MGMT 360: Diversity in business organizations

Aivazian 7MGMT 368-01Diversity in Business Organizations

Instructor: Russell C Aivazian, M.EdOffice: San Francisco 105Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:00pm-1:30pmClass Location: IES 124Email: raivazian@luc.eduPhone (office): 773-508-8969Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:00am-12:00pm and by appointment.

Course Introduction

The current environment for business has expanded beyond cultures and physical borders. Leaders in our diverse society not only need to understand their own identities, but reflect on how their identities play a role in a workplace as well (positive or negative). This course aims to create an environment that allows students to identify their identities and share their lived experience as a way to become better-informed and effective leaders. Additionally, this course will cover benefits to diversity in the workplace and explore the benefits of working in teams throughout the organizational structure.

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Overall Course Learning Outcomes:

As a result of their enrollment in this course, students will: be able to describe how their identities impact their experience in the workplace; examine the current business environments response to changes in culture; and be able to develop their skills related to working in a group of peers to solve real-world issues related to diversity in the workplace.

Specific Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course, students will have the capacity and skills to:

Foundational Knowledge Goals: identify laws, legislation, and regulations that frame the current business environment for diversity. facilitate conversations around power, privilege, identity, and social justice in order to create environments for diversity in the workplace. identify the barriers to creating environments for diversity in the workplace (i.e. microagressions).

Application Goals: analyze information about business organizations strategies for managing diversity. solve real-world issues related to diversity in the workplace and create practical applications using course concepts and materials.

Integration Goals: create connections between individual identity development and the business environment articulate the factors that contribute to business environments conducive to fostering diversity in the workplace.

Human Dimensions Goals: learn about their own identities and how they influence their individual working style. work in a team of diverse individuals to solve real-world problems through case study analysis.

Caring Goals: identify and value diversity in the workplace. appreciate the diverse perspectives members of an organization bring to the business environment.

Learning-How-To-Learn Goals: reflect on their own identity development.

Course Framework and Structure

Since identity development is a process that is achieved through the sharing of lived experiences, this course will focus on group dialogue to create the structure for learning. Most classes will consist of a brief lecture about the days topic and be followed by a dialogue led by your peers. We will also have guest speakers and use in-class case studies to bring this material into the context of the business environment.

Since this course relies heavily on group dialogue, the following class expectations will guide our discussions:

Be Impeccable With Your WordDont Take Anything PersonallyDont Make AssumptionsAlways Do Your Best

For more information about the class expectations, please read and sign the learning contract at the end of the syllabus. We will consistently update and revisit our community expectations throughout the semester.

Assigned Readings

There will be assigned readings from the textbooks and supplemental articles from journals and periodicals. Readings are assigned per the class schedule (below) and should be read before coming to class. Reading prior to class is important to ensure your participation in class dialogues and in your assigned projects.

Required Course Texts*:

Adams, M., Blumenfeld, W., Castanenda, C., Hackman, H.W., Peters, M. L., & Zuniga, X. (Eds.) (2013). Readings for diversity and social justice. Routledge: London.

Harvey, C. & Allard, M. J. (2014). Understanding and managing diversity: Readings, cases, and exercises (6th Edition). Prentice Hall: New Jersey.

*Additional readings will be provided on the course management site and are accessed through the Library or online sources.

Course Assignments

1) Class Participation/Twitter (10 Points, evaluated in week 7 and at conclusion of the course)

Since this class has a heavy focus on personal exploration and dialogue, attendance at class sessions are mandatory. However, realizing that personal situations may come up, please email me at least 24 hours in advance of your absence. Any unexcused absence will result in the loss of a point from your participation grade. Routinely arriving late or leaving early will result in loss of participation points as well. During week 7, you will receive a mid-semester feedback score, which will account for half of your participation and Twitter engagement points.

In an effort to stimulate out of class dialogue on the topic, each member in the course is required to tweet about course material four times per week using the course hashtag: #MGMT360. In order to stimulate classroom discussion, at least one tweet needs to be submitted by the Sunday prior to the weeks class. Throughout the week, your tweets must consist of one reflection or observation from the reading, one outside resource or article, and two responses to other members of the class. While four tweets are a minimum, feel free to use Twitter for the class as much as you would like. Each week, I will invite a guest moderator from the business profession to engage with your contributions and add additional perspective to the classroom. I will also periodically engage as well.

2) Facilitated Dialogue (20 Points; draft paper due on the day of your dialogue and final paper due two weeks later)

You and a partner (no more than 11 groups) will facilitate an in-class dialogue based on the readings for that particular class session. Each dialogue will last approximately 45 minutes and involve you engaging half of the class in a fishbowl dialogue. The other half of the class will observe the dialogue and contribute to a debrief after the completion of the dialogue. During the dialogue, you are expected to engage your peers on the relevant topics from the readings and relate the readings to current issues. Half of the points allotted from this assignment will be based off feedback and assessment from your peers. As we continue through the course, we will discuss ground rules for dialogues and provide opportunities to practice dialoguing skills throughout the semester. Additionally, I will meet with each group individually to provide any assistance or direction.

In addition to your facilitated dialogue, each group will submit a paper related to your dialogue topic that will account for the other half of your dialogue grade. This paper should briefly synthesize your topic and discuss how the weeks topic relates to the current business environment. This paper should be 5-6 pages and follow regular APA format.

3) Case Study Paper (30 Points; due Week 11)

Using the information and personal reflection, groups of two will interview a current business professional and complete an analysis of a case study distributed to the class. The case study will be released during the third week of class to give you enough time to recruit a current business professional and set up a time to talk about the case study (about an hour). The deliverable for this assignment will be an 8-10 page paper submitted by your group, which covers your conversation with the professional and your own observations about the case. The goal of this assignment is to create your own solution for the issue and understand how current business professionals also approach the issues presented in the case. This paper will be due at the end of week 11.

4) Current Issue Presentation (30 Points; Due week 14)

During the second class of the semester, you will be assigned to a group of 4-5 to help complete in-class assignments and activities. At the end of the semester, each group will prepare a 10-minute presentation that analyzes a current issue in business diversity through the lens of the topics discussed in class. These presentations will occur during the last week of the semester and will be evaluated by your peers, your group members, and myself.

5) Final Reflection/Synthesis (10 Points; Due week 15)

The culminating assignment for this course will be a reflection paper synthesizing your experience in the course. This paper (four pages minimum) will address your major learning experiences in the course, the areas where you have seen growth, and outline your commitment to diversity in the workplace. While this paper does not require any specific references to the course texts, it should reflect your evolution through the course and your major takeaways

Grade Distribution

Aivazian 2

MGMT 360: Diversity in business organizations2

MGMT 360: Diversity in business organizations1

AssignmentWeightCurrent Issue Presentation 30%Case Study Paper 30%Facilitated Dialogue 20%Final Reflection/Synthesis 10%Class Participation/Twitter 10%Total: 100%

Grading Scale:100 94 = A93 90 = A-89 87 = B+86 84 = B83 80 = B-79 77 = C+76 74 = C73 70 = C-69 67 = D+66 64 = D63 60 = D-59 0 = F

Late AssignmentsAll assignments are due by the start of class on the day they are due. Any unexcused late assignment will be assessed a 10% reduction in the grade for every class day the assignment is late. If you have an emergency or life situation that prevents you from turning in the assignment on time, please notify me via email in as much advance as possible. Extensions will be given on a case-by-case basis.

Course Outline

WeekTopics & ThemesTuesdayThursday

1Course Framework and Team Introduction Readings: Course Syllabus

Class Activities: Course, instructor, and student introduction Community expectationsReadings: Working in teams reading

Class Activities: Revisit community expectations Group formation Group expectations Team-building/trust building activities Lecture: team development theories

2Case Study Analysis and Dialogue FoundationsReadings: Approaches to case studies reading

Class Activities: Lecture: analyzing case studies In-class case study

Assignments: Group contract due via email Signed dialogue contract dueReadings: Dialogue foundations

Class Activities: Sample in-class dialogue Tracking and triggering exercise

3Theory and Identity DevelopmentReadings: Introduction to diversity as a concept for the workplace

Class Activities: Lecture: What is diversity? Identifying and sharing identitiesReadings: Introduction to identity development theories

Class Activities: Lecture: Theories of Identity development Discussion using context of target and agent identities.

Assignments: Case study distributed to class

4Power and PrivilegeReadings: Introduction to power and privilege McIntosh (1989): Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Class Activities: Lecture: Unpacking our knapsacks Sample in-class dialogue Re-visit community expectationsReadings: Power and privilege in the workplace

Class Activities: Dialogue Group #1 Group case study

5SexismReadings: Introduction to sexism

Class Activities: Lecture: Sexism Dialogue Group #2Readings: Sexism in the workplace

Class Activities: Dialogue Group #3 Group case study

6Readings: Materials for guest speaker

Class Activities: Guest speaker: Sexism in business organizationsReadings: TBD

Class Activities: Dialogue Group #4 Group case study

7Race and Racism

Readings: Introduction to race and racism

Class Activities: Lecture: Current environment for racism Dialogue Group #5Readings: Race and racism in the workplace

Class Activities: Dialogue Group #6 Group case study Mid-semester feedback provided via email

8Readings: Materials for guest speaker

Class Activities: Guest speaker: Race and the workplaceReadings: TBD

Class Activities: Dialogue Group #7 Group case study

9Class Privilege and ClassismReadings: Introduction to class privilege and classism

Class Activities: Lecture: Class privilege Dialogue Group #8Readings: Classism and class in the workplace

Class Activities: Dialogue Group #9 Group case study

10Sexual Orientation and Gender IdentificationReadings: Introduction to sexual orientation and gender identification

Class Activities: Lecture: Sexual orientation and gender identification Dialogue Group #10Readings: Sexual orientation and gender identification in the workplace

Class Activities: Dialogue Group #11 Group case study

11AbleismReadings: Introduction to ableism

Class Activities: Lecture: Visible and invisible disabilities and able-bodied privilege Dialogue Group #12Readings: Ableism in the workplace

Class Activities: Dialogue Group #13 (if applicable) Group case study

12Current Environment for DiversityReadings: Current environment for diversity in the workplace (regulations, policies, etc.)

Class Activities: Lecture: Where does business stand on diversity issues and initiatives? Class discussion Class Activities: Class discussion about case study paper

Assignments: Case study paper due

13Strategies/Ally DevelopmentReadings: Materials from guest speakers

Class Activities: Guest panel discussion: (best practices) Readings: What does it mean to be an Ally? (in the context of the workplace) Creating a brave space for dialogue

Class Activities: Lecture: What are allies? Class discussion on Ally development in the workplace.

14EthicsReadings: Diversity and Ethics (using affirmative action and hiring policies as a lens)

Class Activities: Lecture: Ethical foundations of diversity in the workplace Group case study Readings: Materials for guest speaker

Class Activities: Guest speaker: Ethics in the workplace

15Final PresentationsCurrent Issue PresentationsCurrent Issue Presentations

FinalFinal ExamsFinal Reflection Due at MidnightFinal Feedback Grade Provided via Email

*Schedule may change at the discretion of the instructor based on the trajectory of in-class discussions and dialogue.

University Policies and Resources

Academic Honesty Academic honesty is an expression of interpersonal justice, responsibility and care, applicable to Loyola University faculty, students, and staff, which demands that the pursuit of knowledge in the university community be carried out with sincerity and integrity. The School of Business academic integrity policy can be found on the departments website.

AccessibilityStudents who have disabilities which they believe entitle them to accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act should register with the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSWD) office. To request accommodations,students mustschedule an appointment with an SSWD coordinator. Students should contact SSWD at leastfour weeks before their first semester or term at Loyola. Returning students shouldschedule an appointment within the first two weeks of the semester or term. The University policy on accommodations and participation in courses is available at: http://www.luc.edu/sswd/

EthicsLine Reporting HotlineLoyola University Chicago has implemented EthicsLine Reporting Hotline, through a third party internet & telephone hotline provider, to provide you with an automated and anonymous way to report activities that may involve misconduct or violations of Loyola University policy. You may file an anonymous report here on-line or by dialing 855-603-6988. (within the United States, Guam, and Puerto Rico)The University is committed to the highest ethical and professional standards of conduct as an integral part of its mission of expanding knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice and faith. To achieve this goal, the University relies on each community member's ethical behavior, honesty, integrity and good judgment. Each community member should demonstrate respect for the rights of others.www.luc.edu/ethicslineDialogue Contract

Contract for Dialogue in the Classroom: Four AgreementsAdapted from B. Kelly (2013)

Be Impeccable With Your WordI agree to speak with integrity, to say only what I mean. I agree to not speak against or judge others or myself. I agree to take responsibility for my actions. I agree to go hard on ideas and soft on people. I believe that ideas are always up for challenge, critique and dissection. I believe peoples worth is never up for question or debate. I agree to respect and listen to all ideas and the authors of those ideas. I agree to extol the value and worth of ideas before I describe the areas where I oppose them.

Dont Take Anything PersonallyI agree that no one in this class is deliberately saying or doing anything to hurt or offend me. I believe that my point of view is something personal to me, based on my own experiences and truths. I believe it has nothing to do with anyone elses point of view. I agree to try and understand where others are coming from without imposing my beliefs onto them. I agree to trust myself to ask for what I need from the class.

Dont Make AssumptionsI agree to ask questions rather than make assumptions about what someone is doing or thinking. If I do not understand something I agree to be courageous and ask questions until I have as much clarity as I can, and even then I will not assume that I know all there is to know about a particular situation. I agree not to make the assumption that everyone sees life the way I do, thinks the way I think, or feels the way I feel.

Always Do Your BestI agree to do my best, no more and no less. I believe that doing my best involves taking action because I want to, not because I expect a reward (e.g. grade). I believe that my best will change depending on if I am sick or healthy, happy or sad, tired or wide-awake, etc. Under any circumstance, I agree to do my best.

I agree to honor these for our dialogue in the classroom:

______________________________*Please sign this contract and turn it into me by class on Week 2 (Tuesday)

Reflection

Throughout the curriculum in the Higher Education program, I have been reflecting on how the curriculum I experienced within my business major could potentially overlap. Specifically, my major curriculum at my undergraduate institution did not include any conversation about identity development or working with a diverse population of business professionals. My primary focus for this course was to combine the social justice education and dialogue from my graduate experience with the management concepts in my major to create a course that can prepare students for the changing nature of the business environment. This reflection aims to not only explain how choices were made regarding the course structure, but to show how the concepts from business and social justice education can be combined together for a course that focuses on business majors. Instructor and Course InformationThis course is intended for business management majors within their sophomore or junior year. Ideally, the course would be sequenced after an Introduction to Management course, so that students have a basic understanding of management principles and can work in teams effectively. As the introduction indicates, this course is intended for students to understand and identify the changing environment for diversity in the workplace. Especially since organizations are growing rapidly into international markets, business professionals are often required to work in teams with people who are from different backgrounds and experiences. Without the proper skills to manage conflict and work through difficult conversations, managers can be ineffective at finding meaning in their work and contributing to the bottom line. This course also comes out of Finks (2013) critical competencies for people in business, industries, and government. Specifically, this course aims to equip students to act in an ethical fashion, have interpersonal and team skills, develop critical thinking capacities, and respect for people different from themselves, just to name a few.Since the course will focus heavily on intergroup dialogue (discussed later) and conversations in groups, the course is intended to be taught to no more than 25 students in a room that allows furniture to be moved for various course activities. This is an important component of the learning environment so that students can get to know one another in a small class and be in a physical environment that supports the learning activities throughout the course. I have also listed myself as the instructor for the course, but the course would be successful with a professor competent in intergroup dialogue skills and foundational management information.Learning Outcomes and ObjectivesNilson (2010) explains that Outcomes-centered course design guarantees a high level of student engagement because the process steers you towardstudent-active teaching strategies (p. 18). When designing a course, it is important to first think about the general course outcomes before designing the assignments, assessment, and environment. For this course, the learning outcomes focus on students gaining knowledge about their own identities and the impact they may have in the workplace environment, examine the current environment to diversity in business organizations, and develop skills related to working with a group of peers to solve problems. This part of designing the course was one of the most difficult because it required me to think critically about the nature of the course and what students should know how to do far after the completion of the course. Utilizing Finks (2013) backwards design was helpful because it helped me to think about the broad outcomes before designing specific experiences and getting caught up in other features of the course.In addition to the general learning course learning outcomes, I also worked to create specific outcomes that focused on the specific components of the course relating to Finks (2013) taxonomy of significant learning. The informational packet was extremely helpful to understand the differences in each section and ensure that the learning is student-centered. Fink (2013) explains that these concepts are interactive and all relate to one another to create significant learning experiences for students. For me, this really highlighted how I saw the overall and specific outcomes interacting with one another throughout the course. The specific outcomes may be more specifically tailored to the in-class learning environment, whereas the overall outcomes focus on the things students will remember many years after the course.Course Framework and StructureThis course depends heavily on intergroup dialogue to bring light to the reading materials. My hope is for students to bring their personal experiences into the dialogues and foster learning among the community of students. Fink (2013) describes the human dimension of significant learning experiences through learning about the self and others. In my experiences, this has best been done in a space where students are able to voice their opinions and share their lived experiences in a brave space. The course will be structured around student-led dialogues about the course readings and topics (assignment discussed below). Since the course is two days a week, the classes will vary slightly on the day of instruction. Typically, Tuesday classes will cover basic foundations of the topic. For example, the readings for this week will explore the various systems and conceptualizations surrounding the identity area from the Adams et al. (2013) book. This will allow students to gain foundational knowledge before applying it to the business environment and give time to explore their identities. The dialogue for this day will focus on specific identities and will ask students to dig deeper into the course material. The Thursday class will focus on the identity in the context of the business environment. Readings will be from the Harvey and Allard (2014) text and will examine the environmental factors that can help and/or hinder individuals with various identities. The mini-lecture during this class will discuss the current environment; specifically, the lecture material will focus on specific practices and regulations that are in place regarding the identity topic for the week. During this class, students will complete a brief case study exercise with their assigned groups. This activity will allow students to apply the learning to real-world contexts and begin to create a solid foundation for their team-based projects. For me, this structure of using student-led dialogues and learning could be quite risky. Even though I plan to meet with the groups prior to the dialogue, the conversation could go in many directions and may also cause some type of division within the class. My hope is to consistently engage students in a conversation about material in the dialogue and ensure that I model naming any conflicts or observations that may detract from learningSince the course relies heavily on the use of intergroup dialogue to create learning, I also included a dialogue contract for students to sign. This contract was adapted from Bridget Kellys Multiculturalism for Social Justice course and provides a framework for the learning environment. Many times throughout the course, I will provide opportunities for students to add expectations so that we can adapt as things come up or when conflicts arise. My hope with this part of the syllabus is to hold students accountable to the creation of their learning environment and create a brave space for individual and group learning.Assigned ReadingsThe two textbooks selected for the course reflect the differing topics covered on the days of class. The Adams (2013) book will provide an overview for the various identities, whereas the Harvey and Allard (2014) book will contextualize the identities in the modern workplace. In addition to the required texts, students will also be assigned current articles, videos, blog posts, etc. in order to bring various viewpoints to the table. The reading load for the course will be mild and it will be stressed that students should read before coming to class so that they can be prepared for the topics in the dialogues.Course AssignmentsThe course assignments were the more exciting things for me to create throughout this process. When approaching the assignments, I wanted to create experiences that tie the in-class learning to the current business environment and create a framework that allows students time to work in groups and reflect throughout the process. The five assignments are explained below:Class Participation/TwitterEven though this portion of the course was only assigned 10 points, it is one of the more crucial elements. Students will earn participation points through dialogues and group work in class. Additionally, students will be required to interact with one another on Twitter in order to continue the in-class dialogue and connect various viewpoints. Using the guidelines in the syllabus, students will have to submit four total tweets using the class hashtag to post new material, respond to the reading, and interact with the guest moderator or others in the class. I used this technique in a previous course and it helped the instructor gain a better understanding of how students handled the material, ensured that students were prepared for class, and encouraged out-of-class dialogue with students and the professor. As far as grading for participation is concerned, students will receive half of their grade in week seven and the other half at the end of the semester. This is to encourage constant feedback and ensure that students remain engaged throughout the course (Fink suggests this as an important characteristic of significant learning experiences). Their grade will include in-class participation as well as the Twitter engagement. Facilitated DialogueThe course will rely heavily on in-class dialogues facilitated by pairs or small groups of students in the class. At the beginning of the semester, I will work to pair groups together based on their area of interest and meet with the groups periodically throughout the semester to check on their progress and answer any questions. Each dialogue will last 45 minutes and will involve half of the class participating fully in the discussion. The other members of class will observe and report back to the class at the end of the dialogue. The goal of the dialogues is to create an environment for students to discuss the issues relevant to the topic area, while co-constructing their learning experience. The dialogue grade will be comprised of ten points from peer evaluations (submitted at the end of every dialogue) and ten points from the instructor based on a group paper due two weeks after the dialogue. The paper will analyze a current issue with the context of the readings. The topic will be also discussed with the instructor prior to conducting research for the paper.Case Study PaperThe goal of the case study paper is to work with a group to help solve a case study while comparing their approach to current professionals in the business field. Students will receive the case study far in advance and will need to identify a business professional to interview. Students will then send the case study to the professional, who will analyze the issues in the case. Once the students have completed their case study analysis, they will meet with the professional to discuss their approaches. Once this is completed, students will submit a group paper that synthesizes each partys approach and any common findings or differing tactics. The goal for this assignment is to analyze the current environment for diversity in business using current professionals and practice engaging in conversations about this topic with people who work in the real world.Current Issue PresentationDuring the final week of the semester, students will prepare a presentation in their groups about a current issue related to the course topic. During the presentation, they will explain the issue and apply course concepts in order to provide recommendations to improve conditions or mitigate the effects of a companys policy or practice. This project aims to help students build their teamwork skills and apply what they have learned in class to the business environment. These presentations will be evaluated in part by members of the class, in order to ensure attendance and engagement during presentations. Final Reflection/SynthesisAs a final assignment, students will reflect on their experience and talk about their current and evolving understanding of diversity in the workplace. This is meant to have students think about how they have learned throughout the process and the tangible takeaways that they can apply to future positions or roles. ConclusionDoing this assignment made me think critically about how difficult it can be to build a syllabus that incorporates the significant learning experiences. Finks (2013) book and guide provided a great foundation to understand how to apply these concepts to real situations. I also appreciated my own constant reflection throughout this process about how I would interact with a course like this, if it were in my undergraduate curriculum. Overall, I am able to takeaway some tangible tactics to build learning outcomes and create activities that reflect the stated goals and objectives.ReferencesNilson, L.B. (2010). Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Fink, L.D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to developing college courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.