Virtual Enterprise

1. Virtual Enterprise Sexual Harassment Cultural Diversity

2. Introduction • Globalization has had a tremendous effect on the international workforce. The Internet has opened up another way of conducting business. Women pursue careers previous generations never thought of pursuing and the workforce has a greater cultural diversity which requires an understanding among workers customs, religions, and life experiences. People have to learn to get along with each other in order for any business to conduct daily operations. Therefore, organizations have found a need to provide staff development for employees to ensure a positive, productive, and safe working environment.

3. Introduction (cont.) • Employers owe workers honesty and respect, fair employment practices and an orientation to the workplace. • Interactions among people is called Human Relations

4. Introduction (cont.) • A good rule of thumb is: • Respect for self • Respect for others • Responsibility for all your actions • Businesses are responsible for providing a positive, safe, and productive work environment.

5. Real World Application • Two increasing issues for businesses that result in lawsuits from employees are sexual harassment and discrimination because of not understanding cultural differences. Many times people are not even aware that someone else may be offended by their actions. Employee manuals now include guidelines that clearly lay out what sexual harassment is and the need to understand cultural differences. In addition, employees may be required to attend training sessions to ensure that the business provides a positive, productive, and safe work environment for everyone.

6. Discrimination • Favoring one person over another • Mocking statements about race • Preference on one religion over another • Ridiculing cultural celebrations • Favoring one person’s appearance, e.g. hair, eye color, dress, etc.

7. Cultural Diversity • Every country in the world now promotes cultural diversity in the workplace. • Multi-culturalism is based on the idea that cultural identities should not be ignored. • The term multi-cultural refers to immigrants.

8. Sexual Harasment Steps an employer can take to prevent sexual harassment are: • Set a harassment/discrimination policy • Provide a variety of routes that employees can take to file a complaint. • Conduct harassment training • Conduct a yearly survey • Conduct prompt and thorough investigations • Document results of complaints and investigations

9. Sexual Harassment • Sexual Harassment is a form of sex discrimination • Sexual Harassment is a violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act • Sexual Harassment is not only between males and females • The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome by the victim in order to be considered sexual harassment • Victims of sexual harassment should file a complaint with their supervisor or a company official and human resource department.

10. Virtual Application • Sexual harassment and cultural diversity issues are no different in the virtual world than in the real world. Employees deal with many employees from other cultures and interact with male and females in a variety of settings. Understanding what constitutes sexual harassment and discrimination based upon another persons culture will help to create a positive, productive, and safe work environment.

11. Unit Objectives • Each Virtual Enterprise company will establish staff development training sessions in sexual harassment and cultural diversity. • Each Virtual Enterprise company will include a section in sexual harassment and cultural diversity in the employee handbook.