After reading chapter 2 of the text, the section discussing organizational practices used to effectively manage diversity by R Roosevelt Thomas Jr. stuck out to me the most. There are eight different options to guide a manager to handle any diversity issue in the work place. Inclusion, building relationships, and mutual adaptation are the most common choices. The least preferred of the options are excluding, deny, assimilate, suppress, isolate, tolerate, build relationships, and foster mutual adaptation.
Handling diversity is important in the workplace. Each option can be used with any collective mixture of differences and similarities. In the book Diversity in Organizations, there are collections of articles written by several different people in regard to changing perspectives on diversity in the work place. One article is called “Organizational perspectives on diversity” by R Roosevelt Thomas Jr. This article further backs up why these eight options displayed in our book are crucial for managing diversity. He believes that managing diversity is a process of responding appropriately to diversity mixtures. He states, “In this process, the manager must recognize diversity mixtures when they are present, ascertain whether a response is required, and select the appropriate response or blend of responses.” The framework will allow the managers to evolve in making decisions regularly to diversity mixtures of all kind.
Another topic in the article states how one would select an appropriate option. R Roosevelt Thomas Jr. believes it has to do with inclination, mind-set, and organizational environment. Mind-sets can often reinforce inclinations or suppress them. People also are not always able to act on their inclinations and mind-sets. Environmental factors encourage and influence a manager’s response to diversity. “These three factors can be critical determinants. Depending on the individual and organizational parameters, in a given situation either factor can assume the dominant role.” I think that the additional information on how to determine which appropriate option to use is important as you become a manager. Each individual is different and by working on developing their framework of diversity they will be able to handle a variety of issues.

Diversity in Organizations New Perspectives for a Changing Workplace (Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology). Minneapolis: Sage Publications, Inc, 1995. Print.