Managing Diversity and Equal Opurtunity - Essay Example

According to this theory, discrimination is categorised into realistic, social and consensual discrimination. Realistic competition refers to a type of discrimination is driven by self-interest, which a person or group of people intend to obtain things like food, shelter, customers or territory among others. This form of discrimination is perpetuated when one group, which is often advantaged favours its members to enable them receive or obtain more same resources as compared to the others (Blank and Citro, 2004, p. 57). Social competition on the other hand is a kind of discrimination driven by desire for self esteem.

The intention of this discrimination is to achieve positive social status for members of one group or groups as compared to other disadvantaged groups. Finally, consensual discrimination refers to a kind of discrimination based on desire to be excellent or accurate. This type of discrimination reflects legitimate and stable hierarchy status of a specific group of people. Example of this form of discrimination is racism, where certain race feels more superior as compared to the others. It is worth noting that discrimination can be perpetrated anywhere by any person or group of persons. . evident during hiring and firing, compensation, classification of employees or assignment, recalling, laying off, promotion, transfer, testing and recruitment of employees.

It is also evident during utilization of company’s resources, apprenticeships and trainings, pay, fringe benefits, retirement plans or disability leave of employees. Discrimination behaviour or action is evident when bosses become harder on certain employees than others based on irrelevant characteristics such as gender, race, height, weight, sexual orientation, physical disability or age. This is unethical especially if one losses or suffer damage like not getting well deserved promotion or pay hike.

Discrimination takes many forms and are based on what Cahn (2002) refer s to as irrelevant characteristics such as age, disability, genetics, religion, race/ colour, sex or nationality. Examples of different forms of discrimination are listed as follows. If a person decides to donate to help disadvantage members of the society like helping the orphans, but decides to donate less to others out of racist attitude, the person acts discriminately even if he benefits the recipients. Excluding students from an educational institution, training program, loan, student group, opportunities or scholarships on the basis of age or colour is some form of discrimination.

Excluding people from housing, contracting/leasing or obtaining a loan on the basis of sex or age is also discrimination (Lucas, 2009). Refusal to give (advance) credit or perpetuating unequal loan terms for people because they are people from a different religion or gender is also discrimination. In the past, the government of the day in countries like South Africa and Papua New Guinea develop policies of racial discrimination during the era of