The Best of Intentions
The Best of Intentions
Group 5:
Chris Griffin
Larissa Shorter
Zach Smith
Shelby Westbrook
Cost ..........................................................................................................................7
Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................9
Appendix A .......................................................................................................................11
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CASE OVERVIEW
This case study discusses a situation occurring at AgFunds, an accounting firm who like
any firm, strives to be the best in their market. AgFunds handles a number of financial services,
including accounting and investments for farmers across the country. This particular branch is
located in rural district of Arkansas. The demographics of AgFunds’ management consist mainly
of older white men, except for Ms. Cynthia Mitchell, a white woman with an MBA from the
University of Kansas.
Cynthia Mitchell began as an investment trainee in the firm and after graduating at the
top of her trainee class, she was expecting to be granted an open position in Indiana. To her
surprise, she lost the position to a noticeably less qualified man named Bill Hawkins. Cynthia
was later given the explanation from Mike Graves, her interviewer, “Eventually you’ll be a better
rep than Bill. I know it and you know it. But this just wasn’t the right territory for you. It’s very
conservative. Our customers wouldn’t be comfortable doing business with a woman.” Mike
continues to say, “One day you’ll thank me for not putting you into a situation where you’d fail.”
Cynthia moved up in the firm through a different route and now, as district manager of Arkansas,
she is in the position to find a “powerhouse rep” to get the district back to the level of business it
should be conducting. She has found all of the qualities she is seeking in a representative in
According to Cynthia’s supervisor, the Arkansas district is no place for a black man to do
business with farmers and they will not trust a black man with their books. Therefore, Mr. Jones,
does not see Steve Ripley’s career as being successful at AgFunds and does not recommend
Cynthia hire him despite the fact that Steve is one of the best trainees they’ve had in years.
Uneasy about the situation, Cynthia decides to meet with Steve to openly address the situation.
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She told Steve about her conversation with Paul Jones and how company executives thought that
hiring him for that district would “set him up for failure”. Steve sat back and listened then shared
his thoughts. Ultimately, he would like to stay in the area for personal reasons but does not want
to be a guaranteed failure in his position. Steve states, “I don’t mind long odds, but I don’t want
CRITIAL ISSUES
The main question we want to deal with is if Cynthia is going to employ Steve or not.
Depending on what she decides there are different consequences. If she chooses to hire Steve to
work in her district, the company could be at risk of losing some of the bigger customers in that
area. If she does not make the hire, the guilt she feels could negatively affect her performance in
the long term as she would feel she is working for a company that applies unfair policies. In
addition, this could start a harmful trend of not hiring the best available candidates. There are
the company would be willing to apply discriminatory policies because they think it will be
beneficial to the organization. The real question for them to ask is whether it is ethical. In the
world we live in, companies have to compare themselves to each other on a number of different
aspects, including their moral values. It will be vital to AgFunds to try and maintain their
employees on how to deal with different kinds of people. It is important to show them that it is
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positive to have a diverse workforce and being more open-minded can bring their business more
opportunities.
When making such an important decision, it is important to weigh both the positives and
negatives of the issue. After doing so, it is our opinion that Cynthia should hire Steve. From a
legal standpoint, she has almost no choice but to do so. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
specifically prohibits the use of race as a basis for making a hiring decision (Steingold, 2009). If
Steve were not hired at this point, AgFunds would almost certainly have a legal case on their
hands since Steve has already been made aware of the present situation. Cynthia went to Steve
with the information she gathered from her boss, Peter Jones, and explained to Steve that his race
was actually coming into play when contemplating whether or not to hire him. This significantly
increased the risk of having legal problems if Steve were not to be hired. If AgFunds were called
upon to appear in court, they would be at risk of losing a significant amount of money through
costly legal fees, but this would not be the only cost to AgFunds. A company’s reputation can be
significantly harmed from having to deal with such discrimination cases (Hansen, 2003). When
an organization faces issues of discrimination, it is often covered through news outlets. When
this happens, customers and business partners become aware of the situation and many will be
weary of doing business with the organization in the future. This can also damage the reputation
of the employees involved. For instance, if an employee from a company that was involved in a
discrimination case is attempting to move to a different organization, they may have to deal with
the ramifications of being associated with their past organization. In addition to ensuring legal
compliance and upholding their reputation, there are other positive business issues for AgFunds
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to consider when hiring Steve, such as bringing in the top talent available, gaining perspectives
of employees from a diverse set of backgrounds, and expanding the company’s market share
(Hansen, 2003). It is important for Cynthia to make this hire because it will ensure AgFunds is
hiring people from a talent pool that has not been depleted and it ensures AgFunds is has a
diverse group of employees, which is positive from both a moral and business standpoint.
Overall, the hiring should be a positive for the organization. Going forward, if AgFunds
continues to hire the best available candidate for the position, the company will only become
stronger. Although, there would still be a couple matters that need to be confronted in order to
ensure a smooth transition. After Steve is hired, AgFunds will help ensure Steve is successful by
creating an antidiscrimination initiative that will include a companywide survey and a dinner
event to promote antidiscrimination and establish a code of ethics for the organization. It will
also be important for Cynthia to clearly communicate the situation with Steve upon the hiring
and to inform him of how the problem will be remedied. AgFunds cannot simply bring Steve
into the organization without adjusting the current way of doing business. Diversity can enhance
an organization’s performance, but only if proper training is in place and the workplace culture
Even though there are federal laws which prohibit discrimination on the basis of race,
sex, age, religion, national origin, disability and other characteristics, bias and promotion
inequities in the workplace remain a persistent problem (Haefner & Ramsey, 2008).
Discrimination has become a voiced concern to management officials within Agfunds and should
be address promptly to reduce the company’s vulnerability to possible litigation. To identify the
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source of discrimination that is currently seen in the Agfunds organization, a survey should be
developed to identify the source of the discrimination, which will properly diagnose the root
cause and allow for appropriate actions to be taken. Surveys of discriminatory events create a
record for administrative purposes and can contribute to understanding the extent of racial
discrimination (Blank & Dababy, 2004). In order to gain the information and data needed to take
immediate and appropriate action, all employees at the various branch locations will be asked to
complete the survey honestly on an anonymous basis. The survey consist of general background
information and approximately 9 questions that will help identify if the discrimination is within
the organization between employees and their superiors or coworkers, or the external
environment which the employees work, consisting of interactions with customers and clients.
By identifying the source of the discrimination through the information and data collected
from the discrimination surveys, Agfunds will possess the hard evidence it needs to take
appropriate measures to the eliminate the use of discrimination in the workplace whether it is
found to be internal or external. The appropriate and most effective steps taken to solve this
problem are strongly contingent to who is discriminating against the employees (Blank &
Dababy, 2004). If the culprit of discrimination is found to be an internal cause, then resolution to
the issue will be different from an external finding in terms of effort, time, cost, and approach.
need to identify and figure out if the discrimination is stemming from the internal or external
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the survey shows that it is an internal matter, the dinner will be tailored to the employees;
however, if it appears to be solely an external problem, the event should be held for the clients.
In the event that this is an internal issue, the human resources department will be
responsible for devising a ‘code of ethics’ that will be implemented in every region to prevent
this behavior. They will need to define discrimination and have a set of policies and procedures
that employees can follow if they witness or experience any such action. This code of ethics will
be presented at the dinner and will later be introduced in each region. AgFunds should also offer
a way to anonymously report discriminating behavior that will help them feel safe and
comfortable at work. The consequences of such actions should also be discussed and made
known as this time. It will be important to express the severity of acting against company policy.
This code of ethics will be an effective way to handle discrimination matters and will eliminate
further need of surveys. We feel like this will be a good way to put a stop to any future
discrimination if the employees are reminded what it could do to their careers or the impact it
On the other hand, if the discrimination is an external matter the dinner event will be
hosted for clients. At this time, AgFunds will be able to share their core beliefs with all the
clients in the Arkansas area that are willing to attend. As an incentive to come, a dinner,
complete with an appetizer hour to talk with others and have the agents interact with clients on a
For this dinner to be effective, the public relations division needs to put together a
presentation to be shown to the clients about how they like to conduct business in a positive and
mutually-benefiting environment. The presentation can introduce all of the agents and tell about
their accomplishments thus far in their careers. Even if the minority agents are perceived in a
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negative light by the clients, it is the intent to inform them and steer them away from their
previously formed misconceptions. The issue will be to address the common goal of making the
most profit for the clients. In doing so, it should not matter what age, gender, or race the agent
is, but more about what he or she can do for the client. This will be a time for Steve to be
introduced and perceived as a hard-working agent and not just as an African-American trying to
‘make it’ in Arkansas’s rural area. If Cynthia would have had this opportunity, she may not have
been faced with as many hardships during the start of her career at AgFunds.
AgFunds should ‘educate’ their clients about some of the internal practices so they can
understand how the company works for them. They want to be the best for their clients since the
clients are the ones that pay their salaries. We want to avoid discrimination in the work-place by
all means and must get the clients onboard with the concept that has previously been occurring.
The presentation will not be a way to force an agent on a client unwilling to work with a certain
person, but it will be a time to expose them to all aspects of the company and the people working
there. It is our hope that value will be added with the knowledge being shared at this time.
Cost
The cost for this dinner event will be broken down by the number of people attending,
approximately 75, $1500 for buffet; the conference room needed, $350; table and chair rentals,
approximately $525; and the plastic dinner supplies will be approximately $620.
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Number of People
Attending Approx. 75
Dinner Supplies
Approx. $620 ($8.26x75)
CONCLUSION
Each component of our recommendation has been tailored to support Cynthia Mitchell’s
hiring decision and cultivate the success of AgFunds’ new hire, Steve Ripley. By hiring Steve,
AgFunds is not only in compliance with constitutional hiring laws; they are making a
consciously ethical decision. The recommendations set forth will continue to combat
discrimination in the workplace for the benefit of all involved. The hiring of talented, qualified,
diverse employees while continuing to educate the staff and clients will ultimately yield the
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WORKS CITED
Attorney, F. S. (2009). Illigal Descrimination. The Employer's Legal Handbook (9 ed., pp. 157-
162). Berkeley: Nolo.
Hansen, F. (2003, April 1). Diversity's Business Case Doesn't Add Up. Workforce, 28-32.
Retrieved April 21, 2010, from http://www.workforce.com/section/11/feature/23/42/49/
Haefner, R. & Ramsey, N. (2008). Discrimination on the American Job. Retrieved Apr. 20,
2010, from Career Builder. Web site: http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-682-The-
Workplace-Discrimination-on-the-American-Job/?ArticleID=682&cbRecursionCnt=
1&cbsid=1922e593c5f34733b4f19b76c326e830-325237203-w8-6&ns_siteid=ns
_us_g_discrimination_at_wor_.
Blank, R., & Dabady, M. (2004). Measuring Racial Discrimination. Retrieved Apr. 20, 2010,
from The National Academies Press, Washington, DC. Web site:
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10887&page=9.
Party at Lewis. (2010). Shop for Paper Plates and Napkins. Retrieved Apr. 20, 2010, from
Party at Lewis. Web site: http://www.partyatlewis.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?
Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=papernapkins&gclid=CL2719mNm6ECFcNX2godzl4f
Nw.
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APPENDIX A
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APPENDIX A
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