Equal Employment Opportunity

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Equal Employment Opportunity

• Affirmative Action
• Workforce Diversity

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Outline

• What is Affirmative Action?
• Whats the purpose of Affirmative Action?
• Affirmative Action vs. Diversity
• How do we incorporate diversity into hiring
  systems?
• Other issues?

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What is Affirmative Action?

• those actions appropriate to overcome the
  effects of past or present practices, policies,
  or other barriers to EEO
• Recruitment of under-represented groups
• Changing attitudes
• Targeted internships/other programs
• Preferential treatment
• Soft goals Hard goals

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The Q Word (Quotas)

• When is preferential treatment allowed?
• Court-mandated (egregious cases)
• Federal contractors
• Voluntary programs (Weber rules)
• Part of bona fide program to resolve historical
  imbalance
• Temporary may not trammel rights of others
• Quotas vs. Goals and Timetables
• Quotas and Qualifications

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What is the purpose of AA?

• Remedy for past discrimination?
• Assist those who are disadvantaged?
• To promote diversity?

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Purpose 1 Remedy for Past Discrimination

• Two theories of how to remedy
• Level playing field--eliminate barriers
• Compensatory assistance
• Issues
• Is this philosophically inconsistent?
• Is it still needed or relevant?

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Are We Making Progress?

• ? of executive, administrative and managerial
  positions are held by blacks
• ? of the 394 Supreme Court law clerks are
  African-Americans (1998)
• ? agreed that people with AIDS should be
  covered by ADA

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Purpose 2 Assist Disadvantaged

• Issues
• Group or individual (actual victims)?
• Who is disadvantaged?
• Is race/sex an imprecise surrogate?
• Where does responsibility lie?
• Society, schools, employers?
• When should assistance end?
• e.g., glass ceiling

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Purpose 3 Enhance Diversity

• In U of Michigan case (2003) Supreme Court agreed
  that diversity may be a legitimate purpose
• This was in an education settingwould it
  generalize to other settings?

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Diversity vs. Affirmative Action

• AA Strategy intended to achieve fair employment
  by urging employers to employ groups who were
  discriminated against in past
• Diversity Strategy in which nontraditional
  employees are fully integrated...as key factors
  in company performance
• Adapted from Gomez-Mejia, Balkin Cardy
  (1995)

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A Business Case for Diversity

• Increased potential for new ideas
• Better interaction with diverse customers
• Customers expectations
• 40 of Blacks indicated Black employment is
  important to buying decisions (1998 USA Today
  poll)
• Lawsuits by customers cost Dennys 54 M
• Applicants expectations

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Dennys A Success Story?

• 1994 54.4 M lawsuit by customers
• no minorities in top mgmt, only 1 on board, only
  1 minority franchisee
• no contracts with minority vendors
• 1998 Fortune list of best firms for minorities
• 33 of board, officers managers are minorities
• 125M (14) of vendors are minorities
• Managers are evaluated on valuing diversity