Chapter Six

Employee Stakeholders
And
The Corporation
Copyright © 2003 by South-
Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 1
 Chapter Topics
1. Employee stakeholders: The workforce in
the 21st century
2. The changing social contract between
corporations and employees
3. Employee and employer rights and
responsibilities
4. Discrimination, equal employment
opportunity, and affirmative action
5. Sexual harassment in the workplace
6. Whistle-blowing versus organizational
loyalty
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 2
 Employee Stakeholders:
The Workforce In The 21st Century
■ Within the context of the “digital economy” the following
changes with employees and stakeholders occur:
■ A shift to knowledge work
■ The concept of a job for life is dying
■ Compensation, income, and the social distribution of
benefits are shifting
■ Quality of work life is not inherent in the uses of technology
■ Five predicted trends in the work-life of employees
include:
■ Demographics will drive a growing focus on family,
personal, and spiritual matters
■ Employees will demand schedules that work for them
■ Internet-age values will take deeper root
■ A back-to-basics trend
■ It will get harder to tell work and home lifestyles apart
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 3
 Employee Stakeholders:
The Workforce In The 21st Century
■ Several demographic trends that were
predicted have been and are being realized:
■ The workforce is aging
■ Managerial leadership positions are more
difficult to fill
■ Women entrants are increasing
■ Workforce cultures are mixing
■ The education gap continues
■ The level of education lags
■ The number of employees with disabilities is
expanding
■ Gay couples are denied health care insurance in
most companies
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 4
 Employee Stakeholders:
The Workforce In The 21st Century
■ The trends in the workforce necessitate
accommodation from managers and
employees. Moral and legal conflict will
likely increase if action is not taken with
regard to:
■ Age discrimination
■ Sexual harassment
■ Health care provisions
■ Educational challenges
■ Paradigm shift toward a new work life
model
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 5
 Employee Stakeholders:
The Workforce In The 21st Century
■ The following values ■ “Workforce 2000”
were identified as related values
motivators for considered most
professionals: important include:
■ Recognition
■ Competitive pay
■ Respect and dignity
■ Benefits and ■ Personal choice
opportunities
■ Involvement at work
■ A fair deal ■ Pride in work
■ Being valued ■ Quality of lifestyle
■ Decent relationships ■ Financial security
■ Self-development
■ Health and wellness
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 6
 Employee Stakeholders:
The Workforce In The 21st Century
■ Generational analysis looks at
differences among world views,
attitudes, and values of generations
of Americans:
■ GI generation(1901-1924)
■ Silent generation(1920-1940)
■ Baby boomers(1946-1964)
■ Generation X(1960-1980)
■ Generation Y(1980-1990)
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 7
Employee And Employer Rights
And Responsibilities
■ The ideal relationship between employer and
employees is one based on mutual respect
and trust.
■ A right can be understood as a “moral claim.”
■ The moral foundation for employee rights is
based on the fact that employees are
persons.
■ The evolving social contract between
employers and employees still recognizes
employers’ power over physical and material
property, but the contractual relationship
aims in principle at balance, mutual respect,
integrity, and fairness.
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 8
Employee And Employer Rights
And Responsibilities
■ Employers are obliged to:
■ Pay employees fair wages for work performed
■ To provide safe working conditions
■ Employees are responsible for:
■ Fulfilling their contractual obligations to the
corporation
■ For following the goals, procedural rules, and work
plans
■ For performing productively
■ Timeliness
■ Avoiding absenteeism
■ Acting legally and morally
■ Respecting the intellectual and property rights of the
employer
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 9
Employee And Employer Rights
And Responsibilities
■ Major types of employee rights in
the workplace include:
■ Right not to be terminated without just
cause
■ Right to due process
■ Right to privacy
■ Right to workplace health and safety
■ Right to organize and strike
■ Rights regarding plant closings
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 10
Employee And Employer Rights
And Responsibilities
■ Employees’ right to privacy remains
one of the most debated and
controversial rights. Areas centered
around issues of privacy include:
■ Technology use
■ Polygraph and psychological testing
■ Workplace surveillance
■ Internet use
■ Drug testing
■ Genetic discrimination
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 11
 Discrimination, Equal
Employment Opportunity, And
Affirmative Action
■ Recently, discrimination has surfaced in a
number of categories including:
■ Racial profiling
■ Income disparities
■ Ratio of female compensation compared to male
■ Examples of discriminatory practices have
been found in:
■ Recruitment
■ Screening
■ Promotion
■ Termination
■ Conditions of employment
■ Discharge
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 12
 Discrimination, Equal
Employment Opportunity, And
Affirmative Action
■ Affirmative action programs are a
proactive attempt to recruit applicants
from minority groups to create
opportunities for those who would be
excluded from the job market.
■ Affirmative action as a doctrine is
derived from several ethical principles
that serve as bases for laws:
■ Principle of justice
■ Utilitarian principle
■ Rights principle
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 13
Sexual Harassment In The
Workplace
■ Sexual harassment remains among the
most prominent civil right issues in the
workplace.
■ Forms of sexual harassment include:
■ Unwelcome sexual advances
■ Coercion
■ Favoritism
■ Indirect harassment
■ Physical conduct
■ Visual harassment
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 14
 Whistle-Blowing Versus
Organizational Loyalty
■ DeGeorge has identified five conditions
when whistle-blowing is morally justified.
■ Five instances when whistle-blowing is
not justified have been suggested.
■ There have been twelve guidelines that
offer factors which should be considered
before deciding to “blow the whistle” on
an employer.
■ Four managerial steps to prevent
external whistle-blowing have been
suggested.
Copyright © 2003 by South-Western, a division of Thomson
Learning 15