The Scenario: Managing a Newly Assembled Team of a Lobby-Group
SARA WORTHMORE,
Plaintiff,
Vs.
TONY DION,
Defendant.
_________________________________/
AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF
THE MAGERIAL DECISION MADE
AUSTRALIA )
CAPITAL CITY OF CANBERRA )
I, Tony Dion, the team manager, being duly sworn upon my oath hereby indicate the following statements to be true and accurate:
- On 11th September at around 10 am, the team of employees were coming together for a debriefing meeting in my office. Unfortunately, Sara and Peter had a disagreement when the latter would not shake Sara’s hand. This occurrence led to an argument where both parties were trying to prove their position and beliefs to be more valid in the given situation. This is when I decided to intervene to get the conflict under control before it was too late.
- After having a personal discussion with both parties, I set a date for a resolution meeting on the 15th of September. Here, I made the following decision and tried to show reasons for it so that both employees would be satisfied. First, I stated that Peter was not being discriminative when he refused to shake Sara’s hand. This is because it was a moral code in his Islamic belief. I mentioned that he still showed respect by slightly bowing his head. I took note that he tried to explain the same to the plaintiff who was still insisting that she was being discriminated against for being a woman (Jones, Cannilla & Slepian, 2015). Second, I considered the Plaintiff’s position and could not find any supportive statistics indicating that hand shake was discriminative. I concluded that what was happening was simply a case of conflict resulting from cultural diversity. Both parties were coming from completely different cultures with varying beliefs. I pleaded with them to try and be accommodating of each other’s cultural and religious backgrounds to avoid any more conflicts in future (‘Translating cultures across borders’, (2015).
- The decisions made were based upon my interpretation of the Sex Discrimination Act, as well as the freedom of religion. I related these two aspects to come up with a reasonable solution. According to the Sex Discrimination Act, gender identity discrimination occurs when one is treated less favorably due to gender-related identity or characteristics. In this case, the plaintiff argued that she was being discriminated against for being a woman because Peter would not shake her hand. I interpreted this Act by focusing on the term “less favorably.” It is clear that Peter’s refusal to shake Sara’s hand was not meant to treat her with disrespect. On the contrary, he replaced this action with a slight bow of the head which is also a respectful form of acknowledgement (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). If Peter had simply refused to acknowledge the plaintiff, then gender discrimination would have taken place. In relation to religious freedoms, it became evident that Australia offers protection for religion in terms of freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief. Therefore, it is evident that no one should be forced to give up their religious beliefs (Klein, 2016). To interpret this, I considered the fact that Peter had no ill intentions against the plaintiff as he was still respectful.
- Considering the findings from my interpretation above, it became apparent that the decision would favor Peter. He would be allowed to carry on with his belief, while the plaintiff would have to learn to be accommodating of him, as long as she is not disrespected in any way.
FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NAUGHT.
_____________________________
NOTARY PUBLIC
I, the undersigned Notary Public, do hereby attest that the Affiant did appear before me this day of September, 1996, and upon his oath, did affix his signature hereto.
________________________________________ SEAL
NOTARY PUBLIC
My Commission Expires:
The Purpose of this action plan is to highlight the issues which the team of employees has been experiencing. It seeks to offer possible recommendations on how these issues may be resolved to ensure an effective and productive performance of the team members.
Hold a team meeting- 1 day
Identification of issues- 1 week
Obtaining recommendations from team members- 1 week
Summarizing the recommendations and Implementing the Action Plan- 3 days
The main issues which were identified by the team members were all related to cultural differences. They felt like this led to a higher chance of conflict as they were not familiar with the backgrounds of one another. In addition, it made it difficult for them to understand the cultures of others, and know when to take offence.
It is proposed that all team members be educated on the cultural and religious backgrounds of others. It will help them to have a better understanding of the reasons why one would act like they do.
The resources which will be needed include reading materials and even movies on the different cultures present in the group.
This Action Plan will be reviewed 1 month after its implementation.
References
Earley, P. C., & Mosakowski, E. (2004). Toward culture intelligence: Turning cultural differences into a workplace advantage. Academy Of Management Executive, 18(3), 151-157. doi:10.5465/AME.2004.28561784
Jones, G. E., Cannilla, L., & Slepian, J. L. (2015). Perceptions of Moral Wrongfulness of Unethical Workplace Behaviors: Gender and Cultural Differences. Journal of Competitiveness Studies, 23(4), 36-45.
Klein, H. J. (2016). Commitment in organizational contexts: Introduction to the special issue. Journal of Organizational Behavior. pp. 489-493. doi:10.1002/job.2103.
Translating cultures across borders. (cover story). (2015). Human Capital, 19(6), 14-21.
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