Introduction to Management: Workplace Discrimination Report

This report addresses a case of workplace discrimination within an accounting firm, where a pregnant employee was denied a promotion due to perceived lack of dedication. The report highlights the issue's potential impact on organizational culture and advocates for involving employees in decision-making processes to combat discrimination and promote equality. It suggests that involving employees can lead to better solutions, increased morale, and a stronger sense of responsibility for upholding ethical standards. Furthermore, the report recommends the formation of a formal group composed of experienced and disciplined individuals to address discrimination issues, enforce regulations, and guide the organization toward positive practices. The report emphasizes the benefits of employee involvement and formal groups in resolving workplace issues and fostering a fair and inclusive environment.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Introduction to Management
MARCH 31, 2020

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Issue........................................................................................................................................2
Employee involvement in decision making...........................................................................3
Form of Group........................................................................................................................4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The intent of this report is to present a paper that highlights an issue that has been
experienced at a workplace and holds the chance to impact the organizational culture. The
aim of this paper is to provide an argument related to involving employees in the decision-
making procedure and reason for the same. In addition to this, the paper is also discussing the
group of people that can be involved in the decision making and the reason for the same.
Issue
Mary is a six-month pregnant woman who is working for the accounting firm for the
last 10 years. Recently, Mary applied for a vacancy in her firm of the senior position that has
just been announced. In spite of having some must experience in the field and qualifications
in comparison to other applicants for the same post, she was passed over. The time she
confronted the human resource department manager, he replied by saying that he requires
someone who can be more dedicated than her for the senior position. This issue reveals that
the accounting firm is involved in discriminating against the workplace and even there is a
glass ceiling due to which it is not allowing women employees to grow. Besides this, it is
being thought that being pregnant for a woman can lead to loss of her dedication towards
work.
Resolving this issue is very important otherwise it can impact the ethical culture of the
entire firm. Here, the role of manager arises who can resolve these kinds of issues at the
workplace to avoid any kind of crucial issue for the firm. In order to resolve the issue, the
manager of the accounting firm needs to get involved in a conversation with the human
resource department employees and especially with the human resource department manager.
In order to eliminate the discrimination from the firm the manager required to provide proper
training, sessions, attending campaigns related to equality at the workplace, and inviting
guest lecturers at the workplace who are expert in maintaining equality at the workplace for

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the employees of human resource department to overcome from these type of thinking and
opinions (Davies, 2012). Training sessions are being insisted on in this report because it can
help in the workforce to learn how to avoid these types of issues at the workplace.
Employee involvement in decision making
To avoid the issue of discrimination from the workplace, the manager needs to
involve other employees at the workplace in the decision-making procedure to eliminate
discrimination and offer an equal chance to every individual employee who deserves it (Han,
Chiang & Chang, 2010). The manager needs to involve other employees in this process as it
can help the manager in identifying better and different ideas to resolve the issue such that it
does not majorly hamper the culture of the organization and the operations of the
organization. Besides this, involving different employees in the decision-making process
allow the manager to take strict action against the faulty under the guidance as well as the
suggestion of other employees (Wood and De Menezes, 2011). For example, if the manager
of the accounting firm decides to prepare or redesign the discrimination policy for the firm,
then involving employees in the decision making can help in adding more relevant and
important terms and conditions. Besides this, they can also help the manager in deciding a
better condition for violating the rules and regulations.
Involving the employees in the decision-making process helps in making them feel
important and boosting their morale to get better work and increased productivity. Low
morale of the employees can lead to disengagement which results in increased absenteeism
and low level of productivity (McCarthy, Darcy, and Grady, 2010). As per the survey
conducted by Gallup Organization, it has been identified that there are around 22 million
employees who are disengaged in their workplace that cause a loss of over £292 billion per
year (HR Zone, 2017). The high morale of the employee is influenced by top management.
Considering the case discussed above in this report is also related to this, if the manager will

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not involve the employees in this type of decision making then they may feel the
management of the firm is just being strict that can lead to stroke or disengagement of the
employees.
If the manager of the accounting firm involves the employees in the decision-making
process related to the issue identified above them the employees will start feeling responsible
and will put their efforts to eliminate these types of opinions and activities that are taking
place in the company (Carmeli, Reiter-Palmon & Ziv, 2010). If more employees will feel
responsible for respecting and saving the culture of the organization, then there will be no
discrimination or if there will be any such case, they will take the accountability or raise the
voice against it.
Furthermore, if the employees are involved in the decision-making procedure then the
manager gets more time to focus on other things too. This is because here they may feel
responsible or take the stage to take the decision on behalf of the manager (Hansen, Dunford,
Boss, Boss & Angermeier, 2011).
Form of Group
A group is said to be the collection of people who communicate or interact with each
other such that the action of one person has an impact on others. In similar words, a group is
created with two or more people, interdependent and interact with each other and come
together to attain a specific goal (Forsyth, 2018). There are different forms of group that are
used or framed for different situations. The types of groups that are formed are formal group,
semi-formal group, learning group, managed group, interest group, informal group, process
group, friendship group, goal group, problem-solving group, etc. (Molleman, Quiñones &
Weissing, 2013). Considering the above situation, that is increasing discrimination by the
human resource department in the accounting firm, the group that needs to be formed for
resolving the issue and taking a proper decision is formal.

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Formal groups are prepared to attain a particular organizational goal. Generally, they are
focused on the coordination of work-related activities. The employees of people at the
workplace are asked to work together depending on diverse roles in the organization structure
(Hazewinkel, 2012). The task nature is considered to be the main feature of the formal
groups. Objectives are recognized by the management of the company and rules relationships
and behavior norms are established. The chain of the formal groups is considered to be
permanent but there are some changes in actual membership. But temporary formal groups
are also created by the management (Dieudonne, 2020).
From the above analysis of the case in which a six-month pregnant woman was
disqualified for the promotion at her workplace by asking that she cannot focus on her work.
This issue of discrimination at the accounting firm can raise a cultural issue and to resolve
this issue, the manager of the company has planned to form a formal group that can get
involved in taking these types of decisions for the betterment of the organization. The
manager can form a formal group that can be comprised of 4 to 5 people who are experienced
and disciplined. Besides this, these people can be those who give importance to
organizational culture. Creating a formal group to resolve this issue can be beneficial because
there will be the execution of formal rules and regulations related to discrimination and
formal action will be taken against the faulty. Besides this, having a formal group will also
help in taking proper decisions related to these types of issues that can take place in the
future. Further, this group will be responsible to look after different activities and opinions
that are being carried in the organization and will focus on directing those thoughts towards a
positive route that can be beneficial for the business.
Conclusion
The above report has provided a detailed analysis of the issue that has been identified
in an accounting firm in which the human resource manager is getting involved in

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discrimination by rejecting an experienced pregnant lady for the senior post. In order to
resolve such an issue, the manager of the company has decided to involve different
employees of the company for deciding because they can help in providing a better
alternative solution. Besides this, involving employees in the decision making reduce the
chances of conflicts. In addition to this, the manager will form a formal group that will be
comprised of 4 to 5 people who will be responsible to take into account these types of issues
and provide the solution for them. Besides this, having a formal group at place inform
employees about the consequences that they can face by getting involved in these types of
activities. Having a formal group will also help the accounting firm in properly dealing with
such issues in the coming future. In conclusion, it can be said that the decision related to
involving employees in the decision-making process is good because they are the ones who
can provide better options for punishing the faulty. Besides this, a formal group can help
every employee in the organization dealing with such issues.

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References
Carmeli, A., Reiter-Palmon, R., & Ziv, E. (2010). Inclusive leadership and employee
involvement in creative tasks in the workplace: The mediating role of psychological
safety. Creativity Research Journal, 22(3), 250-260.
Davies, A.C.L. (2012). Identifying ‘exploitative compromises’: The role of labour law in
resolving disputes between workers. Current Legal Problems, 65(1), pp.269-294.
Dieudonne, A.J. (2020). Introduction to the Theory of Formal Groups 2nd ed. U.S: CRC
Press.
Forsyth, D. R. (2018). Group dynamics 1st ed. U.S: Cengage Learning.
Han, T. S., Chiang, H. H., & Chang, A. (2010). Employee participation in decision making,
psychological ownership and knowledge sharing: mediating role of organizational
commitment in Taiwanese high-tech organizations. The International Journal of
Human Resource Management, 21(12), 2218-2233.
Hansen, S. D., Dunford, B. B., Boss, A. D., Boss, R. W., & Angermeier, I. (2011). Corporate
social responsibility and the benefits of employee trust: A cross-disciplinary
perspective. Journal of business ethics, 102(1), 29-45.
Hazewinkel, M. (2012). Formal Groups and Applications 2nd ed. U.S: American
Mathematical Soc.
HR Zone. (2017). 5 Reasons to Engage Employees in Decision Making. Retrieved from
https://www.hrzone.com/community/blogs/sashag/5-reasons-to-engage-employees-in-
decision-making

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McCarthy, A., Darcy, C. and Grady, G. (2010) Work-life balance policy and practice:
Understanding line manager attitudes and behaviors. Human Resource Management
Review, 20(2), pp.158-167.
Molleman, L., Quiñones, A. E., & Weissing, F. J. (2013). Cultural evolution of cooperation:
the interplay between forms of social learning and group selection. Evolution and
Human Behavior, 34(5), 342-349.
Wood, S. and De Menezes, L.M. (2011). High involvement management, high-performance
work systems and well-being. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 22(07), pp.1586-1610.