Discuss the impact decoupling has at the organization level, managerial level, and employee level.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Possible key points from the text include: Placing diversity and inclusion statements on a corporate web site does not necessarily mean that the organization’s actions support a climate of inclusion. In fact, often the policy messages and statements are different from the actual day to day experiences of the employees. We call this decoupling—the difference between the policy statement and the practices of the organization (Meyer & Rowan, 1977; Scott, 2008). More specifically, policy-practice decoupling refers to the distinction between espoused (or stated) and enacted (or practiced) diversity and inclusion policies and procedures (see Figure 11.5). In the present case, decoupling refers to lagging implementation of diversity and inclusion policies, often adopted to gain social legitimacy. Such discrepancy often arises because policy implementation would compete with other organizational goals or affect profitability. For example, if a supervisor thinks that a diverse team would take longer to get organized in working on a project, the supervisor might prefer to choose a nondiverse team, sacrificing not only the policy but also the potential effectiveness of having diverse input into the project. Decoupling, the discrepancy between corporate statements and actual practices, sends a message to employees that the organization “does not really mean it” and therefore employees can disregard these messages or policies. Further, this discrepancy builds frustration in the workforce. Inclusive messages, typically intended to build a committed workforce and a positive public opinion, often do the exact opposite if they are divorced from the reality of the organization.