Diversity, Technology, And Globalization

Organizations and organizational psychologists have only recently begun to see conflict as a natural process in organizational functioning rather than as something to avoid or reduce. In the 1950s, with the publication of Lewis Coser’s The Functions of Social Conflict (1956), organizations came to perceive conflict as something that could be beneficial when addressed in the right way. Conflict may be beneficial to job performance and an organization’s operations (functional) or stress-inducing and harmful (dysfunctional) depending on the degree of conflict and factors related to the conflict, such as globalization and culture.

Stop and think: How do your own beliefs, cultural background, life experiences, attitudes, values, and biases influence your work performance? If your work colleagues or supervisors did not share your beliefs, cultural background, life experiences, attitudes, values, or biases, would this create conflict? With this in mind, what impact can globalization have on organizations, employee attitudes, and behavior?

Globalization requires understanding of different cultural patterns (individualism versus collectivism) and how to (a) apply goal setting and reward systems, (b) increase effective communications, and (c) provide performance feedback. I/O psychologists need to have the skill set to support global leaders, employees, and organizations and well as conduct global activities (e.g., assessing/training people all around the world for one company). There is a growing need to leverage practices globally while at the same time being sensitive to cultural differences. Today’s leaders need to recognize and leverage the new world of connectivity and transparency to find new ways and methods of delivering individual, team, and organization interventions.

To prepare:

• Review the “Diversity, Technology, and Globalization Case Studies” document located in this week’s Learning Resources and select one of the following case studies: Affirmative Action, Preferential Treatment, or Technology and Globalization.

With this in mind:

Post by Day 3 a critical analysis of one of the case studies presented: Affirmative Action, Preferential Treatment, or Technology and Globalization. Address all the questions that accompany the case study in your post. Title your post with the case study that you selected.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Diversity, Technology, And Globalization