Decision making and race

The argument is presented that managers in organizations characterized by a high degree of diversity are not well prepared to deal with problems that are race based. Part of the problem stems from a lack of understanding as to what constitutes a “racist” event or incident. Current management textbooks offer little guidance to the decision processes minority individuals may use to conclude that discrimination has occurred or that racism is operating. To assist managers, a decision tree model is offered. The model delineates those factors hypothesized to influence the minority individual's cognitive processes and the potential problems that can result.