affirmative action

(noun)

Advantages for traditionally discriminated against minority groups, with the aim of creating a more equal society through preferential access to education, employment, health care, social welfare.

Related Terms

Examples of affirmative action in the following topics:

  • Trends in Organizational Diversity

    • The early stages of pursuing equality in the workplace arose in the 1960s, most notably with the concept of affirmative action.
    • Affirmative action essentially establishes legal quotas—set by the U.S. government—for the number or percentage of representation by minority populations in a company's hiring practices.
    • One difficulty with affirmative action is that it can encourage employers to fill quotas rather than avoid bias, potentially motivating some employers to hire specifically by race, ethnicity, or gender; hiring based upon any of these characteristics is illegal.
    • The social justice model of diversity is distinct from the older affirmative action in that it focuses less on employing minorities and more on the value of a diverse workforce.

  • PESTEL: A Framework for Considering Challenges

    • Legal issues such as affirmative action, patent infringements (a recent example being Apple vs.

  • Taking Corrective Action

    • Taking corrective action requires identifying the problem and implementing a potential solution.
    • Taking corrective action is one of the three essential elements of the control process.
    • One key aspect of taking corrective action is problem-solving.
    • This problem-solving process is the central consideration for effective corrective action.
    • This way if the corrective action doesn't create the expected results, further action can be taken before the organization falls even further behind in meeting its goals.

  • The Nature of Persuasive Communications

    • The purpose may be to spur action, build group cohesion, or develop commitment to a shared set of goals.
    • Persuasive argument is often a call to action.
    • Calls to action are commonly part of implementing decisions.
    • There are several types of calls to action: adoption, discontinuance, deterrence, and continuance.
    • A call to action offers its audience a clear choice for their response.

  • Ethical Decision Making

    • Ethical decision making is the process of assessing the moral implications of a course of action.
    • Ethical decision making is the process of assessing the moral implications of a course of action.
    • For example, from a consequentialist standpoint, a morally right action is one that produces a good outcome, or consequence.
    • A utilitarian perspective takes the position that the proper course of action is one that maximizes overall happiness.
    • Ethical decision making requires judgment and interpretation, the application of a set of values to a set of perceptions and estimates of the consequences of an action.

  • Ethics Training

    • To make such an assessment, one must first know what an action is intended to accomplish and what its possible consequences will be on others.
    • Such judgements are made by considering the objective and the likely consequences of an action.
    • Moral sensitivity, which is "the ability to see an ethical dilemma, including how our actions will affect others."
    • Moral motivation, which is "a personal commitment to moral action, accepting responsibility for the outcome."
    • Perseverance: Perseverance is the ability to decide on a moral plan of action and then to adapt to any barriers that arise in order to continue working toward that goal.

  • Codes of Conduct

    • Organizations adopt codes of conduct to guide employees' actions and decisions.
    • Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist members in understanding the difference between right and wrong and applying that understanding to their decisions and actions.
    • It may include specific lists of dos and don'ts, or it may provide questions to ask to help determine the proper course of action.

  • Accountability in Teams

    • Accountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies.
    • Accountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, and decisions.
    • Governing authorities have the obligation to report, explain, and answer for resulting consequences of their actions.

  • The Importance of Accountability

    • Being accountable simply means being responsible for decisions made, actions taken, and assignments completed.
    • In organizations, accountability is a management control process in which responses are given for a person's actions.
    • Employees who do not meet the expectations of their supervisor are held accountable for their actions and must answer for their inability to do so.
    • However, managers must clearly communicate their expectations to the person who is responsible for the specified action or task.
    • Governing authorities have the obligation to report, explain, and answer for resulting consequences of their actions.

  • Productivity: Argyris

    • Argyris conducted a series of research studies in action science, which studies how humans design and decide on their actions under difficult or stressful situations.
    • Argyris believed that human actions are controlled by environmental variables, which determine the key differences between single-loop and double-loop learning.
    • In single-loop learning, entities (such as individuals, groups, or organizations) modify their actions according to the difference between expected and obtained outcomes.
    • In double-loop learning, the entities question the values, assumptions, and policies that led to the actions in the first place; if they are able to view and modify those values, then second-order or double-loop learning has taken place.