Thesis Study (Convergys)
CHAPTER 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTINGS
INTRODUCTION One of the major ethical challenges in today’s increasingly diverse work environment is the search for sound principles to frame business activities and guide actors, corporations and individuals. While diversity is often viewed in relation only to race, ethnic and gender differences, in the case of the workplace, diversity can cover all aspects in which people are different, including age, gender, ethnicity, language, cultural background, religious belief, sexual orientation and family responsibilities, as well as educational level, work and life experience, personality and marital status. Among the challenges presented to the owners and managers of diverse workplaces is the need to make sure different employees are able to communicate and fully understand each other, to make teamwork possible and avoid confusion. This can be very difficult in multilingual and multicultural environments in particular. Organizations also need to make sure they have the right management team and strategy in place. Leaders and managers will need to ensure that diversity policies are effective and they will be responsible for their success. Diversity also needs to be visible in leadership positions. Convergys (NYSE: CVG) is a multi-national corporation that provides management consulting services, outsourced billing, customer care and employee care, and transaction management software. Most of its clients are companies in the communications, financial services, technology, and employee-care market. The company grew from Cincinnati Bell Information Systems and MATRIXX, both subsidiaries of Cincinnati Bell, and AT&T Solutions Customer Care (formerly AT&T American Transtech), which was sold to Cincinnati Bell in 1998; an IPO in 1998 made it a fully independent company. Since then, Convergys has acquired numerous companies and expanded its business to employ over 74,000 people in 40 countries around the world. Its
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTINGS
INTRODUCTION One of the major ethical challenges in today’s increasingly diverse work environment is the search for sound principles to frame business activities and guide actors, corporations and individuals. While diversity is often viewed in relation only to race, ethnic and gender differences, in the case of the workplace, diversity can cover all aspects in which people are different, including age, gender, ethnicity, language, cultural background, religious belief, sexual orientation and family responsibilities, as well as educational level, work and life experience, personality and marital status. Among the challenges presented to the owners and managers of diverse workplaces is the need to make sure different employees are able to communicate and fully understand each other, to make teamwork possible and avoid confusion. This can be very difficult in multilingual and multicultural environments in particular. Organizations also need to make sure they have the right management team and strategy in place. Leaders and managers will need to ensure that diversity policies are effective and they will be responsible for their success. Diversity also needs to be visible in leadership positions. Convergys (NYSE: CVG) is a multi-national corporation that provides management consulting services, outsourced billing, customer care and employee care, and transaction management software. Most of its clients are companies in the communications, financial services, technology, and employee-care market. The company grew from Cincinnati Bell Information Systems and MATRIXX, both subsidiaries of Cincinnati Bell, and AT&T Solutions Customer Care (formerly AT&T American Transtech), which was sold to Cincinnati Bell in 1998; an IPO in 1998 made it a fully independent company. Since then, Convergys has acquired numerous companies and expanded its business to employ over 74,000 people in 40 countries around the world. Its