problem by making a deal. In case Will shows signs of improvement after the meeting, Ross will not take any action for his drinking problem. In case Will continuous to show signs of drinking problem, Ross could either fire him from work or refer him to a rehabilitation center. *** End *** References De Cremer, D. (2002). ‘Respect and cooperation in social dilemmas: The importance of feeling included’. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , Vol. 28, No. 10, pp. 1335 - 1341. Ely, R. J., Foldy, E. G., Scully, M. A., & The Center for Gender in Organizations Simmons School of Management. (2003). Reader in Gender, Work, and Organization. Blackwell Publishing. Ely, R. J., & Thomas, D. A. (2001). ‘Cultural Diversity at Work: The Effects of Diversity Perspectives on Work Group Processes and Outcomes’. Administrative Science Quarterly , Vol. 46, No. 2, pp. 229 - 273. Henderson, G. (1994). Cultural Diversity in the Workplace: Issues and Strategies. Praeger. Huo, Y. J., & Molina, L. E. (2006). ‘Is Pluralism a Viable Model of Diversity? The Benefits and Limits of Subgroup Respec’t. 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