Objective [1]

Describe perception in terms of the social information processing model. Perception is a mental and cognitive process that enables us to interpret and understand our surroundings. Social perception, also known as social cognition and social information processing, is a fourstage process. The four stages are selective attention/ comprehension, encoding and simplification, storage and retention, and retrieval and response. During social cognition, salient stimuli are matched with schemata, assigned to cognitive categories, and stored in long-term memory for events, semantic materials, or people.

Objective [2]

Identify and briefly explain four managerial implications of social perception. Social perception affects hiring decisions, performance appraisals, leadership perceptions, communication, and interpersonal influence. Inaccurate schemata or racist and sexist schemata may be used to evaluate job applicants. Similarly, faulty schemata about what constitutes good versus poor performance can lead to inaccurate performance appraisals. Invalid schemata need to be identified and replaced with appropriate schemata through coaching and training. Further, managers are advised to use objective rather than subjective measures of performance. With respect to leadership, a leader will have a difficult time influencing employees when he or she exhibits behaviors contained in employees’ schemata of poor leaders. Finally, because people interpret oral and written communications by using schemata developed through past experiences, an individual’s ability to influence others is affected by information contained in others’ schemata regarding age, gender, ethnicity, appearance, speech, mannerisms, personality, and other personal characteristics.

Objective [3]

Explain, according to Kelley’s model, how external and internal causal attributions are formulated. Attribution theory attempts to describe how people infer causes for observed behavior. According to Kelley’s model of causal attribution, external attributions tend to be made when consensus and distinctiveness are high and consistency is low. Internal (personal responsibility) attributions tend to be made when consensus and distinctiveness are low and consistency is high.

Objective [4]

Demonstrate your familiarity with the demographic trends that are creating an increasingly diverse workforce. There are four key demographic trends: (a) half of the new entrants into the workforce between 2000 and 2010 will be women, (b) people of color will account for more than a third of the new entrants into the workforce between 2000 and 2010, (c) a mismatch exists between workers’ educational attainment and occupational requirements, and (d) the workforce is aging.

Objective [5]

Identify the barriers and challenges to managing diversity. There are 10 barriers to successfully implementing diversity initiatives: (a) inaccurate stereotypes and prejudice, (b) ethnocentrism, (c) poor career planning, (d) an unsupportive and hostile working environment for diverse employees, (e) lack of political savvy on the part of diverse employees, (f) difficulty in balancing career and family issues, (g) fears of reverse discrimination, (h) diversity is not seen as an organizational priority, (i) the need to revamp the organization’s performance appraisal and reward system, and (j) resistance to change.

Objective [6]

Discuss the organizational practices used to manage diversity identified by Ann Morrison. Ann Morrison’s study of diversity practices identified three main types or categories of activities. Accountability practices relate to a manager’s responsibility to treat diverse employees fairly. Development practices focus on preparing diverse employees for greater responsibility and advancement. Recruitment practices emphasize attracting job applicants at all levels who are willing to accept challenging work assignments. Table 4–3 presents a list of activities that are used to accomplish each main type.