ave a deep seededbelief that women, blacks, and in effect, all othersthan themselves are less competent, and they believe itto be true to a biological, molecular level.(3) Atleast this is true of the older generation, but what ofthe younger, civil rights, generation? It seems that". . . the younger executives coming in now are worsethey're less tolerant, high on their big M.B.A.education. Their attitude is that the laws will takecare of everything. They have little personal concernwith doing what's right".(4) The training received bymost of these managers have usually been "based on theassumption that 'managing' means managing a homogeneouswhite, male work force" and not on managing any type ofdiversity whatsoever.(5)With this in perspective, is it any wonder whyminorities are leaving organizations to open their ownbusiness? Their corporate managers can't relate tothem - not as employees, co-workers or people. Whenpromotion time comes around, the managers promote onlywhat they know - other white males. "People arecomfortable with others who look, act, and think likethemselves. So the people in power bring in otherslike themselves".(6) This means that as a minority, aperson can only go so far in an organization. Nominority to feels comfortable in such an atmosphere,which is why so many of them are leaving the corporatescene and starting their own businesses. A person canbe their own boss and not have to deal with the issue, at least at that level. It is unfortunate to note, however, that 65% of minority owned businesses fail in their 1st year of operation.To combat these problems and help alleviatetensions among the different ethnic groups, many organizations are integrating cultural diversity into the workplace. They have many means by which to approach this. Some companies offer management coursesdealing with racial and gender related issues. In others, the focus is placed on coaching women and minorities how to be successful...
