Reflective Essay: Workplace Discrimination and Individualism

This reflective essay delves into the complexities of workplace discrimination, equal opportunities, and individualism, drawing upon Hofstede's five cultural dimensions as a framework for analysis. The essay examines a scenario involving a company facing issues of workplace cultural diversity, harassment, and unethical practices, highlighting the importance of implementing proper HR policies to prevent such issues. It explores relevant legal frameworks, such as the Australian Fair Pay Act and the Equal Opportunity Act, emphasizing the significance of a diverse workforce and its impact on organizational performance. Furthermore, the essay discusses the concept of individualism, referencing the case of a production manager whose behavior is influenced by collectivist social structures and power dynamics. The essay also provides an overview of Hofstede's cultural dimensions, including power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity vs. femininity, and long-term orientation, providing a comprehensive understanding of cultural differences and their influence on workplace dynamics. Finally, the essay reflects on the application of these concepts, the importance of understanding cultural differences, and the benefits of diverse group dynamics.

Running head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY
REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Name of Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Workplace discrimination and equal opportunities and individualism from the Hofstedes
five cultural dimensions are the two main that I have selected for the purpose of this essay
(Dhanani, Beus & Joseph, 2018). Workplace discrimination is relevant for the chosen scenario
because Ned was being faced with problems of workplace cultural diversity and in fact his
foreign employees were subjected to harassment and discrimination at the workplace by the
agent who was appointed by Ned because the agent was engaged in carrying out various
unethical practices in the organization. He was not giving the workforce the wages that was
actually earned by them. He kept about 70% of the wages with himself and gave them only 30%.
The accommodation given by him to the workers was also not good it was below the actual
standards. Has Ned used proper policies in the business related to punishment for workplace
discrimination, the agent would not have been able to carry out these activities. Different
countries have laws governing the issues of workplace discrimination and equal opportunities.
For instance in Australia the law governing these issues is the Australian Fair Pay Act, 2010 and
for standard conditions in workplace (www.legislation.gov.au, 2019). The act as it names itself
suggests looks after the fair payment of wages to the workers. In case any workers is being
unpaid they can infirm the government regarding the same or they can give the information
about the same to the ombudsperson. This act also looks after proper working conditions on the
organization to see that the employees are not working under improper conditions. There are
certain laws prohibiting the workplace discrimination such at organizations can work with people
from diverse cultural background. The equal opportunity act, 2010 looks after the issues of
workplace discrimination and equal opportunities (Baylson & Harris, 2017). The act provides for
protection of the employees from any form of discrimination such as in recruitment, if an
employee is not being given proper training and development opportunities, if the employees are

2REFLECTIVE ESSAY
retrenched without any justification and other activities. There can be different forms of
discrimination- indirect and direct. This act covers protection from any form of victimization of
the employees. In the case scenario Ned was bringing workers from Bangladesh for carrying out
the garment manufacturing activities. This shows that no organization can survive by employing
people completely from their nations also they need skilled people and sometimes these skilled
people are available from other countries. The company needs to have proper HR policies to
prohibit these activities in the company and by adopting the same the company can improve its
performance and productivity because diverse workforce brings with themselves diverse skills,
diverse knowledge and lot more. These can be used by the organization in order to achieve the
results and carry out its operation’s properly. I chose recruitment of employees with the help of
agent and besides that further research as recruitment is a very important activity of the
organization. This activity should not completely be done by the agents, the organizational
members should also be included in this such as to see that no form of discrimination has been
applied in dealing with the employees.
The second concept chosen by me from the case scenarios is that of individualism. The
production manager of Ispirante Sanjit kapoor, belongs to a country where the social structure is
that of maintaining the faces. Social structure or institution refers to all those norms that govern
the behavior of the individual within the community that is an individual behaves according to
the norms of the social institution of which he is a part. Each social system represent the
governing rule for the individuals of that community. Thee social institutions can be divide into
three main parts: the regulative dimension, the cognitive dimension and the regulative
dimension. The regulative dimension involves carrying out a particular behavior through
enforcement of different laws and regulations. The cognitive dimension is determined by the

3REFLECTIVE ESSAY
cultural assumptions and beliefs of an individual. The normative dimension incudes all those
business procedures that are accepted socially. In this case scenario, Sanjit’s response shows that
he belongs to the social institution of cognitive dimensions. It is so because the people belonging
to these institution do not believe in individuals but believe in collectivism that is they feel that
they represent their society and very cautious of their activities because they do not want to let
down their society (Triandis, 2018). These people have the culture of saving their faces in any
scenario and that is what governs their interpersonal interaction. These people wish to maintain
social harmony such that any form of embarrassment in the society can be avoided by them. He
also belongs to the culture where power gaps are higher such that these people do not want to
work in an environment where they can take discussion on their own but they are subjected to be
guided regarding their decisions by others. This is clear from the case scenario because Sanjit
agrees to talk in private about his plan of action such that he will not have to face any social
embarrassment in front of all the people. He works according to the guidelines as provided by
Ned and this shows that he belongs to a culture that scores higher in the power gap. This is also
clear from the fact that Ned and Sanjit share superior-subordinate relationships. According to
Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions, the culture in different countries and individuals various
depending upon five main factors. Those factors are: power gaps, individualism vs. collectivism,
uncertainty avoidance, masculinity vs. femininity, long-term orientation vs. short-term
orientation and indulgence vs. restraint (Deephouse, Newburry & Soleimani, 2016).

4REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Figure 1: Hofstede Cultural dimension
Source: (Huang & Crotts, 2019)
Power gap shows the extent to which the gap is accepted by the society
and the weaker members of the organization. A high power gap would ,mean that power distance
is acceptable to the people and they do not question it. However, in case of lower power gap
cultures, the people do not accept the inequality of power in the society. Everyone is seen at the
same level. Collectivism vs. individualism means the extent to which a person feels they belong
to the society and have a responsibility towards the society. A culture which gets a higher score
in collectivism shows that they want to be accepted by the society and they feel they belong to
the society and have responsibility towards it. A culture that scores higher in individualism
shows that these people do not want to be accepted by the society they only want to be a part of
their immediate family and feel responsibility only towards that. Uncertainty avoidance shows a
culture that is ready to accept the change. A culture that scores high in uncertainty avoidance
means that the culture foes not want to adapt itself to any changes easily and the culture which

5REFLECTIVE ESSAY
gets a lower score in this shows that these people are easy to adapt to changes in the environment
faster. Masculinity vs. femininity. This shows the degree to which preference is given to the
individuals on the basis of gender and the way they work. A masculine society shows
characteristics such as aggressions, power, rewards for hard work and others. Whereas a culture
of femininity puts more importance on characteristics such as coordination, patience, caring
attitude and others. Short term orientation vs. long term orientation. A culture that is short term
oriented with concerned with the immediate results and does not consider the long term impact
of actions and vice versa. Restraint vs. indulgence culture implies the degree of freedom that the
individuals get from the society. We decided that timeline suggested by Sanjit was first accepted
by the Ned because Ned wanted to face the challenge of seeing if the manufacturing could be
done within that timeline as proposed by the production manager. However, the result was that
three weeks was not sufficient to carry out the activities of the manufacturing properly and when
Ned finally spoke to the production manager it was found that three weeks was not at all
sufficient but five weeks will be sufficient. This time is required because it will help in seeing the
feasibility of the project. There could have been various mistakes in case the project had been
carried out in a hurry. Understanding these issues will be beneficial in future also because in case
of any form of discrimination taking place in the organization I can report the same to the
concerned authorities such that correct action can be taken. The theory on cultural differences
will help me to interact with people from different background. This is what happened when we
were discussing the topic in group since there are many student from different cultural
background so there were many points where there was difference in opinion. Group dynamics is
the study of psychological processes and behaviors in a group when the members interact with

6REFLECTIVE ESSAY
each other. The behavior of the people is affected by the culture to which they belong and also to
their beliefs and values which depends in their past experience.

7REFLECTIVE ESSAY
References
Baylson, M., & Harris, C. (2017). Equal Opportunity. Judicature, 101, 65.
Deephouse, D. L., Newburry, W., & Soleimani, A. (2016). The effects of institutional
development and national culture on cross-national differences in corporate
reputation. Journal of World Business, 51(3), 463-473.
Dhanani, L. Y., Beus, J. M., & Joseph, D. L. (2018). Workplace discrimination: A meta‐analytic
extension, critique, and future research agenda. Personnel Psychology, 71(2), 147-179.
Huang, S. S., & Crotts, J. (2019). Relationships between Hofstede's cultural dimensions and
tourist satisfaction: A cross-country cross-sample examination. Tourism
Management, 72, 232-241.
Triandis, H. C. (2018). Individualism and collectivism. Routledge.
www.legislation.gov.au (2019). Fair Work Act 2009. [online] Legislation.gov.au. Available at:
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00512 [Accessed 23 May 2019].