Intro to Diversity & Inclusion

Hi all.

Thanks for your observations and thoughts on the first three chapters of The Loudest Duck (Liswood, 2010). This is one of my favorite texts discussing diversity in the workplace. Liswood does a great job making accessible a sensitive subject with sometimes disturbing implications, using terms that enable us to have important conversations without feeling threatened.

This accessible language is also one of the challenges reading Liswood; we have to be clear about her terms. You demonstrated a solid understanding of her basic terms and concepts in today's discussion board posts. When speaking of "Noah's Ark", we have to be clear that Liswood is not referring to our friend in Genesis, but is using the ark as a metaphor for a particular approach to diversity/inclusion. the same is true for her use of elephants, mice, and grandmas.

Liswood provides a nice summary of these concepts in the video below. Watch an 8.5 minute section from time marker 35:30 to 44:00 for a useful overview and some additional context from the author herself. (Here's the URL if the link fails: http://youtu.be/u_S6C8WjxZU?t=35m30s)

Click here to go to Liswood video clip

We'll pick this conversation up on Monday using Carol's story (posted on Blackboard) to explore the meaning and importance of diversity and inclusion in today's workplace. Please come to class having read Carol's story and prepared to discuss the questions posted on Blackboard.

See you then!

Sept 5 Online Class Feedback

Greetings OB friends!

Thanks for today's interesting discussion, making connections between the topics of vocation and conventional/sustainable OB (Neubert & Dyck, 2014).

First let me commend you on the almost unanimously insightful comments regarding vocation as service and business as service. This is significant. As you launch your own businesses after graduation or work with others in an existing business, operating from this perspective will have significant impact on the business and people management decisions you make. Service is a much different purpose for a business than making a profit. As Van Duzer notes in Why Business Matters to God, a business must make a profit. But for those who see business as a form of vocation and therefore as service to others, profit is not the driving force behind every decision.

Several of you then take this discussion to the next level, making connections between business as vocation/service and Neubert and Dyck's (2014) conventional/sustainable OB concepts. Do a search for posts by Ayanna, Julianne, Ethan and Greg for some particularly thoughtful consideration of the connections between these concepts.

Check out Andrew B's posts this week as well. Andrew begins to shine a light down the practical application road. Sustainable OB and management are all well and good in the classroom, but what happens in real life? Can a company be started and run purely from the sustainable OB/management perspective? What happens in an economic downturn? Whose interests should prevail? All important questions with no easy answers. We'll continue to explore these issues as future business managers and leaders throughout the semester.

See you on Monday for our discussion of Neubert & Dyck (2014) chapter 2 (see the class prep instructions on Blackboard). Until then, enjoy the weekend!

Aug 29 Online Class Feedback

"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." 

Frederick Buechner

Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, p. 95

Hello friends.

I begin with the above quote from Frederick Buechner, offering it as a thought-provoking contemporary summary of what vocation means. To Buechner, vocation is certainly service to others (Luther). It also requires seeking the place where our unique gifts will be put to their most effective use (Calvin). The critical things that separates vocation from just any other job, however, is that the exercise of these gifts both bring us deep joy and meet a critical need in the world. 

Buechner says this even more directly using this plain language from the same passage cited above: "The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need most to do and (b) that the world most needs to have done." What we need to do most speaks directly to who God has created us to be. Fulfilling this calling will bring great joy. Doing this work is true vocation when it meets the world's need.

Hardy's practical theology of work breaks it down this way... 

"Through work we respond to God's mandate to humanity to continue the work of creation by [stewarding] the earth; through work we realize ourselves as image-bearers of God; through work we participate in God's ongoing creative activity; through work we follow Christ in his example of redemptive suffering for the sake of others; through work we serve God himself as we serve those with whom he identifies."

Lee Hardy

The Fabric of this World, p. 76

Your posts did a nice job capturing the detail behind Hardy's practical theology. As you noted, Luther and Calvin set the foundation for our contemporary understanding of vocation. Andrew B., Anthony, Ethan, Katie, Kyle & Julianne all did an excellent job outlining the essentials from both Luther and Calvin. Check our their posts for details. Greg also points out that this Protestant stream of thinking about vocation is also consistent with Catholic social teaching, making the perspective Hardy offers ecumenical in reach. 

Several of you also brought up important points, intentionally or implied, that begin to challenge our thinking about vocation, management, leadership and organizational behavior. For example, how do we define management and leadership? What are they really all about. We have the classic definitions from BUSA 206, but how do we reconcile these definitions with this calling to vocation found in our August 29 reading? Many of you made explicit and helpful links between our reading and treatment of employees and business as service to society. These are all good places to start.

Do we have additional responsibilities beyond these ethical considerations? If our vocation is management and leadership (as it will be for many of you), what is our responsibility as managers and leaders in creating workplaces where others can seek (see Greg's post) their vocation? Should for-profit companies be places where workers can seek vocation, or is that something people need to sort out at school or church before applying to work with our companies? Hmmm, not a question we'll answer here today, but we'll begin to explore this issue in class and online later this week, and continue the exploration throughout the semester. 

Keep this vocation discussion in mind as we engage with Neubert and Dyck (2014) chapter 1 in class on Wednesday, and then work to connect Neubert and Dyck to Hardy online again on Friday.

See you on Wednesday!