Diversity Advocate Programmers: Case Study
Case Situation
I am a manager at Diversity Advocate Programmers, a programming company that is currently working on creating an application program for the government that must be completed in two weeks. My team consists of bright individuals: three males of Asian descent, ages 29-34 (majority group) who have all been with the company over five years; two females of younger age, one Palestinian and one Australian (minority group) who have been with the company under two years. Today the majority group complained about the minority group’s lack of performance, yet the complaints were tinged with some culturally derogatory overtones.
It is my responsibility to resolve the existing group tensions, to build teamwork, to create a strong and …show more content…
I then inform the group that in order to build teamwork, to gain understanding and to appreciate the contributions of all members within the group, everyone will be working with a different partner for an hour during the next two weeks. They will meet everyone twice, once to learn their job, and once to teach their job (See Schedule 1). Also, being that I know everyone is a video game enthusiast, I have scheduled a team Starcraft competition against one of our competitors, which we will take part in for a half hour at 3pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition, I will be holding weekly games nights at my house (or agreed upon location) and bringing homemade food is appreciated if …show more content…
By implementing the strategy of online game competition, we are trying to achieve group bonding, make team members more comfortable with each other, and identify themselves with the team as opposed to their subgroups. In addition, this activity also helps release the pressure from the daily work routine (Meyer, 2010). Our actions are aimed at managing diversity effectively through “senior management commitment and accountability” in the form of group bonding nights (Jayne & Dipboye, 2004). “In order to obtain performance benefits, heterogeneous team members must understand the others ' cultures” (Cox & Blake, 1991). By bringing homemade food to the weekly game nights, they have an opportunity to share their culture through food exchange that can spark in further cultural discussions. “The probability of success is likely to depend on situational factors such as the organizational culture, [...] people in the organization and their jobs” (Jayne & Dipboye, 2004). Our plan of action has been tailored specifically to our
I am a manager at Diversity Advocate Programmers, a programming company that is currently working on creating an application program for the government that must be completed in two weeks. My team consists of bright individuals: three males of Asian descent, ages 29-34 (majority group) who have all been with the company over five years; two females of younger age, one Palestinian and one Australian (minority group) who have been with the company under two years. Today the majority group complained about the minority group’s lack of performance, yet the complaints were tinged with some culturally derogatory overtones.
It is my responsibility to resolve the existing group tensions, to build teamwork, to create a strong and …show more content…
I then inform the group that in order to build teamwork, to gain understanding and to appreciate the contributions of all members within the group, everyone will be working with a different partner for an hour during the next two weeks. They will meet everyone twice, once to learn their job, and once to teach their job (See Schedule 1). Also, being that I know everyone is a video game enthusiast, I have scheduled a team Starcraft competition against one of our competitors, which we will take part in for a half hour at 3pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition, I will be holding weekly games nights at my house (or agreed upon location) and bringing homemade food is appreciated if …show more content…
By implementing the strategy of online game competition, we are trying to achieve group bonding, make team members more comfortable with each other, and identify themselves with the team as opposed to their subgroups. In addition, this activity also helps release the pressure from the daily work routine (Meyer, 2010). Our actions are aimed at managing diversity effectively through “senior management commitment and accountability” in the form of group bonding nights (Jayne & Dipboye, 2004). “In order to obtain performance benefits, heterogeneous team members must understand the others ' cultures” (Cox & Blake, 1991). By bringing homemade food to the weekly game nights, they have an opportunity to share their culture through food exchange that can spark in further cultural discussions. “The probability of success is likely to depend on situational factors such as the organizational culture, [...] people in the organization and their jobs” (Jayne & Dipboye, 2004). Our plan of action has been tailored specifically to our