Taylor Cox

The multicultural organization

Executive Overview Organizations are becoming increasingly diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality. This diversity brings substantial potential benefits such as better decision making, greater creativity and innovation, and more successful marketing to different types of customers. But, increased cultural differences within a workforce also bring potential costs in higher turnover, interpersonal conflict, and communication breakdowns. To capitalize on the benefits of diversity while minimizing the potential costs, leaders are being advised to oversee change processes toward creating “multicultural” organizations. What are the characteristics of such an organization, and how do they differ from those of the post? What mechanisms are available to facilitate such a change? This article addresses these questions. It also describes a model for understanding the required features of a multicultural organizations and reviews tools that pioneering companies have found useful in changing organ...

Race, Gender, and Opportunity: A Study of Compensation Attainment and the Establishment of Mentoring Relationships

In this article, hypotheses concerned with how race, gender, and mentoring experiences account for compensation outcomes among master of business administration (MBA) program graduates are considered. African-American and Hispanic MBAs were less likely than their White counterparts to establish mentoring relationships with White men. Women with MBAs were less likely than men with MBAs to form such relationships. Graduates who had been able to establish mentoring relationships with White men displayed an average annual compensation advantage of

Career Paths and Career Success in the Early Career Stages of Male and Female MBAs.

16,840 over those with mentors displaying other demographic profiles. There were no compensation differences between those who had established mentoring relationships with women or minority men and those who had not established a mentoring relationship.

A Race and Gender-Group Analysis of the Early Career Experience of MBAs

Abstract This study tests hypotheses about the relations between gender, career paths, and career success in a sample of MBAs. Findings indicate that women in managerial careers did not differ from men on total promotions and career satisfaction but did experience lower salary increases, fewer management promotions, and lower hierarchical levels compared to men of similar education, age, experience, performance, and career paths. In addition, starting salaries, starting job levels, job mobility, line experience, and company seniority were found to affect one or more of the career success measures. The findings have implications for the locus of bias in gender-based differences in career experience.

Problems with Research by Organizational Scholars on Issues of Race and Ethnicity

This study examined race and gender differences in four career experience variables using a sample of Black and White MBAs (masters of business administration). Results supported hypothesized race effects for job involvement, access to mentors, career satisfaction, and gender differences in job involvement and hierarchical level. However, Black MBAs were not at lower hierarchical levels than White MBAs of comparable experience, and female MBAs did not report significantly less access to mentors or lower career satisfaction than did male MBAs. Implications of the findings for organizations are discussed.

Labor Market Mobility and Cash Compensation: The Moderating Effects of Race and Gender

Despite a growing need for knowledge about the effects of race and ethnicity in organizations, relatively little research on these issues has been performed and few research reports have been published in the major management journals. A literature review and a survey of authors in the field indicate that factors responsible for this problem fall into two categories: factors limiting the amount of work done on these issues, and factors hindering the publication of completed work. Underlying many of these factors is the tendency for the effects of personal biases among authors, reviewers, and editors to be especially severe with respect to this topic. Moreover, issues of racioethnic relations and heterogeneity, including the problem of racism, have never really been resolved in American society generally. Following an analysis of the problems, suggestions are provided to aid scholars in effectively conducting and evaluating research on this topic.

Differential Performance Appraisal Criteria: A Field Study of Black and White Managers

Building upon the gender-based study conducted by Brett and Stroh (1997), we examined the moderating effects of gender and race on the relationship between changing employers and compensation attai...

Gender differences in the upward mobility of black managers: Double whammy or double advantage?

Performance appraisal ratings of 125 first-level managers were analyzed to investigate the degree to which the criteria used to evaluate the overall job performance of black managers differs from that used to evaluate white managers. The performance appraisal form included items that measured both the social behavior dimen sion and task/goal accomplishment dimension of job performance. The appraisal ratings of both groups on each dimension were correlated with measures of overall job performance and promot ability. Results indicated that social behavior factors are more highly correlated with the overall job performance of black ratees than for white ratees. Implications of these results for both black managers and organizations are discussed.

Factors affecting the upward mobility of black managers in private sector organizations

This study draws upon the theory and research on intraorganizational mobility to examine gender differences in the upward mobility of black managers. Results suggest that neither the “double whammy” assumptions nor the “double advantage” assumptions are accurate descriptions of the contemporary experience of black female managers in corporate America. Upward mobility rates were nearly identical for both gender groups. Other findings and the implications of the results for future research are discussed.

Candidate Age as a Factor in Promotability Ratings

Compared to the 1970s blacks made less progress in moving into the managerial occupational category in the private sector during the 1980s decade. This study utilized a model of intrafirm mobility to examine the factors affecting the upward mobility of black managers in private sector organizations. Results indicated that line position experience, company seniority, mentor assistance, organization size, and the rate of job vacancies were the best predictors of management promotions. Implications of these findings for the economic prosperity of the black community are discussed.