Cebu Institute of Technology

University
N. Bacalso Avenue, Cebu City, Philippines
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE
Department of Industrial Engineering

COURSEWARE
ES034 | ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT
Week 2 (February 1-5, 2021)

Prepared by: ENGR. JOYCE MARIE MONTEGRANDE

Adopted by:
Engr. Aries M. Rivero
Engr. Antoinette M. Almaden
Engr. Anna Marie A. Granaderos
Engr. Cheradee Ann M. Cabanlit
Engr. Ciara C. Bacalso

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 Welcome to Week 2!
Last week, we identified the difference of an engineer and manager with their functions in
different types of organization. We also defined what organizations are and the management
processes and functions that evolves on it. For those handling the organizations – managers,
we identified the necessary skills and competences needed to get the desired performance of
the organization. Coupled with the ethics in workplace for a harmonious working environment.
And lastly, corporate social responsibility where managers act in ways that respect and protect
the interests of society and corporate governance where boards of directors oversight the
managerial decisions and actions.

For Week 2, we will delve into the environment of organizations (including the global
environment) - Organizational Culture & Environment, Global Dimension of Management, and
Small Business Management & Entrepreneurship.

Sharing to you an ideal study guide that will guide you through the week.

Feb 1 Organizational Culture: Dimensions and Importance

Feb 2 Factors To Consider In Managing A Global Environment

Feb 3 Workplace Diversity

Feb 4 Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

Feb 5 Finalize output

Again, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me!

I hope you will enjoy and learn so much for this week! ☺

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 ENVIRONMENT
PART TWO

Organizational Culture & Environment

Global Dimension of Management
Small Business Management & Entrepreneurship

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

✓ Discuss the characteristics and importance of organizational culture.
✓ Describe the constraints and challenges facing managers in today’s external
environment.
✓ Explain how is diversity managed in a multicultural organization
✓ Distinguish multinational corporations and discuss their extensive operations
✓ Define culture and discuss how it relates to global diversity

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 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE & EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Watch this video before starting the module and answer the discussion questions:
INTRODUCTORY Our People, Our Culture of Equality
VIDEO https://youtu.be/iUY8Lv96Scw

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 2.1

1. Give at least 3 insights on how the people feel about the culture of equality.
2. Give at least 3 effects to the organization when equality becomes the priority.

Organizational Culture: Dimensions and Importance

Organizational culture is a system of shared values, assumptions, beliefs, and norms that unite the
members of an organization. Organizational culture reflects employees’ views about “the way things are
done around here.” Culture gives meaning to actions and procedures within an organization and may be
considered to be the personality of the organization. The culture specific to each firm affects how employees
feel and act as well as the type of employee hired and retained by the company.

There are three aspects of an organization’s culture, as shown in Figure 2.1. The most obvious is the visible
culture that an observer can hear, feel, or see. Aspects of visible culture include how people dress, how
fast people walk and talk, whether there is an open floor plan
without office doors or managers have private offices, and the
extent to which status and power symbols are conspicuous.
Assigned parking spots based on rank, differing cafeteria or
eating arrangements based on organizational level, and the
degree to which furnishings are plush and conservative versus
simple and modern indicate the nature of power and status
differentials.

The signs of a visible culture make it possible to study dominant

cultural characteristics, such as whether the organization is
competitive or easygoing, formal or informal, hierarchical or
egalitarian, liberal or conservative. For instance, firms with
controlling cultures often record and review their employees’
communications, including telephone calls, e-mail, and Internet
Figure 2.1 Three dimensions of Organizational Culture connections.

At a deeper level, espoused values are not readily observed but instead are the ways managers and
employees explain and justify actions and decisions. For example, managers may justify layoffs primarily
on the basis of a need to cut costs or to expedite decision making and improve response time by
streamlining organizational levels. Other managers may say they tolerate mistakes because employees
need to be encouraged to take risks or because it is better to treat workers with respect and provide them
with second chances when necessary. Espoused values are those values that are expressed on behalf of
an organization or that are expressed as explanations for policies or actions.

People may not always give the real reason behind their actions. Employees are quick to spot hypocrisy.
Managers who are not honest about why actions were taken may create an organizational culture full of
cynicism, dishonesty, lack of credibility and poor ethics, all of which eventually translate into poor firm
performance.

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Espoused values may vary substantially across organizations and this variability in expressed values can
reflect real and important differences in these organizations. For organizations that have merged or been
acquired it has been found that organizational performance after the merger is better for firms that had
more closely matched espoused values to begin with. This effect on postmerger financial performance
illustrates the importance of espoused values.

Espoused values are generally consciously and explicitly communicated. At the center of organizational
culture are core values that are widely shared, operate unconsciously, and are considered nonnegotiable.
In some organizations, a basic assumption may be that stability and commitment of the workforce are
critical for success. Consequently, employees are well treated and receive liberal fringe benefits. At the
other extreme, a basic assumption may be that employees are commodities and an expense that should
be minimized in the business process, rather than an investment. Thus employees are tightly controlled,
exceptions to established policy are kept to a minimum, there are detailed rules and procedures about what
employees can and cannot do, and managers believe it is their duty to prevent deviations from the norms.
Employees may be watching one another to ensure that no one breaks the rules, and people are trained to
check with their superiors before making most decisions.

The basic underlying cultural assumptions create the lenses through which people perceive and interpret
events. Someone sitting motionless may be seen as loafing in some firms, while at others, the employee
would be perceived as pondering an important problem. When employees are absent from work, the
organization’s culture may lead managers to conclude they are shirking, and if an employee requests
permission to perform some tasks at home, the request will probably be denied because the supervisor
expects the employee will “goof off” rather than work.

Why is having a strong culture important? For one thing, in organizations with strong cultures, employees
are more loyal than are employees in organizations with weak cultures. Research also suggests that strong
cultures are associated with high organizational performance. And it’s easy to understand why. After all,
if values are clear and widely accepted, employees know what they’re supposed to do and what’s
expected of them, so they can act quickly to take care of problems. However, the drawback is that a strong
culture also might prevent employees from trying new approaches especially when conditions are
changing rapidly.

Coolest Office Ever? (Google Office Tour) - Hype Hunt: EP18

APPLICATION https://youtu.be/HBe6XUFvtRY
VIDEO Working at Google as a Cloud Software Engineer
https://youtu.be/dd4AvcIMe-I

ACTION LEARNING EXERCISE 2.1

1. From the video Coolest Office Ever? (Google Office Tour) - Hype Hunt: EP18, give at least 3 visible
cultures of Google.

2. Check Google’s Core Values in the link below

https://www.google.com/about/philosophy.html

Comparing the Working at Google video and the Google’s Core Values, how did Google concretely apply
their Core Values to the actual working environment? Give at least 3.
Example:
Core Value: There’s always more information out there.
Application to Work Environment: There is already an answer to a lot of questions and are answered
by all of the resources and the other teams at Google.

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The External and Internal Environment

The decade from 2000 to 2009 was a challenging one for organizations. For instance, some well-known
stand-alone businesses at the beginning of the decade were acquired by other companies during this time,
including Compaq (now a part of Hewlett-Packard), Gillette (now a part of Procter & Gamble) and Merrill
Lynch (now a part of Bank of America); others disappeared altogether, including Lehman Brothers, Circuit
City, and Steve & Barry’s (all now bankrupt). Anyone who doubts the impact the external environment has
on managing just needs to look at what’s happened during the last decade.

The term external environment refers to factors and forces outside the
organization that affect its performance. As shown in Exhibit 2.2, it
includes several different components.
• Economic component - interest rates, inflation, changes in
disposable income, stock market fluctuations, and business cycle
stages.
• Demographic component - trends in population characteristics
such as age, race, gender, education level, geographic location, income,
and family composition.
• Political/legal component - federal, state, and local laws, as well
as global laws and laws of other countries. It also includes a country’s
political conditions and stability.
Exhibit 2.2 Components of External
Organization • Sociocultural component - societal and cultural factors such as
values, attitudes, trends, traditions, lifestyles, beliefs, tastes, and
patterns of behavior.
• Technological component - scientific or industrial innovations.
• Global component - issues associated with globalization and a world economy.

Internal environment is a component of the business environment,

which is composed of various elements present inside the organization,
that can affect or can be affected with, the choices, activities and
decisions of the organization.
• Capital/Financial Resources - funds (often include cash, credit,
and lines of credit) necessary to grow and sustain a business
• Physical Resources - tangible assets of the organization that play
an important role in ascertaining the competitive capability of the
company like equipment and manufacturing plant
• Human Resources - most valuable asset of the organization;
firm’s real assets are its human resources consisting of board of directors,
top management, middle management, supervisors and employees.
Exhibit 2.3 Components of Internal
• Technological Resources - imply the technical know-how of the
Organization
organization.

Reimagining Business in the Post-COVID-19 "Next Normal" | Leadership |

APPLICATION
Business In :60 | GZERO Media
VIDEO
https://youtu.be/jzvctKzEoFc

ACTION LEARNING EXERCISE 2.2

1. Identify at least 2 external factors and 2 internal factors that the companies need to reimagine given
the changes than the pandemic created. Include a brief explanation/description of the factor.

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 MANAGEMENT AND GLOBALIZATION

This is the age of the global economy in which resource supplies, product markets, and business
competition are worldwide rather than local or national in scope. It is also a time heavily influenced by the
forces of globalization, defined as the growing interdependence among the components in the global
economy.

There’s no better way to illustrate

the global economy than with the
clothes we wear. Where did you
buy your favorite t-shirt? Where
was it made? Where will it end up?
In a fascinating book called The
Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global
Economy, economist Pietra Rivoli
tracks the origins and disposition
of a t-shirt that she bought while on
vacation in Florida.

As shown here, Rivoli’s t-shirt lived

a complicated and very global life.
That life began with cotton grown
in Texas. It moved to China where
the cotton was processed and
white t-shirts were manufactured. The t-shirts were then sold to a firm in the United States that silk-screened
and sold them to retail shops for resale to American customers. These customers eventually donated the
used t-shirts to a charity that sold them to a recycler. The recycler sold them to a vendor in Africa who
distributed them to local markets to be sold yet again to local customers.
It’s quite a story, this t-shirt that travels the commercial highways and byways of the world. Thus;
globalization can be described as “one of the most powerful and pervasive influences on nations,
businesses, workplaces, communities, and lives.”

Global Management

The term used to describe management in businesses and organizations with interests in more than one
country is global management. Procter & Gamble, for example, pursues a global strategy with customers
in over 180 countries. Toyota has 14 plants in North America and employs over 35,000 locals. The success
of firms like these depends on being able to attract and hire truly global managers who have strong global
perspectives, are culturally aware, and always stay informed about international developments.

Why Companies Go Global

John Chambers, chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems Inc., once said: “I will put my jobs anywhere in the
world where the right infrastructure is, with the right educated workforce, with the right supportive
government.” Cisco, Honda, Haier, and other firms like them are classic international businesses that
conduct for-profit transactions of goods and services across national boundaries. Nike is another; its
swoosh is one of the world’s most recognized brands.

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DID YOU KNOW???

Nike does no domestic manufacturing. All of Its competitor, New Balance, takes a different approach.
Even though making extensive use of global suppliers and
its products come from sources abroad,
licensing its products internationally, New Balance still
including 100+ factories in China alone. produces at factories in the United States.

The two firms follow somewhat different strategies, but each is actively pursuing these common reasons
for doing international business.

Profits—Gain profits through expanded operations.

Customers—Enter new markets to gain new customers.
Suppliers—Get access to materials, products, and services.
Labor—Get access to lower-cost talented workers.
Capital—Tap a larger pool of financial resources.
Risk—Spread assets among multiple countries.

Today you can add another reason to this list, economic development—where a global firm does business
in foreign countries with direct intent to help the local economy. Coffee giants Green Mountain Coffee
Roasters, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, and Starbucks, for example, are helping Rwandan farmers improve
production and marketing methods. They send advisers to teach coffee growers how to meet high
standards so that their products can be sold worldwide. It’s a win–win: The global coffee firm gets a quality
product at a good price, the local coffee growers gain skills and market opportunities, and the domestic
economy improves.

Managing Global Environment

The success of a foreign venture depends on who is in charge. If a manager does not perform up to par in
a domestic unit, others can fill in. This is not the case in an overseas operation. The importance of choosing
the right managers was underlined by CEOs of U.S. companies with revenues in the $300 million to $1
billion range who identified the choice of management for overseas units as one of their most crucial
business decisions. There are three basic approaches to managing an international subsidiary: the
ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric approaches.

• The ethnocentric approach involves filling

top management and other key positions
with people from the home country.
Ethnocentric staffing means to hire
management that is of same nationality of
parent company. These managers are
known as expatriates.

The ethnocentric approach places natives

of the home country of a business in key

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 positions at home and abroad. In this example, the U.S. parent company places natives from the
United States in key positions in both the United States and Mexico.

• In the polycentric approach, international

subsidiaries are managed and staffed by
personnel from the host country, or local
nationals. The purpose of adopting this
approach is to reduce the cost of foreign
operations gradually. Even those organizations
which initially adopt the ethnocentric approach
may eventually switch over to the polycentric
approach. The primary purpose of handing over
the management to the local people is to ensure
that the company understands the local market
conditions, political scenario, cultural and legal
requirements better.

In this example, the Australian parent company uses natives of India to manage operations at the
Indian subsidiary. Natives of Australia manage the home office.

• Nationality is deliberately downplayed in the

geocentric approach as the firm actively searches
on a worldwide or regional basis for the best
people to fill key positions. Many of these
individuals are likely to be third-country
nationals—citizens of countries other than the host
nation or the firm’s home country.

In this example, the UK parent company uses

natives of many countries at company
headquarters and at the U.S. subsidiary.

ACTION LEARNING EXERCISE 2.3

If you were an owner of an international and rapidly growing high-tech firm making sophisticated
computer chips for medical equipment, (a) what do you think is the best approach to manage it and why?
(b) Do you think an international firm should have local managers in all important posts? Why or why
not?

WORKPLACE DIVERSITY

What Is Workplace Diversity?

“The collective strength of experiences, skills, talents, perspectives, and cultures that each agent and
employee brings to the workplace”
- State Farm, the number one provider of auto insurance in the United States

“Diversity refer to variety, differences, multiformity (instead of uniformity), or dissimilarities (instead of

similarities.”
- Dictionary

“Diversity is often used to refer to differences based on ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability, national
origin and sexual orientation,” but it also encompasses an “infinite range of unique characteristics and

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experiences, including communication styles, physical characteristics such as height and weight, and
speed of learning and comprehension.”
- The Society for Human Resource Management

One important thing to note about these diversity definitions is that

they focus on all the ways in which people can differ. And that’s
significant because diversity is no longer viewed as simply specific
categories like race, gender, age, or disability but has broadened to
a more inclusive recognition of the spectrum of differences.

On the other hand, workforce diversity is the ways in which people

in an organization are different from and similar to one another. The
demographic characteristics that we tend to think of when we think
of diversity—age, race, gender, ethnicity, etc.—are just the tip of the
iceberg. These demographic differences reflect surface-level
diversity, which are easily perceived differences that may trigger
certain stereotypes, but that do not necessarily reflect the ways people think or feel. Such surface-level
differences in characteristics can affect the way people perceive others, especially when it comes to
assumptions or stereotyping. However, as people get to know one another, these surface-level differences
become less important and deep-level diversity—differences in values, personality, and work
preferences—becomes more important. These deep-level differences can affect the way people view
organizational work rewards, communicate, react to leaders, negotiate, and generally behave at work.

Why Is Managing Workforce Diversity So Important?

1. Expand your talent pool

• Better use of employee talent - employees will have

different skill sets, backgrounds, and experiences.
• Increased quality of team problem-solving efforts
• Ability to attract and retain employees of diverse
backgrounds since they can collaborate together and learn
from each other which will make them more well-rounded
employees

2. Promote Innovation

• Enhanced problem-solving ability

• Work teams with diverse backgrounds often bring
different and unique perspectives to discussions,
which can result in more creative ideas and
solutions. However, recent research has indicated
that such benefits might be hard to come by in
teams performing more interdependent tasks over
a long period of time. Such situations also present
more opportunities for conflicts and resentments to
build. But, as the researchers pointed out, that
simply means that those teams may need stronger
team training and coaching to facilitate group decision making and conflict resolution.

3. Grow Your Business and Improve Your Business Reputation

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 • Businesses with a diverse employee base are
known to have an equally diverse customer base.
• Attract different types of customers which will help
grow your business
• Increased understanding of the marketplace,
which improves ability to better market to diverse
consumers
• Potential to improve sales growth and increase
market share
• Employees positive stories about their work will
propagate a positive reputation for your business.

Types of Workplace Diversity

Age

The aging population is a major critical shift taking place in the

workforce. With many of the nearly 85 million baby boomers still
employed and active in the workforce, managers must ensure that
those employees are not discriminated against because of age. One
issue with older workers is the perception that people have of those
workers. Perceptions such as they’re sick more often and they can’t
work as hard or as fast as younger employees—perceptions that are
inaccurate. Employers have mixed feelings about older workers. On
the positive side, they believe that older workers bring a number of
good qualities to the job including experience, judgment, a strong
work ethic, and a commitment to doing quality work. However, they
Exhibit 2.5 Types of Diversity Found in Workplaces
also view older workers as not being flexible or adaptable and being
more resistant to new technology. The challenge for managers is
overcoming those misperceptions of older workers and the
widespread belief that work performance and work quality decline with age. Managers need to ensure that
these workers, regardless of age, also are treated fairly and as valuable assets. Effectively managing an
organization’s diverse age groups can lead to their working well with each other, learning from each other,
and taking advantage of the different perspectives and experiences that each has to offer. It can be a win-
win situation for all.
Gender

Women (49.8%) and men (50.2 %) now each make up almost

half of the workforce. Yet, gender diversity issues are still quite
prevalent in organizations. So what do we know about
differences between men and women in the workplace?

First of all, few, if any, important differences between men and

women affect job performance. No consistent male-female
differences exist in problem-solving ability, analytical skills,
competitive drive, motivation, sociability, or learning ability.
Psychological research has found minor differences: Women
tend to be more agreeable and willing to conform to authority
while men are more aggressive and more likely to have
expectations of success.

Another area where we also see differences between genders is in preference for work schedules,
especially when the employee has preschool-age children. To accommodate their family responsibilities,

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working mothers are more likely to prefer part-time work, flexible work schedules, and telecommuting. They
also prefer jobs that encourage work–life balance.

One question of much interest as it relates to gender is whether men and women are equally competent as
managers. Research evidence indicates that a “good” manager is still perceived as predominantly
masculine. But the reality is that women tend to use a broader, more effective range of leadership styles to
motivate and engage people. They usually blend traditional masculine styles—being directive, authoritative,
and leading by example—with more feminine ones that include being nurturing, inclusive, and collaborative.
Men tend to rely primarily on masculine styles. Another study showed that women
managers were significantly more likely than their male counterparts to coach and develop others and to
create more committed, collaborative, inclusive, and ultimately, more effective, teams.

Not that either women or men are the superior employees, but a better appreciation for why it’s important
for organizations to explore the strengths that both women and men bring to an organization and the barriers
they face in contributing fully to organizational efforts.

Race and Ethnicity

Race and ethnicity are important types of diversity in

organizations. Race is defined as the biological
heritage (including physical characteristics such as
one’s skin color and associated traits) that people
use to identify themselves. Most people identify
themselves as part of a racial group. Such racial
classifications are an integral part of a country’s
cultural, social, and legal environments. Ethnicity is
related to race, but it refers to social traits—such as
one’s cultural background or allegiance—that are
shared by a human population. Most of the research
on race and ethnicity as they relate to the workplace
has looked at hiring decisions, performance evaluations, pay, and workplace discrimination. However,
much of that research has focused on the differences in attitudes and outcomes. Let’s look at a few key
findings. One finding is that individuals in workplaces tend to favor colleagues of their own race in
performance evaluations, promotion decisions, and pay raises. Although such effects are small, they are
consistent. Next, research shows substantial racial differences in attitudes toward affirmative action. For
instance, in employment interviews, African Americans receive lower ratings. In the job setting, they receive
lower job performance ratings, are paid less, and are promoted less frequently. However, no statistically
significant differences between the two races are observed in absenteeism rates, applied social skills at
work, or accident rates. As you can see, race and ethnicity issues are a key focus for managers in effectively
managing workforce diversity.

Disability/Abilities

One issue facing managers and organizations is that the

definition of disability is quite broad. The U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission classifies a person as
disabled if he or she has any physical or mental impairment
that substantially limits one or more major life activities. For
instance, deafness, chronic back pain, AIDS, missing limbs,
seizure disorder, schizophrenia, diabetes, and alcoholism
would all qualify. The following describes some of the fears
organizations have in hiring persons with disability as well as
the reality; that is, what it’s really like.

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 FEAR REALITY
Hiring people with disabilities leads to higher Absentee rates for sick time are virtually equal between employees with and
employment costs and lower profit margins without disabilities; workers’ disabilities are not a factor in formulas
calculating insurance costs for workers’ compensation
Workers with disabilities lack job skills and Commonplace technologies such as the Internet and voice-recognition
experience necessary to perform as well as their software have eliminated many of the obstacles for workers with disabilities;
abled counterparts many individuals with disabilities have great problem-solving skills from
finding creative ways to perform tasks that others may take for granted
Uncertainty over how to take potential disciplinary A person with a disability for whom workplace accommodations have been
action with a worker with disabilities provided has the same obligations and rights as far as job performance
High costs associated with accommodating Most workers with disabilities require no accommodation but for those who
disabled employees do, more than half of the workplace modifications cost $500 or less

In effectively managing a workforce with disabled employees, managers need to create and maintain an
environment in which employees feel comfortable disclosing their need for accommodation. Those
accommodations, by law, need to enable individuals with disabilities to perform their jobs but they also need
to be perceived as equitable by those not disabled. That’s the balancing act that managers face.

Religion

Hani Khan, a college sophomore, worked for three months

as a stock clerk at a Hollister clothing store in San
Francisco. One day, she was told by her supervisors to
remove the head scarf that she wears in observance of
Islam (known as a hijab) because it violated the company’s
“look policy” (which instructs employees on clothing, hair
styles, makeup, and accessories they may wear to work).
She refused on religious grounds and was fired one week
later. Religious beliefs also can prohibit or encourage work
behaviors. Many conservative Jews believe they should not
work on Saturdays. Some Christians do not want to work on
Sundays. Religious individuals may believe they have an
obligation to express their beliefs in the workplace making it
uncomfortable for those who may not share those beliefs. Some pharmacists have refused to give out RU-
486 (the “morning after” abortion pill) on the basis of their beliefs. As you can see, religion and religious
beliefs can generate misperceptions and negative feelings. In accommodating religious diversity, managers
need to recognize and be aware of different religions and their beliefs, paying special attention to when
certain religious holidays fall. Try to accommodate, when at all possible, employees who have special needs
or requests, but do so in a way that other employees don’t view it as “special treatment.”
GLBT: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

The acronym GLBT—which refers to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and

transgender people—is being used more frequently and relates
to the diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity. Sexual
orientation has been called the “last acceptable bias.” Despite
the progress in making workplaces more accommodating of gays
and lesbians, much more needs to be done. One study found
more than 40 percent of gay and lesbian employees indicated
that they had been unfairly treated, denied a promotion, or
pushed to quit their job because of their sexual orientation.

An increasing number of large companies are implementing

policies and practices to protect the rights of GLBT employees in
the workplace. For instance, Ernst & Young, S. C. Johnson &
Sons, Inc., and Kodak, among others, all provide training to
managers on ways to prevent sexual orientation discrimination.
A diversity manager at IBM says, “We believe that having strong transgender and gender identification

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policies is a natural extension of IBM’s corporate culture.” Managers need to look at how best to meet the
needs of their GLBT employees. They need to respond to employees’ concerns while also creating a safe
and productive work environment for all.

Other Types of Diversity

As said earlier, diversity refers to any dissimilarities or differences that might be present in a workplace.
Other types of workplace diversity that managers might confront and have to deal with include
socioeconomic background (social class and income-related factors), team members from different
functional areas or organizational units, physical attractiveness, obesity/thinness, job seniority, or
intellectual abilities. Each of these types of diversity also can affect how employees are treated in the
workplace. Again, managers need to ensure that all employees—no matter the similarities or
dissimilarities—are treated fairly and given the opportunity and support to do their jobs to the best of their
abilities.

WORKPLACE DIVERSITY INITIATIVES

What should organizations do to promote diversity?

The Legal Aspect of Workplace Diversity

Federal laws have contributed to some of the social change over the last 50-plus years and have evolved
to the level of diversity that currently exists. Failure to do so can be costly and damaging to an
organization’s bottom line and reputation. It’s important that managers know what they can and cannot
do legally and ensure that all employees understand as well. However, effectively managing workplace
diversity needs to be more than understanding and complying with federal laws.

Top Management Commitment to Diversity

Today’s increasingly competitive marketplace underscores the reality that creating a diverse workplace has
never been more important. It’s equally important to make diversity and inclusion an integral part of the
organization’s culture. “A sustainable diversity and inclusion strategy must play a central role in decision
making at the highest leadership level and filter down to every level of the company.”

How do organizational leaders do that?

1. Make sure that diversity and inclusion are part of the organization’s purpose, goals, and
strategies. Even during economically challenging times, an organization needs a strong
commitment to diversity and inclusion programs.
2. Diversity needs to be integrated into every aspect of the business—from the workforce,
customers, and suppliers to products, services, and the communities served.
3. Policies and procedures must be in place to ensure that grievances and concerns are
addressed immediately.
4. Finally, the organizational culture needs to be one where diversity and inclusion are valued,
even to the point where, like Marriott International, individual performance is measured and
rewarded on diversity accomplishments.

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Mentoring

Mentoring is a process whereby an experienced

organizational member (a mentor) provides advice and
guidance to a less-experienced member (a protégé).
Mentors usually provide two unique forms of mentoring
functions—career development and social support. A
good mentoring program would be aimed at all diverse
employees with high potential to move up the organization’s
career ladder. A good mentor (1) provides instruction, (2)
offers advice, (3) gives constructive criticism, (4) helps build
appropriate skills, (5) shares technical expertise, (6)
develops a high-quality, close, and supportive relationship
with protégé, (7) keeps lines of communication open and (8)
knows when to “let go” and let the protégé prove what he/she
can do. If an organization is serious about its commitment to diversity, it needs to have a mentoring program
in place.

Diversity Skills Training

“The only thing in human DNA is to discriminate. It’s a part of

normal human tribal behavior.” Our human nature is to not
accept or approach anything that’s different from us. But it
doesn’t make discrimination of any type or form acceptable.
So the challenge for organizations is to find ways for
employees to be effective in dealing with others who aren’t like
them. That’s where diversity skills training, specialized training
to educate employees about the importance of diversity
and teach them skills for working in a diverse workplace,
comes in. The Sodexho’s chief diversity officer said, “As an
organization, we have worked to implement the right policies,
but more importantly, empower all our employees to understand issues of diversity and work to ensure
change happens at every level of our company.”

Employee Resource Groups

Kellogg Company, the cereal company, is a pioneer in workplace

diversity. More than 100 years ago, the company’s founder, W.
K. Kellogg, employed women in the workplace and reached
across cultural boundaries. That commitment to diversity
continues today. The company’s CEO says, “There’s no doubt
that our success comes from the many different backgrounds,
experiences, ideas, and viewpoints that our people contribute to
our business.” Kellogg’s has been very supportive of its various
employee resource groups, made up of employees connected by some common dimension of
diversity. Such groups typically are formed by the employees themselves, not the organizations. However,
it’s important for organizations to recognize and support these groups. The diverse groups have the
opportunity to see that their existence is acknowledged and that they have the support of people within and
outside the group. Individuals in a minority often feel that they’re invisible and not important in the overall
organizational scheme of things. Employee resource groups provide an opportunity for those individuals to
have a voice. Through these employees’ resource groups, those in a minority find that they’re not alone.
And that can be a powerful means of embracing and including all employees, regardless of their differences.

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 INTERNET RESEARCH 2.1
Go to DiversityInc.com [https://www.diversityinc.com/the-2019-top-50-diversityinc/] and find the latest list
of Top 50 Companies for Diversity. Select a company from this list. Describe and evaluate the following:

a. What types of workplace diversity are present?

b. What is the company doing or what are their initiatives to promote workplace diversity?

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Nature of Entrepreneurship
The term entrepreneurship describes strategic thinking and risk-taking behavior that results in the creation
of new opportunities.
Who are Entrepreneurs?
A classic entrepreneur is a risk-taking individual who takes action to pursue
opportunities others fail to recognize, or even view as problems or threats.
Some people become serial entrepreneurs that start and run new ventures
over and over again, moving from one interest and opportunity to the next.
We find such entrepreneurs both in business and nonprofit settings.
A common pattern among successful entrepreneurs is first-mover
advantage. They move quickly to spot, exploit, and deliver a product or
service to a new market or an unrecognized niche in an existing one.
Characteristics of Entrepreneurs
Attitudes and Personal Interests

• Internal locus of control: Entrepreneurs believe that they are in control of their own destiny; they
are self-directing and like autonomy.
• High energy level: Entrepreneurs are persistent, hardworking, and willing to exert extraordinary eff
orts to succeed.
• High need for achievement: Entrepreneurs are motivated to accomplish challenging goals; they
thrive on performance feedback.
• Tolerance for ambiguity: Entrepreneurs are risk takers; they tolerate situations with high degrees
of uncertainty.
• Self-confidence: Entrepreneurs feel competent, believe in themselves, and are willing to make
decisions.
• Passion and action orientation: Entrepreneurs try to act ahead of problems; they want to get things
done and not waste valuable time.
• Self-reliance and desire for independence: Entrepreneurs want independence; they are self-reliant;
they want to be their own bosses, not work for others.
• Flexibility: Entrepreneurs are willing to admit problems and errors, and are willing to change a
course of action when plans aren’t working.
Background, Experiences, and Interests

• Childhood experiences and family environment – some entrepreneurs are with parents who were
entrepreneurial and self-employed. And entrepreneurs are often raised in families that encourage
responsibility, initiative, and independence
• Career or work history - entrepreneurs who try one venture often go on to others. Prior work
experience in the business area or industry being entered is helpful.
• Deeply embedded life interest - entrepreneurs as having strong interests in starting things. They
enjoy creative production—things like project initiation, working with the unknown, and finding

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 unconventional solutions. Entrepreneurs also have strong interests in running things. They enjoy
enterprise control—being in charge, being held accountable, and making decisions while moving
others toward a goal.
Social Entrepreneurship
Speaking of entrepreneurship, don’t forget it can play an important role in tackling social issues: housing
and job training for the homeless; bringing technology to poor families; improving literacy among
disadvantaged youth; reducing poverty and improving nutrition in communities. These examples and others
like them are all targets for social entrepreneurship, a form of ethical entrepreneurship that seeks novel
ways to solve pressing social problems. Social entrepreneurs take risks and create social enterprises
whose missions are to help make lives better for underserved populations.
Entrepreneurship and Small Business
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) defines a small business as one that has 500 or fewer
employees, is independently owned and operated, and does not dominate its industry. The most common
small business areas are restaurants, skilled professions such as craftspeople and doctors, general
services such as hairdressers and repair shops, and independent retailers. The vast majority of small
businesses employ fewer than 20 persons and over half are home based.
Why and How to Get Started
There are many reasons why people start their own small
businesses. They range from necessity, as discussed earlier as
a stimulus to entrepreneurship, to wanting to be your own boss,
control your future, and fulfill a dream. Once a decision is made
to go the small business route, the most common ways to get
involved are to start one, buy an existing one, or buy and run a
franchise—where a business owner sells to another the right to
operate the same business in another location. A franchise such
as Subway, Quiznos, or Domino’s Pizza runs under the original
owner’s business name and guidance. In return, the franchise
parent receives a share of income or a flat fee from the
franchisee.
Any business—large or small, franchise or startup, needs a solid underlying business model. Think of this
as a plan for making a profit by generating revenues that are greater than the costs of doing business.
Serial entrepreneur Steven Blank calls business startups temporary organizations that are trying “to
discover a profitable, scalable business model.” In other words, a startup is just that—a “start”; it’s a new
venture that the entrepreneur is hoping will take shape and prove successful as things move forward.
Writing a business plan
When people start new businesses or launch new units within existing ones, they can benefit from a good
business plan. This plan describes the details needed to obtain startup financing and operate a new
business and direction for a new business and the financing needed to operate it. Here is a sample business
plan outline.

• Executive summary—overview of the business purpose and the business model for making money.
• Industry analysis—nature of the industry, including economic trends, important legal or regulatory
issues, and potential risks.
• Company description—mission, owners, and legal form.
• Products and services description—major goods or services, with competitive uniqueness.
• Market description—size of market, competitor strengths and weaknesses, five-year sales goals.
• Marketing strategy—product characteristics, distribution, promotion, pricing, and market research.
• Operations description—manufacturing or service methods, supplies and suppliers, and control
procedures.

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 • Staffing description—management and staffing skills needed and available, compensation, and
human resource systems.
• Financial projection—cash fl ow projections for one to five years, breakeven points, and phased
investment capital.
• Capital needs—amount of funds needed to run the business, amount available, and amount
requested from new sources.
• Milestones—a timetable of dates showing when key stages of the new venture will be completed.

Why Small Businesses Fail

Small businesses have a high failure rate—one high enough
to be intimidating. The SBA reports that as many as 60 to 80%
of new businesses fail in their first five years of operation.
The following are the eight reasons why many small businesses
fail.
• Insufficient financing—not having enough money
available to maintain operations while still building the
business and gaining access to customers and markets.
• Lack of experience—not having sufficient know how to
run a business in the chosen market or geographical area.
• Lack of expertise—not having expertise in the essentials
of business operations, including finance, purchasing, selling, and production.
• Lack of strategy and strategic leadership—not taking the time to craft a vision and mission, nor to
formulate and properly implement a strategy.
• Poor financial control—not keeping track of the numbers, and failure to control business finances and
use existing monies to best advantage.
• Growing too fast—not taking the time to consolidate a position, fine-tune the organization, and
systematically meet the challenges of growth.
• Lack of commitment—not devoting enough time to the requirements of running a competitive
business.
• Ethical failure—falling prey to the temptations of fraud, deception, and embezzlement.

ACTION LEARNING EXERCISE – Becoming a Social Entrepreneur

Make a list of social problems that exist in your local community/barangay. Choose one and identify how
you might deal with it through social entrepreneurship. In no less than 10 sentences, how will you be
able to earn a living wage from this venture while still doing good?

END OF WEEK 2

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