Organizational Behavior in "The Office: S01E02"
Theory 1: Socializing A Culturally Diverse Workforce
The Office has a largely diverse group of employees that differ culturally and physically, which constitutes the spectrum of human differences.
Diversity is based on age, ethnicity, gender, physical attributes, race, and sexual/affectional orientation. Because of the various differences that exist between people, a socialization process must be undertaken in the workplace to ensure that the leader is familiar with the various ethnicities and cultures that exist around them.
An attempt to socialize Dunder Mifflen can be seen in The Office as management brings in an organization to teach an insensitive Michael Scott about diversity.
Diversity training:
Process vs. content: Diversity training focuses on the process that’s undertaken rather than the content. In The Office, Michael brings together his employees in order to discuss why some acts may be seen as offensive while others are not.
Emotional vs. conceptual training: The informal, unstructured dialogue that’s encouraged through the use of process training techniques encourages people to learn about how to deal with others with respect to their feelings.
Theory 2: Managing Intergroup Conflict Through Resolution
When a problem is observed in the workplace, there are several methods by which higher management can deal with it. In the case of Michael and his inappropriate, offensive conduct, he pushed the company to take a stand. The following are some of the actions that Dunder Mifflen took, which are also some common ways by which other companies may choose to resolve conflict:
Problem solving – confrontation methods tend to reduce tensions through face-to-face meetings, which is why a representative from a company was hired to bring Michael together with his subordinates and discuss sensitivity.
Superordinate goals – this involves developing a set of common goals and objectives that place both sides in the position of having to comply. For example, the contract that Michael is forced to sign commits him to becoming more racially sensitive.
Compromise – rather than blatantly accusing Michael of rude and offensive, upper management tried to reach a compromise with Michael by giving the racial sensitivity seminar to the entire workplace rather than just Michael. Michael however refused to compromise similarly by refusing to admit to his mistake.