The Theories of Discrimination - Assignment Example

Case discussion question In the action pattern and practice lawsuits given in the case of Wal-Mart, the plaintiffs are attempting to show that discrimination is not advocated at workplace and any kind of such action will be in violation of the law. Basically, discrimination takes place when people are treated differently and unfairly, usually because of their race gender or another feature that distinguishes them (Kleynhans, 2007). First and foremost, the plaintiffs want to show in their class action lawsuits that racial discrimination is an offence which warranties court litigation. If the court is able to prove a case against the defendants, then the defendants will be liable to pay for the damages to the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs also want to show that gender based discrimination has no room in the organisation as it will be in violation of the law which is regarded as supreme. As such, the plaintiffs in this given case also want to prove that the organisation in question has the duty to comply with the legislation that prevents unfair practices such as discrimination. The employees are protected by the law and they can file a lawsuit if they feel that they are not fairly treated by the employer. General discussion questions 1. In the USA, the theories of discrimination should develop from the Federal government. The US federal government is mainly comprised of three arms namely, the executive, the judicial and the legislative branch. The US constitution has put legislative power in the Congress which is responsible for enacting, implementing as well as enforcing the law. Usually, discrimination theories derive from common law and this can be dealt with at federal government level. The federal courts have the jurisdiction to preside over common law cases as prescribed by the constitution and all states are represented by the statutes that are enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives. 2. The tasks of locating information in a news article, deciphering a bus schedule or determining the correct change have adverse effects especially on the individuals who cannot perform these tasks. These are often regarded as common standards that can be used to measure someone’s integrity or level of intelligence. A person who cannot perform these tasks is often looked down upon and this amounts to discrimination. The affected person may lose self confidence and this can pose a problem for that individual to fit in the society as he or she will be afraid of being ridiculed for not knowing simple things. Friends and peers can have negative perceptions about a person who cannot perform these tasks and this has psychological effects on the affected person whereby he can end up seeing himself as abnormal. 3. The employers’ major complaint about ADA is legitimate given that the costs of making reasonable accommodation for the employees will make them less competitive relative to the other businesses. Whilst it is noble for the employer to provide reasonable accommodation to the employees, the employees must also realise that it is not mandatory for their employers to be doing this. As part of goodwill to their employees, the employers must contribute a considerable amount of money towards the accommodation needs of the workers. However, they must ensure that the costs likely to be incurred will not outweigh the competitiveness of the organisation given that the main essence of business is to make profits and they must also consider that some of the employees can leave the company anytime. On the other hand, the employers should take great responsibility for their accommodation needs. Case 2 discussion question 1. The inputs that can be provided by the Human Resources Management (HRM) to Toyoda and leadership of Toyota as it makes its way forward and tries to regain its focus include the following: training and development of human resources as well as implementing measures that promote the creation and sharing of ideas and knowledge. Training and development is a major input that ensures that the employees can keep pace with the developments obtaining on the ground. It is the role of the HRM to ensure that the human resources are developed to meet the expected standards that gives the organisation a competitive advantage. The other input can be in the form of innovative ideas and knowledge from the employees. Thus, the HRM should give the employees autonomy to contribute towards the decision making of the organisation. Case 3 discussion question 1. Job analysis is a step by step process of obtaining information about a job by identifying skills as well as duties while job design means identifying and organising tasks, duties and responsibilities that have to be carried out while job design (Kleynhans, 2007). The challenge posed by innovative portals for the analysis of work is that it may be difficult to assign duties to individuals outside the teams since they will be performing the same task. On the other hand, another challenge of innovative portals for design of work is that other employees may not have any influence over their jobs which can demoralise them. However, the major opportunity is that innovative portals improve the performance of the organisation and they promote the sharing of ideas. General discussion questions 1. The outputs of a fast food restaurant are different food items sold to the consumers. Activities required to produce those out puts involve the coordination of effort by the employees in preparing the different foodstuffs, storing the products before serving them to the ultimate consumers. The inputs include different ingredients that are used in the production of different products as well as the labour which is a human resource input. The human resources are the major players who perform the actual job. 2. A job analysis for ‘job’ for college students includes identifying the skills, duties, knowledge or activities that are needed for taking the job. The tasks required for this job includes interacting with the college students and responding to their queries in a satisfactory manner. Computers might improve the performance levels of the job since they can improve the pace of processing the information. There will be need to develop computer skills in order to be effective in that particular job. 3. It is important for the manager to conduct a job analysis because it enables him to gain necessary information about identifying the skills, duties, knowledge or activities that are needed for someone to be able to perform that job. A job analysis makes it easier for the manager to assign tasks to employees. The negative outcome of not understanding the jobs of those reporting to the manager is that there can be duplication of tasks since there is lack of information about their duties. References Kleynhans, R. Human resources management: Fresh perspectives. CT: Pearson Education, 2007. Print. Read More