The Role of Business in Curtailing Discrimination - Literature review Example

Business Society and Policy Report: Discrimination and the Role of Business The Role of Business in CurtailingDiscrimination The issues surrounding discrimination are familiar with many societies and business organizations. Discrimination comprises the vices that should not be tolerated in a serious organization and country that seeks to maximize protection of human rights. In many cases, employers and certain dominant groups have been accused of engaging in acts of discrimination on particular recessive and low ranked individuals. However, the commonness of the term in our societies, there has been no stable and neutral definition of the feud. In an attempt to define the term, Altman (2011) views discrimination as the means of treating groups of people in distantly different ways. Discrimination in the workplace occurs when an individual employer or employee treats one group of employees with less consideration than others. All the same, Altman (2011) admits that not all unequal handling of employees constitutes discrimination considering the fact that various people in an employment set up perform different kinds of duties. Employment discrimination practices as comprising issues like biased hiring of workers, selective promotion, unequal job assignment, unreasoned termination of ones duties and unfair compensation. Furthermore, discrimination can be defined as the use of ones power to induce legal and behavioral restrictions on the impoverished societal members to with a vision to maintaining the inequality and desires of particular individuals. In addition, discrimination refers to the unfair treatment of a particular society or group having different believes and views on concerning particular issues. Workplace place discrimination does not just result from the specific work place but the established social relations mostly influence it. The elements of social discriminations are influenced by the varying relationship between groups, which later dictates power and participation in various issues. The hostile existence between groups and social prejudice can lead to development of bullying and stereotyping among various employees in the working organization. Discrimination in an organization may also result as a way of reiterating against past discriminatory acts to previously low ranking employees. Discrimination takes various dimensions that include race, gender, age, ethnicity, or disability among other natures of discrimination. Discrimination classifies under two major forms that include direct and indirect discrimination. Direct discrimination involves the act of treating particular individuals in a disfavored manner with consideration to specific traits such as of gender, race, disability, nationality, disability, and culture (Altman 2011). Indirect discrimination on the other hand refers to the policies that tend to be transparent and fair from the outlook but appears opposite when critically investigated. Indirect discrimination can involve blockade of job applicants on the grounds of petty reasons such as age and unreasonable requirements. In most cases, indirect discrimination persists in organization since it is never for an individual to identify and disclose it on the open. Indirect discrimination have been problematic to certain individuals especially women and the disabled groups (Altman 2011). The general concept of discrimination involves unethical treatment of specific individuals in ways of harassment, bullying, and prejudices that finally may have negative impacts on the victims’ concentration. The impacts of discrimination are usually borne by the society as well as the organization in which the act is pursued. The gender form of discrimination has been problematic and with great influence to the society and job organization as well. Gender discrimination in the societies has seen women being viewed as the minority members of the particular families (Glucks 2011). Gender discrimination has delegated overwhelming duties to the women among them including taking care of the entire family. Glucks (2011) reports that gender discrimination has resulted to inequality in the society and workplace as women get lower pay than men on the same task performed by individual workers. Gender discrimination against women has also posed great problems to the societies and business organizations due to the retardation in the productivity of individual workers. The fall in the level of production among the discriminated gender results from loss of motivation and demoralization of the individual workers (Glucks 2011). Gender discrimination occurs either in ways of cracking jokes that demean an individual or insinuation of sexual nature of a given employee. The societal belief that bestows great powers to men in the lines of politics and social position has led to unequal distribution of power in the families. The existing inequality has made men to pursue great violations of rights of women and harassment in the work place (Glucks 2011). Homosexuals and transgender have faced great discrimination from the societies and work place (Glucks 2011). Discrimination extended to the transgender, homosexuals have led to the decline in the self-worth, and self-esteem of the victims. According Glucks (2011), holding stereotypes that rule in the societies and extending it to the work place has led to unfair promotion among the employees. The stereotypes that women are always weak members of the society may make a supervisor pass a deserving women and grant promotion to lower man probably due to the notions that men are strong (Ranata 2011). Furthermore, managers and directors of institutions that comprise high percentage of women may skip promoting a qualified man and offer the promotion to low and poorly performing woman. Such events may result into stress, ridicule, humiliation and insult to the discriminated male member by the dominant female counterparts, which may be facilitated by egoism and desire to exercise power on males as contradicts most societies. Gender discrimination has resulted to impasse in decision making to women to face questions concerning family responsibilities during interviews. Women sometimes encounter difficult moments when enquired to verify their plans of striking a balance between the job and the family responsibility (Ranata 2011). Gender discrimination made managers assign less job responsibilities and at times tasks that do not line up with their descriptions. This has resulted to feelings of degradation and unnecessary mistakes during performance of job. Ranata (2011) discloses that gender discrimination may also lead to loss of self-worth, which may call for desire to cause physical destruction on self and on others in order to attract attention of the perceived responsible counterparts. In addition, gender discrimination may result into spread of rumors of abuse about particular employees or even the organization with due aim of attracting sympathy. Gender discrimination may call on victims to start adopt the use of hard drugs that have dangerous effects on the individual victims, societies and the work organization (Choi & Roh 2010). Racial discrimination in the working organizations and outer society has resulted to social inequality. Racial discrimination has also retardation of physical and psychological wellbeing of the victims resulted by massive stress succumbed by the individuals (Crocker 2007, 2). Racial discrimination has stifled development of countries and societies dominated by the vice due to demoralization of the victims from hard work. Crocker (2007, 3) in reference to the research findings conducted in the US indicted that the victims of racism who were majorly blacks underwent through psychological and physiological health problems. Racism in the US led to segregation that was used as ways of extending unequal treatment and distribution of resources within an economy. Racism has ranges of effects that involve anxiety, anger, helplessness, frustration, and great fears. Victims of racism resolve to coping strategies that are not cordial to the societal and ethical codes of conduct. The most common coping strategies for alleviation of stress may involve indulgence into consumption of drug and substance abuse and poor eating habits among the victims. Persistent racial discrimination in a working environment may lead to the development of physiological problems that include hypertension, cardiovascular reactivity and negative neuroendocrine responses (Crocker 2007, 3). Furthermore, stress caused by adverse racism may lead to depreciation of human system of the victim. Age discrimination in an employment set up involves actions that wok against certain individuals because of age or the basis of assumption, misunderstanding, and stereotypes that concerns individual ability in the lines of age (Gallagher 2008). Ageism prohibits full exploitation of individuals’ talents, skills, ability, and experience. Ageism has seen victims denied chances of training, promotion and paid less on the work done (Redman 2005, 5). Age based discrimination may as well lead to dismissal of the aged from employment and at times may be denied particular essential benefits. Ageism has also led to the recruitment of aged individuals at low wages and placement in very low ranking than they actually deserve. Gallagher (2008) states that ageism also causes certain psychological effects that include acceptance of the stereotypes that work against the wish of the old and may drive the victims into loneliness thus leading to withdrawal from society (McDowell 2011). Ageism may also drive the older members into fear thereby resorting to age denial and may as well attempt to disguise their age by indulging in unique fashions like hair coloring and plastic surgery. Victims of ageism may need to run away from negative stereotypes and may end up applying drug and substance abuse to configure their escape (Gallagher 2008). Victims of age discrimination may also suffer mental illness such as depression that may eventually result to suicide among the victims. Ageism may also lead to withdrawal of the aged or sacking of the aged experienced worker and replacing them with young inexperienced workers who may not come up with quality and quantity of production. The cut on the pensions of the retirees has also led to retard consumption of goods and services and fall in the purchasing power of the society in general and worst is the decline in the governments’ tax base. Discrimination against disabled people has seen the exclusion of able and intelligent individuals from securing employment opportunities (Reader 2011). The existing stereotype against disabled as a burden has made many employers and society in general to ignore employment of the disabled individuals. Discrimination based on disability has led to poor relationship of the disabled with the other members of the society. In addition, discrimination in the lines of disability has resulted to misrecognition of the needs of the disabled people that have seen many buildings erected without inclusion of plans that can accommodate disabled like those moving on wheel chairs. Due to the discernible effects of general discrimination, business, society, and governments have merged under the principles of B-S-G triangle to help eradicate elements of discrimination in the working environments. Business being the focus of the study, it has formulated and structured various systems for merging and working the other responsible constitutes of the triangle. Business organizations have taken steps in collaboration with the society and the government to carry training to create employee awareness on the need to avoid discriminatory practices. Business organizations need to conduct the training sessions at every level of the organization so that no one is left or discriminated from learning business deals. In addition, business organizations should take steps to encourage peer reinforcement and sound off any element of harassment so that the impasse is tackled at its earlier stage of development. Business organizations have to adopt the principles of B-S-G to conform to the governments’ Age Discrimination Act 1975, to build and restore sanity in the workplace (Barnett 2011). The Discrimination Act further rebukes any kind of discrimination of any worker in the society (Barnett 2011). In the US, businesses organizations have worked hand in hand with the government in ensuring protection of human rights as enshrined in the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. According to Barnett (2011), business organizations should also work towards ensuring inclusion of equality and diversity issues in the planning process of business. Furthermore, business organizations need to express the will of challenging the existing assumptions and stereotypes in the society in order set policies that promote diversity in the organization (Cheung 2000, 5). Various business organizations have to establish appropriate strategies that seek to embrace dialogue with workers by incessant acknowledgment for having accepted diversity. Cheung (2000, p 6), business organizations have to resort into giving of unselective and formal recognition for individuals who display positivity in their working processes. Business organizations are also expected to start practicing the act of appreciating marginal colleagues in the employment sector to enable the vulnerable individuals achieve a common goal with the normal fellow employees. Business organization shave also collaborated with housing and planning organizations to structure policies that ensure address of the discriminatory boundaries within the societies (Cheung 2000, p 6). In conclusion, general models of discrimination in the working environment and the society has detrimental effects to both the society and the workplace. Gender discrimination in the working place involves issues tangential to the traditional stereotypes that see women as recessive members of the community. Gender discrimination has dragged women into sexual harassment, low pay, inappropriate job delegation and assignment of little tasks merely because 1of the perception about women’s commitments in the families. Women have also faced delegation of easy jobs and discrimination from promotion opportunities just because of perception that they are always weak and cannot perform to the expectations. Similarly, ageism and racism have seen employers and supervisors skip deserving and experienced employee has in order to employ inexperienced and undeserving employees, which then leads to under production in a firm and society in general. Precisely, all constituents of employment discrimination lead to demoralization of workers as well as loss of motivation, which entirely leads to retard production. Discriminations have also hauled the victims into the abuse of drugs and self and peer physical mutilation as way of gaining attention. Business organizations in the umbrella of B-S-G have the sole mandate of driving other constitutes of the B-S-G towards repairing the mess that exists in the societies. Business organizations have to recognize the need for equal employment opportunities to individual employees. Job vacancies should be filled based on satisfactory qualifications and not in the lines of unreasonable restrictions. In addition, business organizations should realize the capability of various groups in the employment sectors .and offer to each group according to their desires. Furthermore, business organizations have to embrace close operations with the human rights bodies and confer with the governments’ acts designated for preserving sanity in the employment sectors. 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