The purpose of the Discussion Board is to allow students to learn through sharing ideas and experiences as they relate to course content and the DB question. Because it is not possible to engage in two-way dialogue after a conversation has ended, no posts to the DB will be accepted after the end of each unit.

You are a supervisor in a factory in downtown Brooklyn, a current day melting pot of numerous ethnic, religious, and racial groups. Your department has 2 devout Muslims, a person of Jewish descent, 5 African-Americans, 3 Hispanics, and 5 Caucasian employees. In recent months, tensions have been mounting in the department because of a variety of differences in opinions and values among the workforce. Although departmental output has met the scheduled work, it has done so just barely, and you are convinced your department could do much better. Your boss has indicated that unless the overall plant efficiency improves significantly, he cannot guarantee that some of the factory's work will not be outsourced to a factory in another state or country where the workforce is more homogenous and has less employee tensions.

You plan to meet with your department tomorrow and discuss all this.

What would be at least 3 of the key points you would discuss at the upcoming meeting?

Suggestions for Responding to Peer Posts

Review your peer's response regarding the 3 key points, and consider the following questions:

Are these the 3 key points you would discuss in the meeting? Why or why not?

Do the key points address the supervisor's concerns?

Discuss each of the key points in further detail.

How would you expect employees to respond to your peer's concerns about departmental harmony and how might you respond to them?