Shawnta S. Friday

Managing diversity using a strategic planned change approach

Many organizations have implemented various types of initiatives within the last few decades in an effort to deal with diversity. A possible missing vinculum (link) between how an organization deals with diversity and its impact on the bottomline is a corporate diversity strategy that is executed using a planned change approach to systemically manage diversity. While many organizations have implemented a corporate diversity strategy, most have not used a “planned change‐corporate diversity strategy”. The lack of a “planned change‐corporate diversity strategy” is quite likely to inhibit managing diversity from becoming systemic to an organizations culture and its way of doing business, thus tending to disallow the potential benefits of diversity to be maximized. Hence, this paper offers a framework for using a “planned change‐corporate diversity strategy” to: progress along the “diversity continuum” starting with acknowledging to valuing, and ultimately to managing diversity; and systemically managing diversity using a eight‐step “managing diversity process”.

Racioethnic perceptions of job characteristics and job satisfaction

Given the growing racioethnic heterogeneity of todays global workforce, it is necessary for researchers and practitioners to continuously examine the impact of racioethnic diversity in various organizational contexts, both foreign and domestic. The impact of racioethnic diversity has received a lot of attention in the literature with respect to various organizational attitudes and behaviors. However, after canvassing the literature, there is a void with respect to assessing whether various dimensions of a job intrinsically motivate racioethnically‐diverse individuals differently. This line of research should be of interest to both researchers and practitioners, considering it is widely accepted that motivation is a precursor to various organizational outcomes, such as job satisfaction, absenteeism, and productivity. This study revealed that there are differences with respect to job satisfaction and the intrinsic motivation racioethnically‐diverse individuals derive from their jobs.

U.S. Consumer Sensitivity to Corporate Social Performance Development of a Scale

This study develops a scale to measure consumer sensitivity to corporate social performance (CSCSP) using the factor analysis procedure to generate a valid and reliable 11-item scale. Results from a U.S. sample of M.B.A. students suggest that women are more sensitive to CSP than men and that Democrats are more sensitive to CSP than Republicans. Future research can use this scale to measure the correlation between attitudes toward CSP and actual behavior.

Formal mentoring: is there a strategic fit?

Many organizations have implemented formal mentoring programs within the last few years. Some organizations have realized success with their formal mentoring programs, while others have not fared so well. A missing link with many formal mentoring programs is a corporate level mentoring strategy. The lack of a corporate level mentoring strategy inhibits the mentoring process from becoming an integral part of an organization’s culture, therefore not allowing for the maximization of benefits that can be gained from effective formal mentoring processes and programs. Thus, this paper offers a framework for creating a corporate level mentoring strategy; a standardized mentoring process; and customized mentoring programs, all of which should align with the organization’s strategic positioning to facilitate the achievement of maximum effectiveness from the implementation of formal mentoring programs.

A reconceptualization of mentoring and sponsoring

Mentoring is highly regarded as a career‐enhancing phenomenon necessary for any aspiring executive. Several debates within the literature have led to a lack of consistency regarding the definition of mentoring and a mentor, the functions of a mentor, and the various types of mentoring. It appears that much of the confusion stems from the relationship and association of mentoring with the concept of sponsoring. Within the majority of the literature regarding developmental relationships, sponsoring has been posited to be a sub‐function of mentoring. This paper presents two arguments for viewing and examining mentoring and sponsoring as distinctly different, non‐mutually exclusive, and possibly concurrent phenomena, as well as offers universal definitions for both terms. This delineation is offered to aid aspiring executives in their decision making process as to whether to select a mentor, a sponsor, or both.

Socioethnic explanations for racioethnic differences in job satisfaction

Recent studies of racioethnic differences in job satisfaction have yielded inconsistent results. It is posited that the physical variable race/national origin (synonymous with physioethnicity), that is commonly used to operationalize race/ethnicity, is not sufficiently comprehensive to detect the social and cultural essence of racioethnicity. Thus, this article offers “socioethnicity” as a less observable type of racioethnicity. This delineation of socioethnicity enables the researchers and practitioners to measure the number of cultures with which an individual identifies. Based on previous research findings and grounded in orthogonal cultural identification theory, it is hypothesized that multicultural members of the majority group in a racioethnically diverse work environment will be more satisfied with their coworkers than monocultural members. Results supported the hypothesis.

Multiple dimensions of racioethnicity

Given the changing work force demographics and the increased globalization of businesses, the usage of a multidimensional construct to assess racioethnic differences in job‐related attitudes and behaviors may be able to provide researchers and practitioners with a better understanding of how to more effectively manage diverse individuals within various organizational contexts. As such, it is purported that racioethnicity is multidimensional, with at least three dimensions: physioethnicity, the physical dimension; socioethnicity, the sociocultural dimension; and psychoethnicity, the psychological dimension. It is further posited that examining socioethnicity and psychoethnicity, in addition to physioethnicity, will enable researchers and practitioners to assess the sociocultural and psychological dimensions of racioethnicity and their affects on various organizational behavioral outcomes, which have traditionally been ignored.

Business Legitimacy among Business Students in the United States, Great Britain, and South Africa

This study compares attitudes toward business legitimacy in three countries. Positive attitudes toward business legitimacy exist when there is a congruence between organizational activities and societal expectations. Businesses are concerned about the extent to which negative attitudes toward business legitimacy will lead to increased government regulation. The results suggest that business students in all three countries are similar in their attitudes toward business legitimacy; however, blacks have more negative attitudes toward business legitimacy than do whites. This study resulted in the validation of a scale that can be used to measure attitudes toward business legitimacy on a cross-cultural basis. Business legitimacy is a major concern in South Africa as the predominately white business community seeks to give the emerging black majority a stake in the existing economic system.

Racioethnic Differences in Consumer Decision Making Styles

There were differences among White, African-American, and Hispanic consumers on: recreational; impulsive; price conscious; and confused by overchoice consuming. This research suggests that due to the changing demographic composition of the U.S., marketing strategists need to continuously examine possible racioethnic differences in the decision making styles of their consumers.

The Emergent Racioethnically Diverse Salesforce: It’s Existence and Challenges

The work force of the US is becoming increasingly racioethnically diverse (Fine, 1995; Friday, 1997). There is a void in the research with respect to the documentation of the racioethnic diversity in the salesforce. This paper contributes to the limited research addressing the challenges organizations face as a result of members of various racioethnic groups entering the salesforce.