1.4 Discussion: What should happen next?

Deirdre Maultsaid and Gregory John

Questions about individual employees

  • Is it the obligation of a member of a marginalized group, like Dale, to speak up to protect their own dignity, rights and safety? How should Dale do this? To whom should he speak?
  • Is the fact that Dale is distressed a personal problem he has to solve or is it an organizational problem?
  • Should Dale try to blend in? Would that be considered more “professional”?
  • Should Dale advocate for substantial improvements? Should Dale assert himself as an opinion leader?
  • What kinds of improvements should he advocate for?
  • What if someone like Dale wants to advocate for the integration of LGBT2+ ways of thinking?
  • What if someone like Dale wants to advocate for the integration of Indigenous ways of knowing into the organization? How would he do that? To whom should he speak?
  • What are the benefits and challenges to Dale advocating for improvements?
  • Should other bystanders speak up/take action against discrimination?
  • Other relevant questions students should discuss

Questions about the organization

  • What will be the consequences if the organization does nothing about the incident described above? Should Human Resources create mandatory policies and practices for the whole organization? What should they be?
  • In what ways could Human Resources encourage voluntary improvements?
  • What are the benefits and challenges to bringing about voluntary improvements?
  • Should Human Resources mandate training programs?
  • Should these issues be discussed in staff meetings?
  • Other relevant questions students should discuss

Questions about the leadership

  • Are there threats to the reputation of the company?
  • What role does senior leadership have in this situation?
  • Other relevant questions students should discuss

License

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Cases on Social Issues: For Class Discussion - 2nd Edition Copyright © 2023 by Deirdre Maultsaid and Gregory John is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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