Reading: Lesson 2 - Societal Values

4.2.A - Societal Values

1. CHANGING AMERICAN VALUES

1. Change is constant in our society. We produce a steady stream of new products, new ideas, new ways of doing things, and new attitudes. Values are underlying beliefs and attitudes. Just as it is common for members of a family to share similar values, there are some values that are shared by society as a whole. In recent decades, societal values have been undergoing change at a fast pace.
   
2. An especially striking development has been the transformation of the family. The number of children living with both parents continues to fall because of rising divorce rates and the rising number of single parents. The birth rate, too, has declined, as women delay marriage and pursue careers outside the home. The typical family depicted in television shows in the 1950s consisting of a working husband, a homemaker wife, two children, and a dog is now the exception. Fewer than one fourth of America’s families fit this picture. Today, blended families, stay-at-home dads, and multi-generational households are all common. Businesses have responded to the needs of modern family life with a whole array of time-saving products and services from day care to lawn service to salad in a bag.
   
3. Because of increased competition in the economy, managers are striving to produce more while keeping costs low. Employers have increased their demands on employees. Many employees find the pace and demands of work stressful. For dual-career couples, especially those with children, the quality of home life often suffers. Job insecurity discourages workers from taking vacations or time off, and instead they work longer hours to meet their job requirements. Factors such as these have strained the employer–employee relationship. Workers from the Millennial Generation feel less loyal to a particular employer than did earlier generations. They expect to change jobs many times during their careers, as do younger workers.
   
4. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, in 2014, women only accounted for about 42 percent of managers. Full-time female managers earned 78 cents for every dollar earned by male managers. For chief executive positions, only 26 percent are held by women, and they make only 70 percent of the salary that their male counterparts do. These differences may change in the future. Women are currently earning almost 60 percent of all associate degrees, 53 percent of all bachelor’s degrees, and 56 percent of all graduate degrees. Also, competent women stopped by the glass ceiling often quit their jobs to start their own businesses. Women now operate a majority of new small businesses.
   
5. With so many men and women working side by side, workplace romance has blossomed, but so have incidents of sexual harassment. As the number of single adults and working couples has grown, dining at home is being replaced by dining out. American consumers spend more on restaurant meals than on groceries. People are placing more emphasis on safety and active lifestyles. This is reflected in today’s cars, trucks, and sports utility vehicles, which now have many safety features such as airbags.
   
6. A disturbing aspect in some parts of contemporary American society is the number of unpredictable and unprovoked violent attacks through the use of guns, often by young people. Workplaces, schools, shopping centers, entertainment venues, and transportation systems are all susceptible to the random gunfire killing and injuring of innocent people. This concern about violent crime has led to an expansion in the personal-security business in the form of personal and home protective gadgets, guns, guards, gated communities, and prison construction. Lawsuits are another common occurrence in the United States. Individuals, groups, and organizations often file lawsuits resulting in large damage awards, some paying millions of dollars. To avoid such expensive legal liabilities, businesses try to be very careful with respect to the safety of their products and the impact of their operations on employees, customers, and the overall society.
   

2. EMPLOYER RESPONSES

1. A changing society affects individuals as well as organizations. Many social issues transfer to work settings. Managers and employees leave home each workday thinking about personal problems. Responsibilities may be enormous for workers with preschool children, aging parents, family illnesses, and financial burdens. Concerns such as these follow employees to their work sites and affect their job performance. Competition for quality employees can be intense. To attract and retain competent workers, employers have responded to these social changes by taking action to improve the way work is done, to assure healthier and safer working conditions, and to help workers deal with certain personal problems.
   
2. When jobs consist of mainly repetitive tasks, workers get bored, productivity drops, and morale declines. Many workers come late to work, call in sick, or even quit their jobs to find more interesting jobs elsewhere. Thus, to retain workers, employers redesign jobs to make them varied and challenging. In some cases, employees learn a variety of jobs and regularly switch jobs within the same organization. Such job rotation increases workers’ interest in their jobs and enables employees to fill in for coworkers who may be absent. Workers now often participate in job decisions, provide suggestions, and serve on committees that look for ways to improve work quality. Today’s employees often work in teams. Work teams can improve morale as well as the quality of work. Businesses also try to improve job satisfaction through empowering workers to make important decisions.
   
3. The United States is facing an obesity epidemic that is negatively affecting employees’ health. In response to concerns over health and safety, businesses operate wellness and fitness programs. A physically unfit employee is absent more and is less productive than a fit employee. Many businesses encourage a healthy lifestyle by providing incentives for smokers to quit, membership to health clubs, counseling services where workers can receive support for stress or emotional problems, and payment for treatment of drug, alcohol, and other forms of addiction. Businesses also have incentives to help ensure worker safety. The federal government has regulations to prevent workers from being killed or seriously harmed at work. A safe and healthy work environment results in a more motivated workforce and allows businesses to control costs by keeping insurance rates low and reducing employee sick days.
   
4. Given the changes in the family structure, employers are making efforts to address this aspect of their employees’ lives. By law, employers provide unpaid leave to employees to take care of their sick children or parents, or to give birth to, adopt, or take care of newborn children. Many progressive businesses provide daycare facilities for the young children of employees. Some employers provide flexible scheduling so that workers can avoid commuting to and from work during hectic rush hour traffic as well as accommodate their family needs and lifestyle. Advances in communication technology in the form of the Internet, email, mobile phones, and fax have led many businesses to allow workers to telecommute. Telecommuters work from home or on the road, staying in contact with their employers electronically.
   

3. SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES

1. A growing population means more people to buy more things. More purchases mean more boxes and packaging, plus wornout products to throw away. Discarded plastic, chemical, and metal products take many years to break down in landfills. Moreover, some products, such as medical waste, may be harmful if not disposed of properly. The increasing demand for products places a big burden on natural resources, such as land, water, air, minerals, and forests. It also affects the habitats of wild animals and the lives of native peoples.
   
2. Both business and society must address these resource issues. In businesses, managers are responding to government and social concerns by focusing on sustainable strategies. Sustainability involves using strategies that consider the needs of the environment, society, and the economy to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Many companies, including Walmart, have made a commitment to sustainable practices. Walmart has set goals to operate using 100 percent renewable energy, create zero waste, and sell products that sustain people and the environment. Walmart is using its influence to motivate its more than 100,000 global suppliers to evaluate their own companies’ sustainability in areas of energy and climate, material efficiency, and natural resources.
   
3. Preserving the natural environment and properly disposing of consumer and industrial waste have become major sustainability concerns in our society. As landfills become full, we have shifted our focus to reducing the growth of waste and to recycling—reusing products and packaging whenever possible. We are trying to conserve nonrenewable resources, such as oil, natural gas, and iron ore. At the same time, we are using more renewable resources, such as electricity generated from the sun (solar power), from water, and from wind.
   
4. For many developing countries, pollution-control goals, such as improvement of air quality, may be at odds with energy conservation goals. In China, for example, the use of coal, which is in great supply, generally pollutes air more than natural gas, which is in short supply. A Chinese business that changes from coal to natural gas meets environmental goals but violates conservation goals. In contrast, a business that changes from natural gas to coal conserves natural gas but creates pollution. In time, scientists may discover ways to use coal without creating a great deal of pollution. Until then, people in China have to decide how best to conserve natural resources and protect the environment.
   
5. Pollution dangers have become more and more apparent. Large cities are often covered by smog that contains pollutants from motor vehicles. As a result, many residents suffer from breathing problems. In numerous rivers and lakes, pollutants have killed fish and other marine life. Chemical products used to destroy insects and plant life have especially endangered waterways and farmlands, and in some places have entered the food chain.
   
6. Many groups have pressured governments and employers to tighten pollution standards and to conserve natural resources. The federal government created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 to help control and reduce pollution in the basic areas of air, water, solid waste, pesticides, noise, and radiation. Laws enforced by the EPA include the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Recovery Act, Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act, Noise Control Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The EPA is planning on making sustainability a goal of environmental protection by using advances in science and technology and government regulations to develop policies to protect public health and welfare and by promoting innovative green business practices.
   
7. Some EPA regulations require that engines in cars be both fuel-efficient and less polluting. New waste disposal rules, especially for hazardous materials like medical and nuclear waste, are strictly enforced but often costly to carry out. These high costs sometimes encourage illegal dumping in bodies of water or on remote land areas. To conserve resources and to protect the environment, more companies are using recycled materials in their production processes.
   
8. Laws against pollution and demands for conserving natural resources are costly to businesses. An issue arises when other countries show less concern about the environment or less commitment to conservation than the United States. Some countries have weaker laws or lax enforcement. As a result, companies in these countries can make goods more cheaply than companies in America. One of the objections to increasing trade with Mexico, for example, is that laws against pollution in Mexico are much weaker than in the United States.