Answer the following case questions listed from chapter 13 of textbook. Textbook is Fundamentals of Management. 10th Edition. Author: Ricky W. Griffin
Case Questions 1.According to Katherine W. Phillips, Research has shown that social diversity in a group can cause discomfort, rougher interactions, a lack of trust, greater perceived interpersonal conflict, lower communication, less cohesion, more concern about disrespect, and other problems. So what is the upside? Provide a cogent answer to Phillips's closing question -that is, one that reflects what you've learned about diversity, group dynamics, workplace teams, and creativity /innovation. 2.Discuss the pros and cons of socially diverse teams in terms of behavioral norms. What, for example, is likely to be the extent of norm variation in a diversg feam? What sorts of variations are likely to affect team performance? How might group leaders deal with such yariations? How might they manage variations to the team's benefit? To what extent should group leaders encourage norm conformity? What steps can leaders take to encourage conformity? 3.Among "Challenges Faced by Diverse Teams," Beryl Nelson include unconscious bias and stereotype threat. We define stereotyping in Chapter 14 as "the process of categorizing people on the basis of a single attribute." Nelson explains that stereotypes are learned through cultural messages and stories, comments from family and friends, portrayals in the media, and so forth. Despite our best intentions, they can bias our impressions of, and affect our actions toward, others in our environment. . .. They shape our expectations of what people should be doing, especially at work. ... The stereotypes especially relevant in work situations include not only those characteristics that are visible, such as sex, race, weight, and age, but also those not visible but relatively easy to discern, such as educational background and nationality.* Nelson also points out that "almost everyone has measurable biases." An ongoing test conducted by Harvard's Project Implicit has found, for example, that 70-80 percent of all participants have a bias against women in technology. Findings such as those by Project Implicit indicate the stereotype threat to teams com- posed of diverse members. First, explain various ways in which stereotype threat can keep a diverse team from being as effective as it could be. Second, suggest a few strategies that group and organizational leaders can take to reduce stereotype threat. Finally, think about your own biases: What biases do you harbor about women (e.g., they don't have an aptitude for math)? About men (e.g., they aren't altruistic or eager to help others)? What biases do you harbor about Asians, African Americans, Hispanics, and older people? Bear in mind, by the way, that even people who are subject to a given bias can actually share it. 4. Beware of lurking variables. In the following two examples, cause-and-effect conclusions have been drawn from evidence of correlation. In each case, the conclusion is false because there is a so-called "lurking variable" an unstated third variable that affects both causes of the correlation. Identify a probable lurking variable in each example and explain why each conclusion is false. o When ice cream sales increase, drowning deaths also ingrease. Therefore, ice cream consumption causes drowning. e A great many people who sleep with their shoes on often wake up with headaches. Therefore, sleeping with one's shoes on causgs headaches. In the next two examples, matters are complicated because the correlation may work both ways. First, provide both yes and no answers to the question posed by each statement. Next, identify a probable lurking variable in each case and explain why both yes and no answers are likely to be false. e Surveys show that workers who say that they're happy with their jobs tend to be quite produc-tive. Does being happy cause workers to be more productive? e Surveys show that couples who live together before marriage have a higher rate of divorce than couples who don't live together before marriage. Does living together causg divorce?]
