Chapter 17 Career Management In This Chapter, You’ll Find: Chapter Overview Learning Outcomes Key Terms PowerPoint Guide Review Questions and Answers Discussion and Communication Questions and Suggested Answers Ethical Dilemma Self-Assessments—What about You? Issues in Diversity Experiential Exercises Additional Examples Case Study and Suggested Responses: Career Customization for Everyone: Deloitte’s Career/Life Program Video: Profile on Living Social Escapes Student Handouts: Ethical Dilemma What About You?: What’s Your EI at Work? What About You?: Assess Your Flexibility Skills Issues in Diversity: Combat Experience Required Experiential Exercise: The Individual-Organizational Dialogue Experiential Exercise: The Ethics of Resumes and Recommendations Experiential Exercise: Dual Careers Experiential Exercise: My Friend Morgan Case Study: Career Customization for Everyone: Deloitte’s Career/Life Program Chapter Overview This chapter emphasizes the increasing responsibility that employees are taking for their own career management. It describes the four stages of career advancement and the typical characteristics of each stage. In addition, it provides an overview of Holland’s six types of personalities and occupational choice, and describes the role of psychological contracts and mentors on career development, career paths, and career anchors. Learning Outcomes After reading this chapter, students should be able to do the following: 1. Explain occupational and organizational choice decisions. Answer: Individuals now take on more responsibility for managing their own careers. The old career is giving way to a new career model characterized by discrete exchange, occupational excellence, organizational empowerment, and project allegiance. As the time approaches for beginning a career, individuals face two difficult decisions: occupational choice and organizational choice. In choosing an occupation, individuals assess their needs, values, abilities, and preferences and attempt to match them with an occupation that provides a fit. Although personality is a major influence on occupational choice, it is not the only influence. There are a host of other influences include social class, parents’ occupations, economic conditions, and geography. According to expectancy theory, individuals choose organizations that maximize positive outcomes and avoid negative outcomes. Job candidates calculate the probability that an organization will provide a certain outcome and then compare the probabilities across organizations. Other theories propose that people select organizations in a much less rational fashion. Job candidates may satisfice, that is, select the first organization that meets one or two important criteria and then justify their choice by distorting their perceptions. The method of selecting an organization varies greatly among individuals and may reflect a combination of the expectancy theory and theories that postulate less rational approaches. 2. Identify foundations for a successful career. Answer: One way people can build a successful career is by becoming their own career coach. Another is by developing emotional intelligence. The people who will be most successful in the new career paradigm are individuals who are flexible, team oriented (rather than hierarchical), energized by change, and tolerant of ambiguity. Behaving in an ethical manner, standing by one’s values, and building a professional image of integrity are also very important. Daniel Goleman’s belief is that emotional competencies are twice as important to people’s success today as raw intelligence or technical know-how. He argues that emotional intelligence (EI) is a constellation of the qualities that mark a star performer at work. These attributes include self-awareness, self-control, trustworthiness, confidence, and empathy, among others. EI improves one’s ability to work with other team members and to provide high-quality customer service, and workers with high EI are more likely to take steps to develop their skills. 3. Explain the career stage model. Answer: The career stage model shows that individuals pass through four stages in their careers: establishment, advancement, maintenance, and withdrawal. It is important to note that the age ranges shown are approximations; that is, the timing of career transitions varies greatly among individuals. Establishment is the first stage of a person’s career. The activities that occur in this stage center on learning the job and fitting into the organization and occupation. Advancement is a high-achievement-oriented stage in which people focus on increasing their competence. The maintenance stage finds the individual trying to maintain productivity while evaluating progress toward career goals. The withdrawal stage involves contemplation of retirement or a possible career change. 4. Explain the major tasks facing individuals in the establishment stage of the career stage model. Answer: Establishment is a time of big transitions in both personal and work life. At work, three major tasks face a newcomer: negotiating effective psychological contracts, managing the stress of socialization, and making a transition from organizational outsider to organizational insider. During the establishment stage, newcomers form attachment relationships with many people in an organization. 5. Identify the issues confronting individuals in the advancement stage of the career stage model. Answer: During this stage, several issues are important: exploring career paths, finding a mentor, working out dual-career partnerships, and managing conflicts between work and personal life. Career paths are sequences of job experiences along which employees move during their careers. Another approach used by some companies to develop skills is the idea of a career lattice—an approach to building competencies by moving laterally through different departments in the organization or by moving through different projects. A mentor is an individual who provides guidance, coaching, counseling, and friendship to a protégé. Mentors are important to career success because they perform both career functions—sponsorship, facilitating exposure and visibility, coaching, and protection—and psychosocial functions—role modeling, acceptance and confirmation, counseling, and friendship. Dual-career partnerships are relationships in which both people have important career roles. This type of partnership can be mutually beneficial, but it can also be stressful. An issue related to dual-career partnerships that is faced throughout the career cycle, but often first encountered in the advancement phase, is the conflict between work and personal life. Such conflict negatively affects an individual’s overall quality of life and may even lead to emotional exhaustion. Responsibilities at home will likely clash at times with responsibilities at work, so these conflicts must be planned for. 6. Describe how individuals can navigate the challenges of the maintenance stage of the career stage model. Answer: Maintenance may be a misnomer for this career stage because some people continue to grow in their careers, although the growth is usually not at the rate it was earlier. A career crisis at midlife may accompany the midlife transition. Some individuals, on the other hand, reach the maintenance stage with a sense of achievement and contentment, feeling no need to strive for further upward mobility. Whether the maintenance stage is a time of crisis or contentment, however, there are two issues to grapple with: sustaining performance and becoming a mentor. 7. Explain how individuals withdraw from the workforce. Answer: The withdrawal stage usually occurs later in life and signals that a long period of continuous employment will soon come to a close. The decision to retire is an individual one, but the need for planning is universal. Planning for retirement should include not only financial planning but also a plan for psychologically withdrawing from work. The pursuit of hobbies and travel, volunteer work, or more time with extended family can all be part of the plan. The key is to plan early and carefully, as well as to anticipate the transition with a positive attitude and a full slate of desirable activities. There are several retirement trends right now, ranging from early retirement to phased retirement to never retiring. Factors that influence the decision of when to retire include company policy, financial considerations, family support or pressure, health, and opportunities for other productive activities. Phased retirement is a popular option for retirement-age workers who want to gradually reduce their hours and/or responsibilities. Some companies are helping employees transition to retirement in innovative ways. For example, retired individuals can continue their affiliation with the organization by serving as mentors to employees who are embarking on retirement planning or other career transitions. Many individuals do not fully retire, but engage in bridge employment which is employment that takes place after a person retires from a full-time position but before the person’s permanent withdrawal from the workforce. 8. Explain how career anchors help form a career identity. Answer: Over the course of the career, career anchors are developed—self-perceived talents, motives, and values that guide an individual’s career decisions. Schein developed the five career anchors—technical/functional competence, managerial competence, autonomy and independence, creativity, and security/stability. Career anchors emerge over time and may be modified by work or life experiences. Key Terms Career (p. 275) Career management (p. 275) Realistic job preview (RJP) (p. 278) Establishment (p. 280) Advancement (p. 280) Maintenance (p. 280) Withdrawal (p. 280) Psychological contract (p. 281) Career path (p. 283) Career ladder (p. 283) Mentor (p. 284) Dual-career partnership (p. 286) Flexible work schedule (p. 287) Eldercare (p. 288) Career plateau (p. 289) Phased retirement (p. 290) Bridge employment (p. 291) Career anchors (p. 291) PowerPoint Guide Introduction Slide 2—Learning Outcomes LO1 Explain occupational and organizational choice decisions. Slide 3—LO – 17.1 Slide 4—Beyond the Book: Generations Slide 5—Characteristics of New Career Slide 6—John Holland’s Theory of Occupational Choice Slide 7—Theories on How Individuals Choose Organizations Slide 8—Realistic Job Preview (RJP) LO2 Identify foundations for a successful career. Slide 9—LO - 17.2 Slide 10—Foundations for a Successful Career LO3 Explain the career model. Slide 11—LO – 17.3 Slide 12—Figure 17.2: The Career Stage Model LO4 Explain the major tasks facing individuals in the establishment stage of the career model. Slide 13—LO - 17.4 Slide 14—Tasks of the Newcomer Slide 15—Beyond the Book: The Stress of Socialization LO5 Identify the issues confronting individuals in the advancement stage of the career model. Slide 16—LO - 17.5 Slide 17—Advancement Slide 18—Mentoring Slide 19—Characteristics of Good Mentoring Relationships Slide 20—Dual-Career Partnerships Slide 21—Work/Home Conflicts LO6 Describe how individuals can navigate the challenges of the maintenance stage of the career model. Slide 22—LO - 17.6 Slide 23—Challenges of the Maintenance Stage LO7 Explain how individuals withdraw from the workforce. Slide 24—LO - 17.7 Slide 25—Retirement LO8 Explain how career anchors help form a career identity. Slide 26—LO - 17.8 Slide 27—Career Anchors Slide 28—Living Social Escapes Key Terms Slide 29—Key Terms Summary Slide 30–32—Summary Review Questions and Answers 1. What is career management? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Career management is a lifelong process of learning about self, jobs, and organizations, setting personal career goals, developing strategies for achieving the goals, and revising the goals based on work and life experiences. Career management involves planning and controlling one's career path to achieve career goals and personal satisfaction through activities like skill development, job searching, and networking. 2. What is the new career paradigm, and how does it differ from older notions about careers? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. The concept of the career is undergoing a paradigm shift. Discrete exchange, occupational excellence, organizational empowerment, and project allegiance characterize the new career. It differs from the old career paradigm in its lack of mutual loyalty and corporate allegiance, and in its emphasis on the employee taking charge of his or her career rather than relying on the organization to manage careers. The people who will be most successful in the new career paradigm are individuals who are flexible, team oriented (rather than hierarchical), energized by change, and tolerant of ambiguity. The new career paradigm emphasizes self-management and flexibility, contrasting with older notions of linear, organizationally-driven career paths with fixed roles. 3. What are the sources of potential conflict during organizational entry? How can they be avoided? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Four types of conflicts can occur as individuals choose organizations and organizations choose individuals. The first is a conflict between the organization’s effort to attract candidates and the individual’s choice of an organization. The individual needs complete and accurate information to make a good choice, but the organization may not provide it. Since the organization is trying to attract a large number of qualified candidates, it presents itself in an overly attractive way. The second conflict is between the individual’s attempt to attract several organizations and the organization’s need to select the best candidate. Individuals want good offers, so they do not disclose their faults. The third is a conflict between the organization’s desire to recruit a large pool of qualified applicants and the organization’s need to select and retain the best candidate. The fourth conflict is internal to the individual; it concerns his or her need to make a good choice from among more than one desirable job offer. This can occur when individuals present themselves as overly attractive and consequently receive more job offers than they would have otherwise received, some of which might be a poor fit in terms of their skills and career goals. These conflicts result in unrealistic expectations on the part of the candidate and can be avoided through the use of realistic job previews (RJPs), in which both the positive and negative aspects of the job are given to candidates so they can make more effective job choices. Sources of potential conflict during organizational entry include role ambiguity and differing expectations; they can be avoided through clear communication and realistic job previews. 4. What is a realistic job preview, and why is it important? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Realistic job previews give both positive and negative information about the organization and the job. Traditional recruiting practices often produce unrealistically high expectations, which produce low job satisfaction, whereas RJPs tend to create expectations that are much closer to reality and thus encourage many candidates to withdraw from further consideration. Job candidates who receive RJPs view the organization as honest and also have a greater ability to cope with the demands of the job. RJPs perform another important function: uncertainty reduction. Knowing what to expect, both good and bad, gives a newcomer a sense of control that is important to job satisfaction and performance. With today’s emphasis on ethics, organizations need to do all they can to be seen as operating consistently and honestly. Realistic job previews are one way in which companies can provide ethically required information. Ultimately, this leads to better employment matches, lower turnover, and organizational commitment and higher job satisfaction. A realistic job preview provides a candid view of job duties and organizational culture, helping candidates make informed decisions and reducing early turnover. 5. What are psychological contracts? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Psychological contracts are implicit agreements between individuals and organizations that specify what each is expected to give and receive in the working relationship. Individuals expect to receive salary, status, advancement opportunities, and challenging work to meet their needs. Organizations expect to receive time, energy, talents, and loyalty in order to meet their goals. Psychological contracts are the unwritten expectations between employees and employers regarding mutual obligations and perceived promises. 6. What stressors are associated with socialization? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Ambiguity creates stress during anticipatory socialization while the newcomer tries to gather information about the job and the organization, and realities of role, task, and interpersonal relationship demands associated with the new job create stress in the encounter phase. One common newcomer concern is whose behavior to watch for cues to appropriate behavior. Stressors associated with socialization include adjusting to new roles, understanding organizational norms, and managing relationship dynamics with colleagues. 7. What are the career functions provided by a mentor? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Mentors provide guidance and counseling to protégés. They provide career functions of sponsorship, exposure and visibility, coaching, and protection. They also provide psychosocial functions of role modeling, acceptance and confirmation, counseling, and friendship. Career functions provided by a mentor include guidance on career development, skill enhancement, and providing emotional support and networking opportunities. 8. What are some of the most likely causes of work-home conflicts? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Common causes of work-home conflicts include stress on the job, childcare responsibilities, eldercare responsibilities, scheduling conflicts, and lack of time. Causes of work-home conflicts often include work overload, long hours, and lack of flexibility, which strain personal time and responsibilities. 9. What are the two key issues to deal with during the maintenance career stage? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Two key issues facing workers in this stage involve sustaining performance and becoming a mentor. Remaining productive is a key concern for individuals in the maintenance stage. This becomes challenging when one reaches a career plateau, a point where the probability of moving further up the hierarchy is low. To keep employees productive, organizations can provide challenges and opportunities for learning. The key is keeping the work stimulating and involving. During maintenance, individuals can make a contribution by sharing their wealth of knowledge and experience with others. Opportunities to be mentors to new employees can keep senior workers motivated and involved in the organization. Key issues during the maintenance career stage are staying relevant with skills and navigating career plateau or stagnation. 10. What is the key to career survival? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Careers are made up of exchanges between individuals and organizations; in other words, give-and-take is a part of the relationship between an organization and an individual when a career is involved. Envisioning oneself as the sole proprietor of one’s career, in competition with everyone else involved in a similar career, is critical in learning to survive. It requires a person to continually add value to the organization, continually assess his or her awareness of and connections with the working environment, and work at adopting new ideas, techniques, and technologies. Becoming one’s own career coach and developing emotional intelligence are also important. The key to career survival is continuous learning and adaptability to changing job market demands and organizational needs. Discussion and Communication Questions and Suggested Answers 1. What are the realities of the new career? How can developing your emotional intelligence (EI) help you turn these realities into opportunities to improve your career? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Today’s environment demands leaner organizations, and the paternalistic attitude that organizations should take care of employees no longer exists. Individuals now take on more responsibility for managing their own careers. The old career is giving way to a new career characterized by discrete exchange, occupational excellence, organizational empowerment, and project allegiance. Discrete exchange occurs when an organization gains productivity while a person gains work experience. Occupational excellence means continually honing skills that can be marketed across organizations. Organizational empowerment means that power flows down to business units and in turn to employees. Project allegiance means that both individuals and organizations are committed to the successful completion of a project. The concept of the new career centers on the fact that individuals will hold jobs with multiple organizations throughout their careers and, therefore, must be able to adapt to a constantly changing environment. Developing emotional intelligence (EI) can help them master the interpersonal skills necessary to adapt and succeed. EI improves one’s ability to work with other team members and to provide high-quality customer service, and workers with high EI are more likely to take steps to develop their skills. New career realities include job instability and the need for self-management. Developing emotional intelligence (EI) helps by improving adaptability, interpersonal skills, and resilience, turning challenges into growth opportunities. 2. What do you think will be the most stressful career stage? What type of stressors led you to make this choice? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. People have a tendency to think that the stage they currently face is the most difficult and stressful. However, students trying to enter the job market may have added reasons for concern during times when the job market is relatively tight. The establishment stage may be a common answer as it is at this stage that a person needs to adapt and fit into the organization and occupation. During this time an important personal life transition into adulthood occurs: the individual begins to separate from his or her parents and becomes less emotionally and financially dependent on them. Following this period is a fairly stable time of exploring the adult role and settling down. The advancement stage is a period when many individuals strive for achievement. Several issues faced during this time could also be stressful: exploring career paths, finding a mentor, working out dual-career partnerships, and managing conflicts between work and personal life. The most stressful career stage is often the transition to leadership roles, due to increased responsibilities and visibility, which can lead to stress from managing teams and meeting higher expectations. 3. Does the career stage model have exceptions? In other words, can it be applied to all careers? If not, what are the exceptions? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. The career stage model shows that individuals pass through four stages in their careers: establishment, advancement, maintenance, and withdrawal. However, it is important to note that the timing of the career transitions varies greatly among individuals. Careers that have delayed entry, such as those requiring advanced education, will compress and delay the impact of the stages. Individuals who leave and re-enter the workforce will have different pressures than those who have been steadily progressing through the stages. The career stage model may not apply universally; exceptions include gig economy workers and those with non-linear career paths, who may experience varied career stages or transitions differently. 4. Do men and women have different expectations of a dual-career partnership? How do these expectations differ? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Research validates that the expectations are vastly different. An additional experiential exercise at the end of this chapter deals with the difference in values between males and females in dual-career partnerships. Although not the case in every household, there are men who adhere to traditional gender beliefs. These men may be easily threatened when the wife’s income exceeds their own. However, working women’s satisfaction with their marriage is affected by how much the husband helps with child care. Expectations in dual-career partnerships often differ, with women typically prioritizing work-life balance more, while men might focus on career advancement; these expectations can influence job roles and family responsibilities. 5. Given the downsizing and restructuring in many organizations, how can organizations help employees with career management if there are fewer opportunities for promotion? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Career management seminars are especially important in dealing with the concept of individual responsibility for career paths. Organizations can aid members in maintaining their self-esteem during separation from the organization through the use of outplacement services. The company may need to help employees redefine career success. Organizations can help employees by offering career development programs, skill training, and lateral moves, allowing growth even when upward promotions are limited. 6. How has each of the four challenges (globalization, diversity, technology, and ethics) affected career management in recent years? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. The increase in international assignments for managers is likely to continue for several years. As a result, most individuals will work in highly diverse environments. Technology has enriched many jobs and has also made possible such career innovations as telecommuting. Many companies struggle with career decisions that have ethical implications, such as layoffs, forced retirements, changes in organizational structure, etc. Globalization, diversity, technology, and ethics have made career management more complex by requiring adaptability, cultural competence, technological skills, and ethical decision-making. 7. Contact the human resources manager of a local business. Ask if he or she would take a few minutes to discuss some issues about résumés with you. Structure your discussion around the following questions: a. How often do you encounter “padded” résumés? What is the most common “padding” and how do you react to it? b. Do you verify the information on résumés? How do you do this? How long does it take for you to be sure that an applicant has been honest about his/her qualifications? c. What would you do if you found that a productive, loyal employee had lied on a résumé when applying for a job? Is “résumé fraud” an offense that warrants firing? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Summarize the findings from your interview in a memo to your instructor. Some of the most common “padding” an HR evaluator may encounter would be related to previous work experience and educational qualifications. In their attempt to impress the organization, aspirants may present themselves as overly attractive, even putting up information about their skills and experiences they may not really possess. If you have time for discussion, compare the responses of the HR managers from the various businesses. Discuss the similarities and differences among the responses and consider why the differences might exist based on the type of organization, type of positions they typically hire for, etc. Human Resources discussion: a. “Padded” résumés are common, often involving exaggerated qualifications; HR reacts by scrutinizing details. b. Verification is done through reference checks and background screenings, taking several days to ensure accuracy. c. Résumé fraud by a productive employee might be addressed with a warning or counseling rather than immediate firing, depending on the severity and context. 8. Select an individual in the field you want to work in or in a company for which you might want to work. Contact the individual and ask if you might take a minute of his or her time for some career advice. Ask the following two questions, along with others you design yourself. First, how has the idea of a “career” changed over the past few years? Second, what advice would the person give to college students just beginning a new career? Be prepared to present your interview results in class. Answer: Students’ answers will vary. The idea of ‘career’ has changed considerably over the last few years. Individuals identify more with the occupation than the organization. People often take responsibility to shape their own careers. This is another good exercise to encourage students to think about their careers. Spend time in class discussing the advice students were given by the individuals they interviewed regarding beginning a career. Career advice interview: • Career changes: Careers have shifted to emphasize flexibility and skill diversity. • Advice: Build a strong network, stay adaptable, and continuously update your skills to thrive in a dynamic job market. Ethical Dilemma The purpose of the Ethical Dilemmas is to encourage students to develop their awareness of ethical issues in the workplace and the managerial challenges they present. The dilemmas are set up to present situations in which there is no clear ethical choice. The goal for the instructor is to guide students through the process of analyzing the situation and examining possible alternative solutions. There are no “right” answers to the questions at the end of each scenario, only opportunities to explore alternatives and generate discussions on the appropriateness of each alternative. The student portion of the activity is on a handout at the end of this chapter guide. Lynn’s options are to accept the dream job with Smith & Johnson knowing that she may not want to give the same level of commitment to her work after giving birth as she did before that, or to reject the offer and find work at another firm. 1. Using consequential, rule-based, and character theories, evaluate Lynn’s options. Answer: Consequential Theory If Lynn accepts the job with Smith & Johnson, she will have her dream job in exactly the kind of firm she has always wanted to work, making a very good salary, but she will have to be on call around the clock even after she gives birth if she and her husband start a family soon, which is a commitment she’s not sure she can make. If she rejects the job, she will have to find a job in a different firm that may not offer the kind of work or environment she has always wanted and may still require the same level of commitment. Rule-Based Theory Because Lynn doesn’t actually work for Smith & Johnson yet, she has no real obligations to them. She does have obligations to her husband and to her own desires to work in a particular type of law firm, and if she starts a family, she will have obligations to her child(ren). Character Theory Lynn seems to place a great deal of value on her personal integrity. In other words, she is troubled by the prospect of taking the job when she thinks she may not be able to fulfill the firm’s expectations in the future. She also doesn’t want to shortchange her children when she starts her family. 2. What should Lynn do? Why? Answer: This is a tough call, in part, because little information is provided about the timing of Lynn’s possible promotion to senior associate or the timing of her starting a family. The answer also depends on the availability of jobs in other firms and the urgency of starting to earn a good salary. If she and her husband can afford to wait for her to start working, she should probably reject the offer and continue looking for a job in a different firm that will be less demanding on her time. Self-Assessments—What about You? 17.1 What's Your E.I. at Work? EI is complex in no small part because it depends on some pretty slippery variables–including your innate compatibility, or lack thereof, with the people who happen to be your coworkers. According to Daniel Goleman, EI represents a collection of tools that can be improved upon to enhance one’s effectiveness. This self-assessment exercise gives students an opportunity to examine their own development in the area of emotional intelligence by allowing them to rate their social skills and self-awareness. Students can gather in small groups to discuss weaknesses and brainstorm about ways to improve on those skills. If students are reluctant to identify their own EI weaknesses, another option would be to place students in small groups, assign a subset of EI skills to them from the survey, and have them brainstorm about ways to improve those skills. The student portion of the activity is on a handout at the end of this chapter. 17.2 Assess Your Flexibility Skills The Flexible Behaviors Questionnaire (FBQ) examines current flexibility skills in five areas. These behaviors are essential to managerial effectiveness. Remind students to consider their work experience in responding to the questions or, if they are not currently employed, have them relate the questions to their experience with a work group either in the classroom or in a fraternity, sorority, club, or service organization. The questions are applicable even if they are not yet managers. There is a student activity on a handout at the end of this chapter and on a review card in the student edition of ORGB. Scores in each category can range from a low of 4 to a high of 28, and total scores can range from an overall low score of 20 to an overall high of 140. The reliability for this measure is 78. You may want to collect the FBQ scoring information and provide a mean for the entire class on each of the categories of behavior that make up flexibility skills. Students are more likely to give their true FBQ assessment scores if you ask for their scores anonymously. That way, they feel less threatened if they do not score well on a particular skill area, and it encourages them to practice the specific skills for their own learning rather than as an attempt to impress someone else. Comparison data: Means Corporate business executives (105) 120 Senior Business Majors (208) 93 Issues in Diversity Combat Experience Required Soon after the world discovered that Osama bin Laden had been located and killed, attention quickly turned to information about the mission itself—how was it accomplished and above all, who accomplished it. Reports indicate that, in addition to President Obama and CIA Director, Leon Panetta, the team consisted of 79 individuals, including CIA agents, intelligence experts, and the two dozen Special Forces soldiers, code named SEAL Team 6. Their identities are classified for security purposes. While we may never know the identities of the soldiers who made up SEAL Team 6, there is one thing of which we can be sure—not one of them was a woman. That is because in 1994, the Pentagon instituted the “combat exclusion rule” that prevented women from being assigned to combat units. The reasons for the women-in-combat exclusion are varied and range from physiological differences between men and women to societal discomfort with the idea of women being in harm’s way to the threat of sexual assault. And, while these exclusionary policies might have seemed well-meaning, they have had the unintended consequence of becoming a barrier to women achieving senior leadership—three stars and four stars—ranks. Service people know all too well that they will have a better chance of moving up the military career ladder if they have combat experience on their records. In fact, retired Air Force Gen. Lester L. Lyles acknowledges that ground combat experience is an important consideration that enhances one’s chances for promotion. Combat exclusion policies “prevent women from getting key assignments because they prohibit women from being assigned to units that are likely to be involved in ground combat.” The 30-member Military Leadership Diversity Commission (chaired by Gen. Lyles) released a report in March, 2011 recommending, among other things, that the 1994 ban on women in combat be lifted. The ban barring women from serving on Navy submarines was lifted in 2010. So, while it is unlikely that a woman was a member of the Special Forces unit that killed bin Laden, it may be just a matter of time. 1. Do you agree with the Military Leadership Diversity Commission that the ban on women in the military be rescinded? Why or why not? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. There is no ban on women in the military. Women are, however, banned from serving in direct ground combat units. Moreover, SEAL Team 6 is not a code name; it is the permanent administrative designation of a particular group of Navy special forces personnel (sailors, not soldiers) known as SEALs. Physiological differences are essentially irrelevant in terms of job performance, and women are already in harm’s way, as many have been killed in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The real question is whether providing women with the same potential for promotion that men have based on combat experience is worth the possibility of female combat personnel being subjected to sexual assault by their captors. Yes, rescinding the ban on women in the military would promote equality and harness diverse perspectives, enhancing overall effectiveness and readiness. 2. How could lower representations of women in leadership positions affect the promotion and retention of lower-level women employees? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Having fewer women in leadership positions should not affect promotion for other women, since any individual’s promotion should be based only on performance. However, it is certainly possible that such a situation may, in fact, limit promotion possibilities for lower-level women. Indeed, if lower-level female employees perceive that the lack of women in leadership positions is purposeful, that perception is likely to cause some to leave the organization. Lower representation of women in leadership can lead to fewer role models, decreased motivation, and limited career advancement opportunities, impacting retention and career growth. Experiential Exercises 17.1 The Individual–Organizational Dialogue Instructor’s Note: An interesting twist to this exercise is to have a “plant” participate with the questions. This person should ask invasive information that has nothing to do with job ability or performance. The value in this approach, if the questions are moderately reasonable, is to test students’ skills at handling inappropriate questions in interviews. Although considered unethical recruiting, some recruiters will ask students inappropriate questions to see if they will stand up for their convictions and rights. What do students think of these tactics? Has it happened to any of them? The student portion of the activity is on a handout at the end of this chapter. 17.2 The Ethics of Resumes and Recommendations Instructor’s Note: The questions in this experiential exercise will generate intense class discussion due to differences of opinion about the issues. As groups present their perspectives on each question, challenge them to provide solid reasons for their opinions. Provide time after each group’s presentation for other class members to ask questions and to share different perspectives. The student portion of the activity is on a handout at the end of this chapter. 17.3 Dual Careers Instructor’s Notes—Conducting the Exercise: The learning objectives for this exercise are: (1) to help students be more aware of how underlying biases regarding gender roles can influence their decisions affecting the careers of others; and (2) to help students be more conscious of their own and others' differing values and perceptions regarding family roles, and of issues related to career decisions involving dual career couples. The student portion of the activity is on a handout at the end of this chapter. Suggestions on Delivery: Tell the students that you have a short exercise that will help them to identify and examine important issues related to personal career decisions. Place students in two or more groups composed of four to six persons each. Tell the students to first individually read the case that you are about to hand out, and then quickly respond to the questions at the end. Also, tell them that after they have finished their individual responses, they should then begin to share one-by-one within the group their individual responses (i.e., accept or reject the promotion offer, and why they decided to accept or reject). Distribute the case exercise—half of the groups receiving the Chris as male form and half receiving the Chris as female form. After within-group sharing and discussion has been completed by most groups (typically lasting 15-20 minutes), tell the students that you would now like to begin to examine, in a total class discussion format, the issues, concerns, and problems that this exercise helped to identify. Ask the students to now go beyond this particular case, and to identify what general career issues came up in their sharing of why they responded the way they did to the case. List these issue topics on a list as they are identified, and discuss their importance – but don't talk about this particular case yet. This general discussion typically promotes a useful examination of the importance of such topics as: •Dual career couple challenges •Self-sacrifice vs. actualization •Childcare for working parents •Career opportunities in academia vs. business •Influence of earning power on career decisions •An organization’s career advancement expectations/policy •Temporary spouse separation for conflicting career opportunities •Allegiance to company vs. spouse and family •Family financial support/security •Following career dreams vs. pragmatism •Traditional roles of husband and wife in providing family financial support and childcare After you have exhausted this class discussion, ask for a show of hands of those who believe that Chris should accept the promotion offer, and then a show of hands of those who believe that Chris should reject the promotion. Ask one of the students to explain why he/she believed that Chris should accept the offer. As the student begins to explain, and refers to Chris as a male or female, depending upon the form received, what typically occurs is: •Others in the class with a different Chris gender will spontaneously begin to correct the student •The explaining student’s group members and others will vociferously support the student’s correctness of Chris' gender •As students look again at their forms, brief mass confusion will take place, and •The students will collectively come to realize that they’ve been had and, in good humor, accuse the instructor of underhanded trickery. At this point, admit to the deception, and inform the students that identical cases were passed out—only in half of the forms distributed Chris as male with spouse Kim as female, and in the other half the gender is switched. Discussion Questions: 1. Ask the students if it matters whether Chris is male or female. Answer: Gender should not matter, as career decisions should be based on individual goals, values, and circumstances rather than gender. 2. Should Chris’s gender influence your decision to accept or reject? Answer: Chris's gender should not influence the decision to accept or reject the promotion. The focus should be on personal and professional priorities, such as career advancement, family dynamics, and personal values, rather than gender-based expectations. Teaching Notes for the Exercise: It is important during the debriefing stage of the exercise to emphasize to the students that their individual responses are based on personal values, and you are not suggesting that there is any universal right or wrong answer. It can be personally enriching and enlightening just to share viewpoints, listen, and to try to understand another person’s differing values and perspectives. You may occasionally get a student who doesn’t like the forced-choice format of the accept/reject decision. Acknowledge that actually another possible option is for temporary or indefinite spouse mutual separation to pursue career opportunities, but that for the purpose of comparing student responses in this exercise, you would like the student to select the choice toward which he or she would be leaning if only the accept/reject options were available. During the individual work and afterwards during the within-group sharing, be sure to not allow discussion between groups. To minimize this communication, especially between groups where Chris is not of the same gender, try to arrange for the groups to be separated and isolated as much as possible within the classroom. However, even where the room is small and groups are close to one another, when within-group sharing is taking place, it seems to happen so intensely that conversations are not overhead from other groups. There is strong evidence that role does have a significant influence on career decisions among those possessing values involving traditional gender and family role perceptions. An important point of this exercise is to demonstrate that gender also has a significant influence upon those who don’t consciously identify gender role as being relevant in career decision making. Demonstrate this point by describing a recent study of junior and senior, male and female students. Very few of these students (less than one percent) identified traditional gender role as a rationale for their decision for Chris to accept or reject the promotion. Yet, when their results were compared among the four possible condition combinations of Chris male/female, respondent male/female, as indicated in this matrix of the percentage of students deciding to accept the promotion, there was a significant main effect of respondent gender, a significant interaction effect of Chris’ gender and respondent gender, but not a significant main effect of Chris’ gender (p<.05). The chart below indicates the percentage of students in each cell recommending acceptance of promotion (columns represent Chris by gender, rows represent the gender of the respondent): Chris by Gender Male Female Male 73% 61% Female 67% 62% In other words, there is evidence that the gender of the respondent significantly influenced the likelihood of promotion acceptance. This finding is especially evident where 73% of the male respondents recommended that the male Chris should accept the promotion, compared to when Chris is female. And this is not just a matter of male chauvinism, for even the female respondents reflect a significant bias in promotion acceptance when Chris is male even when Chris is female. It is important to emphasize that these results occurred among students who demonstrated by their individual response rationale and who convincingly argued that they believed that perceptions of traditional gender role did not influence their decisions. From C. M. Vance and E.A. Ensher, “Experiential Exercise for Illustrating Gender Bias in Career and Other Human Resource Management Decisions,” Journal of Management Education, Vol. 18, (1) February 1994, 98–104. 17.4 My Friend Morgan This exercise puts students in the situation of having an unethical colleague who also is a childhood friend and who becomes a subordinate. Students wrestle with roles and the impact that knowing someone a long time can have on a managerial relationship. The student handout at the end of this chapter gives a full scenario and nine robust discussion questions. SOURCE: N. E. Landrum, “My Friend Morgan: An Exercise in Ethics,” Journal of Management Education, 25 (2001): 606–616. Additional Examples Cisco Systems: Supporting the New Career Cisco Systems is a pioneer in telecommuting technologies. High-quality voice and video allow employees to attend meetings while at home, and these solutions permit a seamless transition between working in the office and working remotely. The company practices what it preaches, and it is also a leader in telecommuting among employees. The benefits to the company are numerous, including a savings of $277 million per year in time and productivity costs. Cisco’s commitment to telecommuting, both in terms of offering it to employees and designing new technologies, reflects the way modern careers evolve and globalize. By enabling people to work together no matter where they are located, barriers of time and distance are broken down, and business becomes borderless. Psychological Contracts When an employee’s psychological contract is broken with the organization, the employee often attempts to deal with the breach. He or she might do so by trying to get back at the organization, and as a result, turnover, absenteeism, or even more deviant behavior like employee theft may occur. A recent study, however, found that conscientious individuals will respond differently to psychological breach than individuals with low conscientiousness. Specifically, conscientious employees respond to a breach by reducing their levels of task performance but non-conscientious employees are more likely to decrease their organizational loyalty and job satisfaction and increase their desire to withdraw from the organization or quit. These distinctions may be important for organizations to recognize. Because of the sometimes serious negative toll that psychological contract breaches take, organizations should, of course, avoid them; however, when they are unavoidable, organizations need to understand how to intervene to reduce some of the negative impacts. Understanding how people may react differently to psychological breaches may help in that aim. SOURCE: K. A. Orvis, N. M. Dudley, and J. M. Cortina, “Conscientiousness and Reactions to Psychological Contract Breach,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 93 (2008): 1183–1193. KPMG Provides Help for the Sandwich Generation Many workers find themselves caught between taking care of their children and their elderly parents. KPMG offers a backup childcare service for employees whose babysitting arrangements fall through and has a shared leave program in which employees can donate personal time to colleagues experiencing a family emergency. Most unique of KPMG’s work-life balance initiatives is its three-part eldercare benefit. This benefit consists of an online information and referral service to connect employees with eldercare organizations, up to 20 days of backup care for elderly relatives per year, and paid time off or a leave of absence to care for elderly relatives. These programs have reduced turnover and improved morale for KPMG. Case Study and Suggested Responses Career Customization for Everyone: Deloitte’s Career/Life Program Linkage of Case to Chapter Material This case focuses on the Mass Career Customization (MCC) program developed by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL). Deloitte’s MCC program was developed as a career path alternative to combat the challenges posed by the traditional career path in public accountingnamely, “the 80-hours-a-week, face-time paradigm.” Mass Career Customization (MCC) enables Deloitte’s employees to better manage their careers in relation to changing work/life issues by allowing employees to focus on how they want their careers to unfold. Under the MCC program, employees are able to stay on their current course, ‘dial up’ by taking on more projects and responsibility, or ‘dial down’ by reducing their hours or amount of travel. This enables employees to tailor their careers to their evolving needs and desires, and Deloitte to reduce attrition and retain high-performing employees, thereby fostering the accounting firm’s productivity, profitability, and growth. In relation to the content of Chapter 17, the case provides a practical example of an innovative method of career management. This innovative method is flexible enough to accommodate various combinations of work/life issues. The different stages of the career stage model are highly relevant to the case since each stage presents individuals with a different combination of work/life issues. Suggested Answers for Discussion Questions 1. Explain the basic nature of Deloitte’s Mass Career Customization (MCC) program. Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Mass Career Customization (MCC) enables Deloitte’s employees to better manage their careers in relation to changing work/life issues by allowing employees to focus on how they want their careers to unfold. Under the MCC program, “employees periodically fill out a profile detailing whether they want to stay on their current course, ‘dial up’ by taking on more projects and responsibility, or ‘dial down,’ reducing their hours or amount of travel, for example.” As a starting point for career planning, each employee receives a default profile that reflects the employees’ current career situation. The MCC default profile contains four career dimensions that can be dialed up or dialed down as employees’ progress through their careers and face changing life circumstances. The career dimensions are: •Pace of career (the rate of career progression) •Workload (the quantity of work output) •Location/schedule (when and where the work is performed) •Role (the employee’s position and responsibilities within the firm) “Dialing down” can mean cutting back work hours or work load or even working from home. “Dialing up” means that the employee will take on added responsibilities so he/she can gain a broader and richer set of work experiences. An employee’s request to dial up or dial down may be approved or denied by their managers. Deloitte’s Mass Career Customization (MCC) program allows employees to tailor their careers by adjusting work hours, roles, and responsibilities to fit their personal needs and life stages. 2. Explain how Deloitte’s MCC program can help employees in managing their careers and in dealing with work/life issues. Answer: Students’ answers will vary. The traditional career model in public accounting has been an 80-hours-a-week, face-time paradigm. This model has become increasingly problematic for Deloitte and its employeesparticularly its younger employees. Some of the career features that Deloitte’s younger employees seek include “long-term career development, multiple experiences within a single company, flexibility, a sense of purpose, respect, and open communication.” They want to be able to accommodate their lives outside of work. MCC “allows people to ‘dial up’ or ‘dial down’ their careers depending on life circumstances, whether they’re fresh out of school or a harried new parent. Dialing down a career can mean putting in fewer hours or passing on travel or new projects, without hurting one’s future chance of promotion. Dialing up a career can mean taking on additional projects or new assignments, which can improvebut not guaranteepromotion opportunities and definitely increase the employee’s marketability. MCC helps employees balance work and life by offering flexibility in their schedules and career paths, accommodating various personal circumstances and career goals. 3. What are the benefits of MCC for Deloitte and its employees? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. MCC helps retain talented employees, thereby helping Deloitte to be productive and profitable and to grow. With MCC, Deloitte is able to retain more of its well-educated, carefully recruited, high-potential mid-career employees. A major benefit of the MCC program for Deloitte’s employees is the career flexibility it provides for them. The MCC program has helped improve employee satisfaction with overall career/life fit. Employees who dial down their careers can accommodate changing family circumstances and other personal responsibilities or interests. Employees who dial up their careers can gain a broader and richer set of work experiences and enhance their marketability. Benefits for Deloitte and employees include increased employee satisfaction and retention, enhanced work-life balance, and the ability to attract diverse talent. 4. Do you think there is a downside to the MCC program for Deloitte and its employees? Explain your answer. Answer: Students’ answers will vary. For employees who are dialing down, a significant downside risk is that future promotion opportunities become compromised even though the program provides assurances that it will not. Deloitte must ensure that this downside risk does not occur; if it does, then employee relations will suffer and Deloitte’s productivity, profitability, and growth could be compromised. If employees who are dialing up do not eventually receive promotions, they may become frustrated and seek employment elsewhere. Deloitte could lose some highly talented employees under this condition. Downsides might include potential difficulties in maintaining consistent team dynamics and productivity, as well as challenges in managing varied career paths within the organization. 5. Would Deloitte’s MCC program be easily adapted in other companies? Why or why not? Answer: Students’ answers will vary. Based on its record of success with the MCC program, Deloitte is trying to convince its clients of the value of adopting an MCC-like program in their own operations. There is no reason to believe that a program such as this cannot succeed in other companies. After all, the desires of Deloitte’s younger employees for “long-term career development, multiple experiences within a single company, flexibility, a sense of purpose, respect, and open communication” are not terribly unique to Deloitte. Younger employees in many other companies likely have the same or similar desires. Therefore, an MCC-like program could work in these companies as well. There may be a different set of challenges that other companies face in formulating their own MCC-like programs, but that should not dissuade them from trying. Adapting MCC to other companies could be challenging due to differences in organizational culture, industry demands, and the complexity of implementing flexible career paths. SOURCE: This case solution was written by Michael K. McCuddy, The Louis S. and Mary L. Morgal Chair of Christian Business Ethics and Professor of Management, College of Business, Valparaiso University. Video Profile on Living Social Escapes Although there is no single formula for success, Maia Josebachvili and Bram Levy say that hard work, intelligence, and luck are essential for any career. The luck part came when an outside company, LivingSocial, took interest in buying Urban Escapes following the firm’s appearance in Inc. magazine. Executives arranged to meet Josebachvili at a local pub, and a few months later the acquisition was complete. Now with an abundant supply of capital and resources, Josebachvili and Levy are seeing their careers change in new and exciting ways. “What I’m most happy with,” Josebachvili says, “is that I’m now part of a company that is growing faster than we were, but I still get to do exactly what I love to do.” Discussion Questions and Solutions 1. At what stage of the career stage model are Maia Josebachvili and Bram Levy? Explain. Answer: Maia Josebachvili and Bram Levy are exiting the establishment stage and entering the advancement stage. In 2010, the business partners appeared in Inc. magazine’s “30 Under 30” feature on successful young professionals under the age of 30—so they are young. In addition, both Josebachvili and Levy have work experience prior to launching LivingSocial Escapes. After graduating from college, Josebachvili went to work as a trader on Wall Street. Levy’s early work experience included such jobs as teacher and management consultant. During the establishment stage, the two employees learned to be organizational insiders while learning the psychological contract and managing the stress of socialization. However, as is the characteristic of employees in the advancement stage, Josebachvili and Levy began to reassess their career goals while working their first jobs. They discussed career dreams and the choices they would need to make to pursue career goals. This reassessment led the two to launch a new entrepreneurial venture—a risky choice aided by youth and lack of family responsibilities. Maia Josebachvili and Bram Levy are in the establishment stage of the career stage model. At this point, they are focusing on solidifying their roles, gaining experience, and establishing their careers. 2. Describe how Maia Josebachvili chose her occupation as a business owner and trip planner, and determine if her choice fits her personality type. Answer: While working on Wall Street, Josebachvili felt the need to escape busy city life and began planning weekend trips. While seated at a campfire, she decided she needed to make a career out of her trip-planning hobby. She left her job on Wall Street and travelled the world to figure out exactly what choice to make. After long reflection, she concluded that starting a trip planning company was exactly what she needed to do. According to John Holland, six personality types (realistic, artistic, investigative, enterprising, social, and conventional) influence occupational choices. As an outdoor adventurer whose interests include mountain climbing and hiking, Josebachvili seems destined to have sought a career that was artistic and enterprising—a good match with her personality. Josebachvili has an internal locus of control, high energy, self-confidence, and a tolerance for ambiguity—important traits for any entrepreneur. Maia Josebachvili chose her career as a business owner and trip planner by leveraging her passion for travel and entrepreneurship, aligning with her personality traits of independence and creativity, which fits well with her role. 3. What challenges is Maia Josebachvili likely to face as she manages her career through her thirties? Answer: In the video, Josebachvili hints that the personal freedom she and Mr. Levy have in their personal lives enables the entrepreneurial duo to take risks, work long hours, and pursue dream careers. However, as Josebachvili continues through the advancement stage during her thirties, she is likely to face work-home conflicts and dual-career difficulties that come with marriage and family life. As Maia Josebachvili navigates her thirties, she will likely face challenges such as maintaining work-life balance, managing business growth, and addressing evolving personal and professional goals. Student Handout Ethical Dilemma Lynn Kingston graduated at the top of her class at law school, and she has long dreamed of becoming partner at a top corporate law firm. When she is offered an associate position with Smith & Johnson, she is elated—this is a full-service firm that serves high-profile clients, and Lynn thinks she will be able to distinguish herself here. She has always wanted to work in diverse areas of corporate law and Smith & Johnson is also known for their work, upholding the kind of ethical and moral goals she admires. Lynn also knows that the work load at Smith & Johnson is quite rigorous. Clients of the firm anticipate that their lawyers will be available at all hours. That’s what makes Smith & Johnson so successful, and during the interview process, these expectations are made overtly clear to Lynn. The hiring manager explains that associates are always on call; however, the compensation is superior. Lynn knows that she and her new husband, Brian, will be able to afford a new house and build up their nest egg on this kind of salary. However, Lynn and Brian were also hoping to start a family soon. After reviewing the maternity leave policy in the benefits handbook, she learns that the company has a very generous approach to new mothers. However, it is clear that after the eight-week leave, the employee is expected to return to the same full-time schedule as prior to the birth. Lynn is ready to commit herself to the workload, but she’s not sure if she will be so willing to commit herself to that lifestyle after the birth of a child. Lynn also considers how much she respects Smith & Johnson; as an associate, she would feel compelled to give the firm and her clients the highest level of commitment possible. She is aware that if she is promoted to a senior associate, the intensity of the time demands level off. Lynn believes that she has the talent and energy to be an essential contributor. As she contemplates saying yes to what she believes to be her dream job, she also realizes that she doesn’t want to compromise Smith & Johnson by accepting their offer if she knows, from the onset, that she might not be willing or able to be the highest-performing employee she can. Questions: 1. Using consequential, rule-based, and character theories, evaluate Lynn’s options. Answer: Consequential theory: Lynn should consider the long-term impacts on her personal and professional life, balancing the benefits of career success with potential family life challenges. Rule-based theory: She should adhere to her personal values and principles, ensuring alignment with Smith & Johnson’s demanding expectations. Character theory: Lynn should reflect on her integrity and commitment, ensuring she can meet her own and the firm's standards without compromising her family goals. 2. What should Lynn do? Why? Answer: Lynn should carefully weigh the impact on her family and career, perhaps negotiating for a more flexible work arrangement or deferring her decision until she can realistically assess her work-life balance post-baby. What about You What’s Your EI at work? Answering the following 25 questions will allow you to rate your social skills and self-awareness. EI, the social equivalent of IQ, is complex in no small part because it depends on some pretty slippery variables—including your innate compatibility, or lack thereof, with the people who happen to be your coworkers. But if you want to get a rough idea of how your EI stacks up, this quiz will help. As honestly as you can, estimate how you rate in the eyes of peers, bosses, and subordinates on each of the following traits, on a scale of one to four, with four representing strong agreement, and one, strong disagreement. 1. I usually stay composed, positive, and unflappable even in trying moments. Answer: Rating: 3 2. I can think clearly and stay focused on the task at hand under pressure. Answer: Rating: 4 3. I am able to admit my own mistakes. Answer: Rating: 4 4. I usually or always meet commitments and keep promises. Answer: Rating: 4 5. I hold myself accountable for meeting my goals. Answer: Rating: 4 6. I’m organized and careful in my work. Answer: Rating: 3 7. I regularly seek out fresh ideas from a wide variety of sources. Answer: Rating: 3 8. I’m good at generating new ideas. Answer: Rating: 3 9. I can smoothly handle multiple demands and changing priorities. Answer: Rating: 3 10. I’m results-oriented, with a strong drive to meet my objectives. Answer: Rating: 4 11. I like to set challenging goals and take calculated risks to reach them. Answer: Rating: 3 12. I’m always trying to learn how to improve my performance, including asking advice from people younger than I am. Answer: Rating: 3 13. I readily make sacrifices to meet an important organizational goal. Answer: Rating: 4 14. The company’s mission is something I understand and can identify with. Answer: Rating: 4 15. The values of my team—or of our division or department, or the company—influence my decisions and clarify the choices I make. Answer: Rating: 3 16. I actively seek out opportunities to further the overall goals of the organization and enlist others to help me. Answer: Rating: 3 17. I pursue goals beyond what’s required or expected of me in my current job. Answer: Rating: 3 18. Obstacles and setbacks may delay me a little, but they don’t stop me. Answer: Rating: 4 19. Cutting through red tape and bending outdated rules are sometimes necessary. Answer: Rating: 2 20. I seek fresh perspectives, even if that means trying something totally new. Answer: Rating: 3 21. My impulses or distressing emotions don’t often get the best of me at work. Answer: Rating: 3 22. I can change tactics quickly when circumstances change. Answer: Rating: 3 23. Pursuing new information is my best bet for cutting down on uncertainty and finding ways to do things better. Answer: Rating: 3 24. I usually don’t attribute setbacks to a personal flaw (mine or someone else’s). Answer: Rating: 3 25. I operate from an expectation of success rather than a fear of failure. Answer: Rating: 4 SOURCE: A. Fisher, “Success Secret: A High Emotional IQ.” Reprinted from the October 26, 1998, issue of Fortune by special permission; copyright 1998, Time Inc. All rights reserved. What about You? Assess Your Flexibility Skills Use the following scale to rate the frequency with which you perform the behaviors described in each question. Place the corresponding number (1–7) in the blank preceding the statement. Rarely Irregularly Occasionally Usually Frequently Almost Always Consistently 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. I manage a variety of assignments with varying demands and complexities. Answer: Rating: 5 2. I adjust work plans to account for new circumstances. Answer: Rating: 6 3. I modify rules and procedures in order to meet operational needs and goals. Answer: Rating: 5 4. I work with ambiguous assignments when necessary and use these when possible to further my goals and objectives. Answer: Rating: 4 5. I rearrange work or personal schedules to meet deadlines. Answer: Rating: 5 6. In emergencies, I respond to the most pressing needs first. Answer: Rating: 6 7. I change my priorities to accommodate unexpected events. Answer: Rating: 5 8. I manage my personal work overload by seeking assistance or by delegating responsibility to others. Answer: Rating: 4 9. I vary the way I deal with others according to their needs and personalities. Answer: Rating: 5 10. I help others improve their job performance, or I assign tasks that will further their development. Answer: Rating: 4 11. I accept the authority of my manager but continue to demonstrate my initiative and assertiveness. Answer: Rating: 6 12. I work well with all types of personalities. Answer: Rating: 5 13. I measure my performance on the job against the feedback I receive. Answer: Rating: 5 14. I correct performance deficits that have been brought to my attention. Answer: Rating: 4 15. When I disagree with my manager’s appraisal of my work, I discuss our differences. Answer: Rating: 5 16. I seek training and assignments that can help me improve my job-related skills. Answer: Rating: 6 17. In disagreements concerning work-related issues, I look at matters impersonally and concentrate on the facts. Answer: Rating: 5 18. I make compromises to get problems moving toward resolution. Answer: Rating: 5 19. I look for new and better ways to accomplish my duties and responsibilities. Answer: Rating: 6 20. I offer to negotiate all areas of disagreement. Answer: Rating: 4 SOURCE: “Assess Your Flexibility Skills” by Fandt, from Management Skills, Learning Through Practice and Experience, 1e. pp. 431–433. © 1994. Reprinted with permission of Custom Publishing, a division of Thomson Learning: www.thomsonrights.com. Fax 800-730-2215. Issues in Diversity Combat Experience Required Soon after the world discovered that Osama bin Laden had been located and killed, attention quickly turned to information about the mission itself—how was it accomplished and above all, who accomplished it. Reports indicate that, in addition to President Obama and CIA Director, Leon Panetta, the team consisted of 79 individuals, including CIA agents, intelligence experts, and the two dozen Special Forces soldiers, code named SEAL Team 6. Their identities are classified for security purposes. While we may never know the identities of the soldiers who made up SEAL Team 6, there is one thing of which we can be sure—not one of them was a woman. That is because in 1994, the Pentagon instituted the “combat exclusion rule” that prevented women from being assigned to combat units. The reasons for the women-in-combat exclusion are varied and range from physiological differences between men and women to societal discomfort with the idea of women being in harm’s way to the threat of sexual assault. And while these exclusionary policies might have seemed well-meaning, they have had the unintended consequence of becoming a barrier to women achieving senior leadership—three stars and four stars—ranks. Service people know all too well that they will have a better chance to move up the military career ladder if they have combat experience on their records. In fact, retired Air Force Gen. Lester L. Lyles acknowledges that ground combat experience is an important consideration that enhances one’s chances for promotion. Combat exclusion policies “prevent women from getting key assignments because they prohibit women from being assigned to units that are likely to be involved in ground combat.” The 30-member Military Leadership Diversity Commission (chaired by Gen. Lyles) released a report in March, 2011 recommending, among other things, that the 1994 ban on women in combat be lifted. The ban barring women from serving on Navy submarines was lifted in 2010. So, while it is unlikely that a woman was a member of the Special Forces unit that killed bin Laden, it may be just a matter of time. Questions: 1. Do you agree with the Military Leadership Diversity Commission that the ban on women in the military be rescinded? Why or why not? Answer: Agreeing with the Military Leadership Diversity Commission: Lifting the ban on women in combat roles could enhance diversity and inclusion within the military, aligning with principles of equality and meritocracy. Removing the ban would enable women to gain critical combat experience essential for advancement, potentially leading to more equitable leadership opportunities and better overall performance in military operations. 2. How could lower representations of women in leadership positions affect the promotion and retention of lower-level women employees? Answer: Impact of Lower Representation: Fewer women in leadership positions can create a pipeline problem, discouraging lower-level women employees from pursuing long-term careers in the military. This lack of representation can also lead to fewer mentorship opportunities and lower retention rates, as women may feel their career advancement is limited or unsupported. SOURCE: “From representation to inclusion: Diversity leadership for the 21st-century military,” Final Report, March 15, 2011. U.S. Department of Defense, https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=715693; L. Daniel, “Panel says rescind policy won women in combat,” U.S. Department of Defense News (February 13, 2014), located at: http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=63057; A. Holmes, “Lara Croft, the Navy SEAL? Maybe someday,” The Washington Post (May 19, 2011). Experiential Exercise The Individual-Organizational Dialogue The purpose of this exercise is to help you gain experience in working out a psychological contract from both perspectives—the individual’s and the organization’s. Students should form groups of six to eight members. Within each group, half of the students will be job candidates, and half will represent organization members (insiders). Step 1. Each half should make two lists as follows: List 1, candidate version. What information should you, as a job candidate, provide the organization to start an effective psychological contract? List 1: Information to Provide to the Organization 1. Career Goals and Aspirations: Share long-term professional objectives and how they align with the organization’s goals. 2. Relevant Skills and Experience: Detail your competencies, past achievements, and how they will contribute to the role. 3. Work Style Preferences: Describe your preferred working style, collaboration methods, and any flexibility requirements. 4. Expectations from the Role: Clarify what you hope to gain from the job, including responsibilities, growth opportunities, and support. 5. Availability: Indicate your availability for various work conditions, such as travel, relocations, or flexible hours. List 2, candidate version. What information should you, as a job candidate, seek from the organization? List 1, insider version. What information should you, as an organization insider, seek from potential employees? List 2, insider version. What information should you, as an organization insider, provide to potential employees to start an effective psychological contract? Answer: List 2: Information to Provide to Potential Employees 1. Job Responsibilities: Clearly outline the specific duties, expectations, and performance metrics for the role. 2. Career Development: Offer insights into career growth opportunities, training programs, and advancement paths. 3. Organizational Culture: Share information about company values, work environment, and team dynamics. 4. Work-Life Balance: Describe policies on working hours, remote work, and family leave to ensure alignment with personal needs. 5. Compensation and Benefits: Provide comprehensive details on salary, bonuses, health benefits, and retirement plans. Step 2. Within each group, compare lists by matching the two versions of List 1. What were the similarities and differences in your lists? Then compare List 2 from each half of the group. What were the similarities and differences in these lists? Step 3. Review the lists, and select the most difficult information to obtain from the candidate and the organization. Select one person to play the candidate and one to play the insider. First, have the candidate role-play an interaction with the insider in which the candidate tries to get the difficult information from the organization. Then have the insider try to obtain the difficult information from the candidate. Step 4. Reconvene as a class, and discuss the following questions: 1. What did you find to be the most difficult questions asked by candidates? 2. What did you find to be the most difficult questions asked by insiders? 3. What information is necessary for an effective psychological contract? 4. What keeps each party from fully disclosing the information needed for a good psychological contract? attract unsuitable candidates. 5. What can organizations do to facilitate the process of forming good psychological contracts? What can individuals do to facilitate the process? Experiential Exercise The Ethics of Resumes and Recommendations The purpose of this exercise is to explore ethical issues concerning résumés and recommendations. First, read the following brief introductory scenario. Jason Eckerle returned to his desk from lunch with a single mission in mind: to select the half-dozen best candidates for a regional customer service manager’s position. As he hung up his suit jacket, Eckerle sized up the stack of résumés and recommendations he’d been dealing with all morning—more than 100 of them. The work had been slow but steady, gradually forming into three distinct piles: one contained absolute rejects (not enough work experience, wrong academic credentials, or poor recommendations from former employers), the second contained a few definite candidates for personal interviews, while the third held the applications of those about whom he still had questions or reservations. His task for the afternoon—selecting three more applicants to bring to the company headquarters for interviews—was complicated by the résumés and recommendation letters themselves. Some questions were obvious: “This guy lists five years’ full time sales and marketing experience, yet he’s only twenty-two years old. How can he go to school full time and have that kind of experience?” Here’s another: “This young lady says she went to school at the Sorbonne in Paris for two years; yet on the application form, under the heading ‘Foreign Languages’ she’s checked ‘none.’” Here’s one more: “This fella says he has a degree from the University of Texas, yet nowhere on his résumé does he say he lived or spent time there. Did he get that diploma by correspondence?” Other issues are even more mysterious: “This young lady’s résumé lists education and work experience, but there’s a three-year gap from 1989 to 1992. What’s that all about? Is she trying to conceal something, or just absent minded?” As Eckerle thumbed through another résumé, he noticed the application form declaring “fluency in Japanese, French, and Spanish.” “How do you get to be fluent in a language unless you’ve lived where it’s spoken?” he wondered. The résumé didn’t list any of those languages as native, nor did the application mention living abroad. “Some of this stuff is outright fraud,” he observed. As he sifted through the “reject” pile, Eckerle pulled out one application with an education block that lists a degree the applicant didn’t have. “When we checked,” he said, “they told us he was close to finishing a master’s degree, but he hadn’t yet finished his thesis. The applicant said he had the degree in hand.” Another listed work experience no one could verify. “This guy’s résumé says he was a client service representative for Litiplex, Inc., of Boston, but the phone book doesn’t list any firm by that name, no one in our business has ever heard of it, and we can’t check out his claims. I asked the applicant about the company, and he says, ‘Maybe they went out of business.’” Résumés weren’t Eckerle’s only problem. Recommendations were almost as bad. “Letters of recommendation aren’t particularly useful,” he said. “In the first place, almost no one is dumb enough to ask for a recommendation from someone who’ll give them a bad one. Second, most recommenders write in broad, general, vague terms that don’t tell me much about an applicant’s work history, aptitude, or potential. They use glowing, nonspecific words that tell me the applicant’s a marvelous human being but don’t say whether the guy’s had any comparable work experience that I could use to help make a decision.” Eckerle mentioned one other recommendation problem. “Most of the people who write letters in support of a job applicant are fairly close friends of the applicant. They’ll often say things that are laudatory, but just aren’t true. By the time you’re done reading the letter, you’d think the young man in question could walk on water. When he comes for an interview, he can’t get his own name straight.” Excessive praise in letters of recommendation, Eckerle noted, can be expensive for a firm when the recommendation just doesn’t reflect the applicant’s true potential. “It costs us nearly $1,000 to bring in an entry-level management candidate for interviews,” he said, “and it’s my job to make sure we don’t bring in someone who’s just not competitive.” Inflated recommendations, he thought, can make that job much more difficult. Next, the class should be divided into ten groups. Each group will be assigned one ethical issue. The group should formulate an answer to the dilemma and be ready to present the group’s solution to the class. 1. Is a job applicant obligated to list all employment or every work experience on a résumé? What about jobs in which an applicant has had a bad relationship with a supervisor? Is it fair to “load up” a résumé only with positive work experience? Answer: Listing Employment: A job applicant should list relevant and accurate work experiences, including difficult jobs if they’re significant for the role. However, focusing only on positive experiences is common, though it may skew the perception of the applicant’s full work history. 2. What if an applicant has been fired? Is a résumé required to reveal the exact circumstances under which he or she left the job? Answer: Fired from a Job: Applicants are not strictly required to detail exact reasons for being fired, but they should be prepared to discuss such circumstances honestly if asked during the interview. 3. Is it ethical to list educational institutions or degree programs that an applicant has attended but not completed? How much detail is necessary? Should an applicant explain why he or she left a degree program or school without finishing? Answer: Incomplete Education: Listing incomplete educational programs is acceptable if accurately represented. Applicants should provide context for any unfinished degrees to clarify their educational background. 4. Is a job applicant obliged to list offenses against the law on a résumé? What about convictions or incarceration—say, 90 days’ jail time for DWI? Answer: Legal Offenses: Applicants are not legally required to list all legal offenses on a résumé but may be asked about criminal history during the interview process, especially for positions where such information is relevant. 5. Under such résumé categories as “Foreign Languages,” how does an applicant determine whether he or she is “fluent,” “conversant,” or merely “familiar with” a language? Do the same general rules apply to listing technical skills, such as computer languages and software applications? Answer: Language Proficiency: Applicants should honestly assess their language skills as “fluent,” “conversant,” or “familiar” based on practical usage and proficiency, applying similar honesty to technical skills. 6. In a letter of recommendation, is it ethical to lavish praise on a young man or woman, just because you know the person is in need of a job? Conversely, does faint praise mean that a job applicant will likely be refused? Answer: Praising Recommendations: It’s unethical to provide exaggerated praise in recommendations; honesty is crucial. Overly positive or faint praise can mislead potential employers about the applicant's true capabilities. 7. Is it better to turn away a student for asking for a letter of recommendation, or should you do what’s honest and tell a graduate school (or potential employer) exactly what you think of the person? Answer: Writing Recommendations: When writing recommendations, be honest and constructive. If you cannot provide a strong, positive recommendation, it’s better to decline rather than provide a weak one. 8. Is a résumé something like a certificate of authenticity, listing specifics and details with absolute adherence to honesty and accuracy, or is it more like a sales brochure, offering the best possible picture of a person in search of employment? Answer: Résumé Purpose: A résumé is more like a sales brochure, presenting the applicant’s best attributes while remaining truthful. It should balance promoting strengths with honesty. 9. How well do you have to know someone before you can write an authentic, honest letter of recommendation? Is there a minimum time requirement before you can do so in good conscience? Answer: Writing Recommendations: Knowing someone well before writing a recommendation ensures authenticity. A minimum time requirement is not fixed but having a solid understanding of the candidate’s capabilities is essential. 10. Is the author of a letter of recommendation required to reveal everything relevant that he or she knows about an applicant? What about character or integrity flaws that may stand in the way of a job applicant’s success? To whom is the author of such letters obligated? To the potential employer or to the applicant? Answer: Revealing Information: The letter writer should disclose relevant and significant information about the applicant’s character and integrity. The primary obligation is to the potential employer, providing a truthful assessment of the applicant’s potential. SOURCE: J. S. O’Rourke, “The Ethics of Résumés and Recommendations: When Do Filler and Fluff Become Deceptions and Lies?” Business Communication Quarterly 58 (1995): 54–56. Reprinted with permission by the author. Experiential Exercise Dual Careers Chris Jamison was sitting alone, deep in thought on Friday afternoon in June in the Phoenix branch office of the accounting firm, Arthur Andersen & Co. He has worked there in the tax audit division for the past six years and has done very well. He has worked hard in lower staff positions and has developed a strong reputation, both at the local office and recently at the Chicago headquarters, as a very competent professional who has great promise within the company. Chris sat contemplating the conversation he had just had with his office manager and mentor, Jim Wilkins, about Chris’ promotion to the position of tax audit manager within the firm. This promotion would involve Chris’ relocating to a new branch office in Portland. The promotion would represent a personal and gratifying challenge that Chris has wanted for some time now, and would serve as an outstanding opportunity leading to much higher management advancement within the firm. Despite this very positive news, Chris felt quite perplexed and anxious about how this career opportunity would affect his family. His wife, Kim, was just finishing up her Ph.D. in English Literature at Arizona State University. Ever since their marriage eight years before, Kim had dreamed about teaching English Literature at an Ivy League school back east. She also wanted to do professional writing on the side. University faculty positions in English Literature were very scarce throughout the country, and Kim had heretofore been looking for a position with little success. However, she recently interviewed at Cornell University and was offered a one-year visiting assistant professor position beginning in September. Kim was very pleased with this opportunity, which could possibly turn into a permanent position at Cornell. As Kim considered whether or not to accept the Cornell offer, she thought that even if a permanent position were not subsequently offered, she would have a much stronger chance at obtaining a permanent faculty position elsewhere with the Cornell experience on her resume. Chris initially felt very pleased for Kim, but he was now feeling torn between supporting Kim in her career dream pursuit by moving to Cornell in the small town of Ithaca, New York, or accepting the very attractive career opportunity recently presented him. Jim Wilkins indicated that he understood Chris' dilemma, but that he should know that such a tremendous opportunity within the firm occurs rarely. Besides, his turning down this career advancement offer might even, in fact, hurt his prospects for significant future advancement within the firm. Chris had majored in Accounting in college and had a solid B grade point average. He was a good student, but wasn’t very excited about his coursework. After graduation he accepted a job with a small firm, which helped support Kim through graduate school. A year later they had a child, David. Soon, Chris joined Arthur Andersen & Co. with a considerable salary increase; but more importantly to him, he became very pleased and excited about his new work and career opportunity. David was placed in daycare during the time when Kim was occupied with her studies. Chris was glad that Kim was able to spend much of her study time at home with David, but he still had feelings of regret and even guilt that he himself had so little time to spend with his precious child. Chris thought about the conversation that he would soon have with Kim when he returned home. His anxiety was heightened by Jim Wilkins’ request for him to have a response to the promotion offer when he returned to work the following Monday morning. After you’ve read the above case, please complete the following: After talking with Kim, Chris’ response on Monday morning should be to: accept the position reject the position Please explain in one sentence your reason for checking the box that you did. Your name _________________________ Experiential Exercise Dual Careers Chris Jamison was sitting alone, deep in thought on Friday afternoon in June in the Phoenix branch office of the accounting firm, Arthur Andersen & Co. She has worked there in the tax audit division for the past six years and has done very well. She has worked hard in lower staff positions and has developed a strong reputation, both at the local office and recently at the Chicago headquarters, as a very competent professional who has great promise within the Company. Chris sat contemplating the conversation she had just had with her office manager and mentor, Jim Wilkins, about Chris’ promotion to the position of tax audit manager within the firm. This promotion would involve Chris’ relocating to a new branch office in Portland. The promotion would represent a personal and gratifying challenge that Chris has wanted for some time now, and would serve as an outstanding opportunity leading to much higher management advancement within the firm. Despite this very positive news, Chris felt quite perplexed and anxious about how this career opportunity would affect her family. Her husband, Kim, was just finishing up his Ph.D. in English Literature at Arizona State University. Ever since their marriage eight years before, Kim had dreamed about teaching English Literature at an Ivy League school back east. He also wanted to do professional writing on the side. University faculty positions in English Literature were very scarce throughout the country, and Kim had heretofore been looking for a position with little success. However, he recently interviewed at Cornell University and was offered a one-year visiting assistant professor position beginning in September. Kim was very pleased with this opportunity, which could possibly turn into a permanent position at Cornell. As Kim considered whether or not to accept the Cornell offer, he thought that even if a permanent position were not subsequently offered, he would have a much stronger chance at obtaining a permanent faculty position elsewhere with the Cornell experience on his resume. Chris initially felt very pleased for Kim, but she was now feeling torn between supporting Kim in his career dream pursuit by moving to Cornell in the small town of Ithaca, New York, or accepting the very attractive career opportunity recently presented her. Jim Wilkins indicated that he understood Chris’ dilemma, but that she should know that such a tremendous opportunity within the firm occurs rarely. Besides, her turning down this career advancement offer might even, in fact, hurt her prospects for significant future advancement within the firm. Chris had majored in Accounting in college and had a solid B grade point average. She was a good student, but wasn’t very excited about her coursework. After graduation, she accepted a job with a small firm, which helped support Kim through graduate school. A year later they had a child, David. Soon, Chris joined Arthur Andersen & Co. with a considerable salary increase; but more importantly to her, she became very pleased and excited about her new work and career opportunity. David was placed in daycare during the time when Kim was occupied with his studies. Chris was glad that Kim was able to spend much of his study time at home with David, but she still had feelings of regret and even guilt that she herself had so little time to spend with her precious child. Chris thought about the conversation that she would soon have with Kim when she returned home. Her anxiety was heightened by Jim Wilkins’ request for her to have a response to the promotion offer when she returned to work the following Monday morning. After you’ve read the above case, please complete the following: After talking with Kim, Chris’ response on Monday morning should be to: accept the position reject the position Please explain in one sentence your reason for checking the box that you did. Your name _________________________ Experiential Exercise My Friend Morgan You have just hung up from speaking with your friend Morgan and your supervisor is due in your office any time now. You have known Morgan for many years. You attended the same high school and knew Morgan as an acquaintance but wouldn’t say the two of you were friends. Whereas you enjoyed academic and athletic pursuits, Morgan was rebellious and often in trouble. During high school, it was a known fact that Morgan had been caught shoplifting but didn’t suffer any real consequences. You had also seen Morgan cheat on exams in high school on more than one occasion. You also know that Morgan had confessed to often stealing money from his or her parents and would arrive late and leave early from a part-time job at the local McDonald’s but would write in full shift on time sheets. You and Morgan both attended the same college nearly 500 miles away. You each majored in business, had a couple of classes together, and began sharing rides home. You got to know Morgan, and you were even glad to see a familiar face while you were so far from home. You were both accepted into the college’s MBA program, and over the course of these college years, you became very good friends with Morgan; you were even in Morgan’s wedding following graduation. Coincidentally, you both received attractive job offers (in separate departments) from the major employer in your hometown; you both accepted the offers and returned home. Morgan and his or her spouse frequently socialize with you and your spouse. They often come over on weekends, and you usually meet for lunch at least once a week. Although Morgan has matured and “straightened out” for the most part, you believe that Morgan’s ethical and moral standards are sometimes questionable. For example, last fall Morgan was caught being unfaithful to his or her spouse. Thankfully, they were able to repair their marriage, and this has never happened again. Morgan has also confessed to you that he or she recently lied to a supervisor to gain additional time to finish an assignment. Morgan often copies and mails personal items at the company’s expense and even failed to report to payroll that a personal expenditure had not been deducted from the last paycheck. Furthermore, Morgan cheated on income taxes a few years ago and continues to smoke marijuana on occasion. You don’t mean to be keeping an ethics balance sheet on Morgan, but you have had several private discussions with Morgan regarding the questionable nature of these types of behaviors. You believe that these conversations have helped Morgan to see things in a new light and have positively impacted his or her behavior. You’ve recently been promoted to District 4 manager. Your regional manager is on her way to meet with you to get your recommendation for filling the District 3 manager position. Morgan has just phoned to ask for your support and recommendation for this position. To Morgan’s benefit, he or she has been a hard worker for this company, has always had positive evaluations, and is well liked. Although you feel loyalty to Morgan and know that Morgan is a good employee, you also want to make a good impression in your new position and wonder if Morgan is really the best (and safest) person to recommend for the job. Your regional manager has just arrived at your office. She gets right to the point, asking if you have any recommendations for the District 3 manager’s position. Do you recommend Morgan? Discussion Questions: 1. What responsibilities or obligations do the reader and Morgan owe to themselves, the organization, their profession, their peers, and the business community? Answer: Responsibilities and Obligations: Both you and Morgan owe honesty and integrity to yourselves, the organization, and the business community. This includes being truthful in professional settings and upholding ethical standards. 2. What are the implications of their behavior and decisions? Answer: Implications: Endorsing someone with questionable ethics could harm your reputation and the organization’s integrity. It may also affect team morale and lead to potential legal or ethical issues. 3. Does a company have the right to be interested in employees’ off-work behavior? At what point does personal life spill over into work life? Answer: Company Rights: Companies can consider employees' off-work behavior when it affects their job performance or the organization’s reputation. Personal life can spill over into work life when it impacts professional conduct. 4. Would the type of job make a difference in your recommendation (i.e., an international assignment)? Answer: Job Type Impact: For critical or high-responsibility roles, such as international assignments, ethical behavior and trustworthiness become even more crucial in recommendations. 5. Should those in leadership positions be role models for subordinates? Answer: Leadership Role Modeling: Leaders should be role models for ethical behavior. They set the tone for acceptable conduct and influence organizational culture. 6. Should friendships in the workplace influence decision making? Should Morgan have asked for the recommendation? Answer: Influence of Friendships: Personal friendships should not compromise professional integrity. Morgan should not have asked for the recommendation if there are ethical concerns. 7. How is Morgan any different from you or me or the person sitting next to you? (Note to instructor: Remind students that Morgan is a compilation of all of us.) What is the implication in judging others when we may be guilty, too? Answer: Personal Reflection: Everyone has ethical lapses. The key is to recognize and correct them rather than judge others harshly while ignoring our own faults. 8. Finally, would you or would you not recommend Morgan? Why? Answer: Recommendation Decision: Given Morgan’s ethical issues, you should not recommend them to ensure that the position is filled by someone whose values align with the organization's standards. 9. Would it make a difference if Morgan were male or female? Why? Answer: Gender Influence: The decision should be based on qualifications and ethical behavior, not gender. Gender should not impact the ethical evaluation of a candidate. SOURCE: N. E. Landrum, “My Friend Morgan: An Exercise in Ethics,” Journal of Management Education, 25 (2001): 606–616. Case Study Career Customization for Everyone: Deloitte’s Career/Life Program “‘Deloitte’ is the brand under which tens of thousands of dedicated professionals in independent firms throughout the world collaborate to provide audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management and tax services to selected clients. These firms are members of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), a UK private company limited by guarantee.” Like any other company, Deloitte seeks to be productive, to be profitable, and to growin short, to succeed. For Deloitte to succeed, it must retain talented employees; however, retaining these employees has become increasingly challenging given the nature of traditional career paths in public accounting. For many decades, employees of public accounting firms traditionally followed rather predictable career paths. However, those predictable career paths are changing, and alternative career paths are becoming increasingly common. Cheryl Leitschuh, president of Leitschuh Leadership Consulting in Minneapolis, says, “I don’t think there’s any official definition, but anything that falls out of the 80-hours-a-week, face-time traditional career model, which is the paradigm that has brought the profession to where it is, is considered an alternative career path.” In considering what younger people want in their careers, Anne Weisberg, Deloitte’s director of talent diversity, asserts that “you can’t assume that the way you manage your career is going to work for generations behind you. So don’t overlay your experiences on them and expect them to fall into the way you did things.” Some of the career features that Deloitte’s younger employees seek in these alternative career paths include “long-term career development, multiple experiences within a single company, flexibility, a sense of purpose, respect and open communication.” In 2005, Deloitte LLP began experimenting with changes to the traditional employer-employee relationship in order to retain more of their well-educated, carefully recruited, high-potential mid-career employees. The experimental program, known as Mass Career Customization (MCC) “was born out of Deloitte’s own need to address attrition” and “to keep high performers.” Based on an analysis of employee exit-survey data, Cathy Benko, Deloitte’s chief talent officer, and her team discovered that lack of flexibility was the number one reason women gave for leaving the company, and the number two reason that men provided for leaving. Yet, according to Benko, Deloitte had 69 different types of flexible work arrangementsranging from telecommuting to compressed workweeks“and people were still leaving because of [the] lack of flexibility.” Mass Career Customization was designed to provide all of Deloitte’s employeesnot just its superstarswith opportunities to have the flexibility they wanted and needed in their careers. MCC enables employees to better manage their careers in relation to changing work/life issues. MCC focuses on how employees want their careers to unfold, which also helps to foster greater employee loyalty to the firm. Under the MCC program, “[e]mployees periodically fill out a profile detailing whether they want to stay on their current course, ‘dial up’ by taking on more projects and responsibility, or ‘dial down,’ reducing their hours or amount of travel, for example.” MCC “allows people to ‘dial up’ or ‘dial down,’ depending on life circumstances, whether they’re fresh out of school or a harried new parent. For the latter, this can mean putting in fewer hours or passing on travel or new projects, without hurting the chance of promotion in the future.” As a starting point for career planning, each employee receives a default profile that reflects the employees’ current career situation. The MCC default profile contains four career dimensions that can be dialed up or dialed down as employees’ progress through their careers and face changing life circumstances. The career dimensions are: (1) pace of career (the rate of career progression); (2) workload (the quantity of work output); (3) location/schedule (when and where the work is performed); and (4) role (the employee’s position and responsibilities within the firm. Dialing down can mean cutting back work hours or work load or even working from home. Dialing up means that employees will take on added responsibilities so they can gain a broader and richer set of work experiences. Although dialing up is not a promotion, it does make an employee more marketable. However, “[j]ust because employees ask to dial up or dial down doesn’t mean that they will be approved by their managers.” David Rosenblum, a Los Angeles-based partner in Deloitte’s consulting practice, indicates that dial up requests can be more challenging than dial down requests. According to Rosenblum, employees’ experiences can’t be accelerated when they need to do certain things before they move to the next level. According to Cathy Benko, the program was rolled out to 80 percent of employees in the company’s U.S. offices by the end of 2009. Of those employees choosing to avail themselves of the non-traditional career path afforded by MCC, about two-thirds dial up their careers and about one-third dial down their careers. Moreover, men are as likely as women to dial-up or dial-down their careers. The MCC program seems to be resonating with employees as indicated by improvements in employee satisfaction with ‘overall career/life fit’ and retention of high-performing employees. With its record of success with the MCC program, Deloitte now is trying to make believers of its clients. Discussion Questions 1. Explain the basic nature of Deloitte’s Mass Career Customization (MCC) program. Answer: Nature of MCC Program: Deloitte's Mass Career Customization (MCC) program allows employees to adjust their career dimensions—pace, workload, location/schedule, and role—based on personal and professional needs, offering flexibility in managing their careers. 2. Explain how Deloitte’s MCC program can help employees in managing their careers and in dealing with work/life issues. Answer: Career Management and Work/Life Issues: MCC helps employees balance career progression with personal life changes by allowing them to "dial up" or "dial down" their work responsibilities and schedules, which accommodates varying life circumstances. 3. What are the benefits of MCC for Deloitte and its employees? Answer: Benefits for Deloitte and Employees: Benefits include increased employee satisfaction, improved retention of high performers, and enhanced flexibility, leading to a better work/life fit and potentially greater loyalty to the company. 4. Do you think there is a downside to the MCC program for Deloitte and its employees? Explain your answer. Answer: Downside of MCC Program: Potential downsides include the challenge of managing varying career paths and expectations among employees, and possible difficulties in aligning dial-up requests with required career experiences and company needs. 5. Would Deloitte’s MCC program be easily adapted in other companies? Why or why not? Answer: Adaptation to Other Companies: MCC may be challenging to adapt in other companies due to differences in organizational culture, industry norms, and the feasibility of implementing flexible career paths, especially in industries with less inherent flexibility. SOURCE: This case was written by Michael K. McCuddy, The Louis S. and Mary L. Morgal Chair of Christian Business Ethics and Professor of Management, College of Business Administration, Valparaiso University. Anonymous, “About Deloitte,” Deloitte web site, http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/About/index.htm (accessed February 11, 2014). L. Gold, “Other Paths,” The Practical Accountant (Spring 2008): 3 (3 pages). L. Gold, “Youth Will Be Served!,” Accounting Technology (Spring 2008): 10 (2 pages). L. Gold, “Youth Will Be Served!,” Accounting Technology (Spring 2008): 10 (2 pages). J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). N.M. Davis, “Relatively Few ‘Dial Down’ Their Careers,” HRMagazine 53(3) (March 2008): 10. L. Gold, “Youth Will Be Served!,” Accounting Technology (Spring 2008): 10 (2 pages). J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). J. Budak, “Better Working Through Living,” Canadian Business 84(5): 32. E.F. Cabrera, “Fixing the Leaky Pipeline: Five Ways to Retain Female Talent,” People and Strategy 32(1) (2009): 40 (6 pages); J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). E.F. Cabrera, “Fixing the Leaky Pipeline: Five Ways to Retain Female Talent,” People and Strategy 32(1) (2009): 40 (6 pages); J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). N.M. Davis, “Relatively Few ‘Dial Down’ Their Careers,” HRMagazine 53(3) (March 2008): 10. J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). J.T. Marquez, “Tailor-made Careers,” Workforce Management 89(1) (January 2010): 16 (6 pages). Solution Manual for ORGB Organizational Behavior Debra L. Nelson, James Campbell Quick 9781305663916, 9781337148443
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