The Pros and Cons of Affirmative Action in the World of Business - Term Paper Example

The Pros and Cons of Affirmative Action in the world of Business Affirmative action is basically a guideline or an active policy made by the business or an organization to make more assorted workforce. In accordance with Richard F. Tomasson (Affirmative action: the pros and cons of policy and practice), “affirmative action exists whenever an organization goes out of its way (i.e. exerts an effort) to help realize goal of true equality among people.”1 Moreover it is an active effort made to improve the educational opportunities of minorities working in an organization or a step taken to ensure that everybody is getting an equal opportunity to work in a particular work place. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon in the 1960s were the first to issue executive orders for the implementation of modern affirmative action plans. Affirmative action can be of several types for instance if an organization is not ready to give an employment to a person from minority group then the distressed person can file a formal administrative complaint with the Department of Workplace Standards and on the basis of that filing, the commissioner of workplace standards or his representative shall conduct an administrative hearing but according to KRS chapter 13B, if the complaint will be proved wrong or just a matter of personal envy from the applicants end then the case will be dismissed. It is a general concept that in order to make effective affirmative action it is necessary to assure that every employee especially minorities are getting fair opportunities so that it could get good will of employees but cases are seen when beneficiary of affirmative action policy felt devalued. Such examples include case of Detroit symphony Orchestra as he was hired because of the pressure from authorities to engage African Americans with passing usual blind audition. Another case was of Mr. Stephen Cater who felt dismay as he only got admission in Harvard school because he was black. According to (Richard F. Tomasson), “The emphasis must be on equality, or else affirmative action may backfire to the detriment not only of the candidate but of the organization as well”2. Affirmative action basically affects three major areas that are education, employment and public contracting. Education is directly linked with the world of business as highly educated diverse people will make better diverse workforce in future. Critics have aroused two main questions about affirmative action policy and that are: if affirmative action policy is fair and if the policy is really effective? Now through analyzing and discussing the affirmative action policy we will conclude whether the policy is fair and effective or it has some back draws too. In this diverse world every successful corporate person knows the importance of affirmative action in the world of business as it brings diverse skills and workforce which later on helps the organization to compete nationally and internationally. But as coin always has two sides so it is also possible that minority person who is given preference over a more hard working or skilled person from majority group just because of the policy of specific business which obviously is unfair. In this way a minority person might start thinking that he will be accepted in any organization with ordinary skills only and a more hardworking majority person on the other hand will feel himself degraded so hiring process should be on the basis of skills and capability of a person only no matter which group of society he belongs to as diversity surely is an important factor and can’t be left to chance. Today circumstances show that things have move on from issues like racism as white people have started choosing black president on white people and women are encouraged to participate in every walk of life so affirmative action should be for all. When affirmative policy was introduced the issue was only of numbers that certain number of minorities should be placed in every business to equalize the society and no merit was defined so stereotyping proved to be a double edged sword for those who didn’t follow the policy as they have to face threats like boycotts from minority customers so less skilled people get the job just because of preferential treatment. Following are some advantages and disadvantages of affirmative action policy: Advantages of Affirmative action policy: (a) Affirmative action policy compensates minorities: Most important feature and advantage of this policy is that it compensates minorities and women. Societies where minorities were neglected get a chance to heal up the wounds of their ill treated ancestors who have worked without wages for a long time during the perio (Fischer, 2010)d of enslavement. (b) Affirmative action plan served as a booster for minorities: Minorities worked more hard to serve the nation where they got equal rights. They got a chance to work on equal basis in a place where they were always considered second citizen. (c) Minorities got exposure of various fields: Because of affirmative action policy minorities and women get a chance to work in places where they never expected to work in. The new experience has explored new fields for them as men were brought to fields like nursing which was considered a purely women field and women were brought in the world of information technology. Disadvantages of Affirmative Action Policy: (a) Affirmative action plan reverses discrimination: The purpose of this law was to build up an unbiased society by spreading equality in all departments but it worked opposite in reality. People who were hired on the basis of this law felt disgraced and devalued as they started thinking that they are incapable in reality that’s why they are not being judged on merit. On the other hand people who were more capable but belong to majority group was not getting preference so felt that they are being discriminated just because of this affirmative action? (b) Affirmative Action Plan has given rise to lower standards of liability: This law has also given rise to lower standards of reliability as people started getting jobs on the basis of affirmative action plan rather than merits. A person who is getting a good job without extra ordinary skills or a student getting admission in Harvard with less GPA will defiantly go for short cuts in life and will not believe in hard work. So selection should be on basis of equality and not on personal favors just to get good will of society (c) Sense of achievement on minorities end was demeaned: A sense of achievement that a person get because of hard work or extra ordinary talent was demeaned among minorities as they got a feeling of being pitied as (Karsten, 2006) says’ “denying individuals the satisfaction of knowing they have attained a position on their own merits can lower their self-efficacy and foster feeling of inadequacy”3 . They felt ashamed when they see a more capable person from majority group working on very minor position. CONCLUSION Though affirmative action policy was introduced to benefit minorities in the beginning and the only sole purpose of policy maker was to benefit minorities but later on consequences proved that it had some disadvantages too which can’t be left behind or can’t be ignored. These back draws made majorities realize that they are being discriminated. Selection process no matter in any department of world should be done on the basis of talent, hard work and equality and not on the only basis of “being minority”. It is obvious that minorities will also get equal rights when the selection process will be fair and unbiased so there is no need of such plans where hard working and talented person is neglected as preference is given to minority group. A person who belongs to majority group might deserve more than a person belonging to minority group and is getting a job in plate. The law seems beneficial for minorities but critics believe that it is vague and hazy as (Fischer, 2010) Says that,” the concept itself is ambiguous and sometimes misunderstood”4. In short the policy has both negative and positive impacts in world of business as far as employees are concerned so organization who are practicing this policy have to be very careful while applying it as it has to keep feelings of both majorities an minorities in mind. The law is still controversial from the day of its origin and it seems that the debate will never end up. Those who are in favor of this law will keep on defending it and the other group will keep on criticizing it. The endless debate might be a reason of setback by the Supreme Court on the issue of affirmative action policy. There are many organizations that are practicing this policy but there are also states like California who have banned practicing affirmative action policy by government entities. REFERENCES Anderson, T. H. (2004 ). The Pursuit of Fairness: A History of Affirmative Action. Oxford University Press, ISBN ISBN 0-19-515764-8. Fischer, K. (2010). Advantages and Controversy of US "Affirmative Action". GRIN Verlag. Golland, D. H. (2008). "Constructing Affirmative Action: Federal Contract Compliance and the Building Construction Trades, . PhD dissertation City University of New York. Karsten, M. F. (2006). Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in the Workplace. Greenwood Publishing Group. Richard F. Tomasson, F. J. Affirmative action: the pros and cons of policy and practice. Read More