Major organizations (including universities)

Professor Herring and Peers,

1. Major organizations (including universities) are currently revisiting their affirmative action policies. Discuss the pros and cons of these policies.

If incorporated tactfully, Affirmative action can be beneficial to both the employees within an organization and the organization as a whole. Affirmative action is “A policy or a program that strives to redress past discrimination through the implementation of proactive measures to ensure equal opportunity. In other words, affirmative action is the intentional inclusion of previously excluded groups.” (Hartman/Desjardins/MacDonald, 2018). The pros of these policies include giving all employees an equal chance at various opportunities within an organization, equal opportunity for students of color to attend a university, promoting diversity in schools and the workplace, and reducing the income and wealth gap. Some cons of affirmative action include reverse discrimination, overlooking highly qualified individuals, and hiring a minority that creates a stigma,
To further elaborate on the positive aspects of affirmative action, promotions and opportunities cannot be withheld from an individual solely based on religion, sexual orientation, gender, race, or any other part of their life that would potentially disqualify them. This minimizes the “glass ceiling” and allows everyone an opportunity to promote and thrive within the workplace. Students of color and those that are not Caucasian have an opportunity to attend a university-based on their educational merit rather than being disqualified based on their skin color. The promotion of diversity in the workplace and the education system is another significant advantage as the world is diverse. “Recent research has found that companies that are diverse in categories such as age, gender and experience are more financially successful than those with a less diverse workforce.” (Quain, 2019).
Reverse discrimination is typically rare but is considered a disadvantage to affirmative action. There is fear that the historically dominant group fears that they will be penalized, even if they do possess the appropriate qualifications for the position. This can create a lack of confidence in those who are minorities that promoted as many will assume that they only received the promotion due to being a minority and needing to fill a gap. Lastly, a stigma can be created that diminishes the qualification of hired workers because many will claim that they were only hired based on their minority status. “If someone receives a position because of a program like Affirmative Action, then their achievements are viewed as a result of policy instead of personal skill and talent.” (Gaille, 2017). That being said, minorities must work harder to prove that they are qualified for the position.

2. Discuss whether it is possible to downsize a corporation ethically. Have you ever worked in a company where a significant downsizing took place? Discuss your experience.

It is possible to downsize a corporation ethically. I have been part of organizational downsizing, and it was done with respect. Before Amazon, I worked on the naval base in Lemoore as a clerk. When COVID-19 began, the company was required to cut back personnel. First, the company allowed volunteers to step down from their positions and receive a small amount of pay to pay their bills while they searched for another position. This is the route that I took as I had my position at Amazon as an Area Manager in the works. The company wrote phenomenal letters of recommendations for those who stepped down to assist them in their job search. Others, who were reluctant to step down, were offered a 30-day notice that their employment would end, beautiful letters of recommendations, and allowing them to keep their medical benefits until they found a new position or until they began to claim unemployment. The company gave packets of resources and information to assist those with collecting unemployment and various search engines and job websites to utilize in their job search. Although no one would like to be placed in that situation, the organization handled everything ethically and to the best of its ability to ensure all employees were cared for. They kept minimal staff to operate and maintain business functions but had to “trim the fat” and reduce employee headcount to afford to operate.

References:

Gaille, L. (2017, May 9). 12 Disadvantages and Disadvantages of Affirmative Action. Retrieved
From https://vittana.org/12-advantages-and-disadvantage…

Hartman, L. P., DesJardins, J. R., & MacDonald, C. (2018). Business ethics: Decision making for personal integrity and social responsibility (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Quain, S. (2019, February 12). Advantages and Disadvantages of Affirmative Action in the
Workplace. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-
affirmative-action-workplace-18141.html

What is Affirmative Action? It is a policy or a program that strives to redress past discrimination through the implementation of proactive measures to ensure equal opportunity, in other words, affirmative action is the intentional inclusion of previously excluded groups (Hartman et. al, 2018). Affirmative action efforts can take place in employment environments, education, or other arenas.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, affirmative action “is considered essential to assuring that jobs are genuinely and equally accessible to qualified persons, without regard to their gender, racial, or ethnic characteristics.”

Affirmative action calls for the hiring of qualified people. Opponents of affirmative action say that to get qualified people, hiring policies should be based only on “merit,” as if other factors are not normally considered (Roh et. al, 2014). There have always been preferences, yet no one ever said they “lowered quality” until they began to be applied for the benefit of BIPOC (black indigenous people of color), women, LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer).

Pros of Affirmative Action.

Checkmates the wealth and income gap: in many countries today, there are huge gap between the rich and the poor. Affirmative action helps in this regard, it provides better job opportunities to the minorities.

Protection from hatred: The whole point of introducing this approach to the workplace is that those who do something wrong or commit a crime and offense on a person based on their gender or racial orientation shall be put behind bars or strict action shall take against them. This act guarantees safety to everyone everywhere.

Cons of Affirmative Action.

Leads to more discrimination: in this regards, affirmative action in the Workplace will treat the majority groups a little unfairly because the policy as you can see gives preferential treatment towards minorities and other underrepresented classes presented historically.

It will place low standards: affirmative action in the Workplace is something that will place low standards for education and employment everywhere all over America which could be a horrible thing to consider since the world is constantly changing, and life must change for people to keep growing.

Eliminating unnecessary workers is sometimes a business decision that can have painful personal consequences for small-business owners. Small companies often create a family-like work atmosphere, as a small core of employees pitch in to help each other, even when the work is not part of their job description. Simply giving a worker her notice might be legal, but it can damage your reputation as an ethical employer and cause key workers to leave.

Yes, i have worked in a company where a significant downsizing took place. Trust me the experience was a terrifying one. It increased the workloads and pressure us (the remaining employees), there was gap within the workload which added pressure. Sometimes i usually have sleepless nights to meet up. And finally, it made me in secured and loose trust in the company.

References

Hartman, L. P., DesJardins, J. R., & MacDonald, C. (2018). Business ethics: Decision making for personal integrity and social responsibility (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Roh, J., Hong, P., & Min, H. (2014). Implementation of a responsive supply chain strategy in global complexity: The case of manufacturing firms. International Journal of Production Economics, 147, 198-210.

540 words