Diversity And The Impact On Individual Behavior Essay

Diversity and the Impact on Individual Behavior The closest definition to individual behavior is personality which is the totality of an individuals behavioral and emotional characteristics. Personality embraces a persons moods, attitudes, opinions, motivations, and style of thinking, perceiving, speaking and acting. It is part of what makes each individual distinct (Answers, 2007). Diversity within organizations can positively or negatively impact individual behavior. Diversity includes all the ways in which individuals differ including race, gender, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and child/elder care responsibilities (Census bureau, 2007). Organizations can create opportunities to draw upon people with different†¦show more content†¦McDonalds took 13 months to figure out that Hindus in India do not eat beef and once they began making burgers out of lamb, sales increased (Lopez-Campillo, n.d., para. 10). Another example is how an American firm sent a bus iness proposal to Saudi Arabia in pig skin to dramatize the presentation. Pigs are an insult to Muslims, so the proposal was never opened (Lopez-Campillo, n.d., para. 10). Knowing what is important to an ethnic group causes employees from that group to feel more comfortable in the workplace. Also, educating all employees about different ethnic groups is a way for all employees to gain a better understanding of their co workers. Gender In 1950 about one in three women participated in the labor force. By 1998, nearly three of every five women of working age were in the labor force (Heatherfield, n.d., para. 4). In 2008, the U.S. Department of labor estimates that women will make up 48% of the workforce (Heatherfield, n.d., para. 6). As the number of women in the workforce rises so do the numbers of women who hold higher titles such as Chairman, CEO, Vice Chairman, President, Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President, and Executive Vice President. This number has increased from 7.3% in 2000 to 9.9% in 2002 (Diversity statistics, 2006). Women are advancing in the workplace both in volume and in numbers of higher positions, but are still not paid equally to men. For every dollar earned by men, Caucasian women earn 59 cents,Show MoreRelatedThe Impact of Diversity on Individual Behavior1275 Words   |  6 PagesThe Impact of Diversity on Individual Behavior The concept of diversity has broadened in scope in the recent past, evolving from the concept of mandated quotas and affirmative action, to the reality of a diverse workforce being capable of providing quantifiable business value. A variety of external factors have influenced the conceptual evolution of diversity within the workplace. 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