For the purposes of this paper we have chosen to discuss the Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications associated with an employee cast in the role of Ariel within the Walt Disney Company. We will specifically focus on a guest facing Princess within the Magic Kingdom theme park itself. Further we will discuss some of the non-BFOQ qualifiers for our chosen role, and how BFOQs affect the stakeholders in the Walt Disney Company. In applying for the role of Ariel, a potential employee is seeking to fulfill the image set forth by an animated film. As a result, very strict guidelines set the appearance of said character. Some of these guidelines, which are technically discriminatory methods of hiring are protected as Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications (BFOQ) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Manley, 2009). Identifying a quality as a BFOQ for employment entails identifying credentials that fall under protected classes as laid out by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These protected classes are as follows: gender, age, disability, familial status, national origin, or skin color. The role of Ariel centers on the BFOQs of gender, skin color, familial status, and disability. Perhaps the most noticeable BFOQ Disney claims in the hiring of an Ariel look-alike is gender. The animated character is a female with fire-engine red hair. As such, hiring a male would not fit the image portrayed by either the Disney animated feature, or the many fairy tales on which it is based. Since
Disneyland was Walt Disney’s dream of a theme park that would be, in his words, “The Happiest Place on Earth”. Walt understood too well that the people that were hired would need to be taught how to create that elusive atmosphere. He called on Van France to assist him in creating what has become a world renowned training program. This program taught their employees, or “cast members”, to achieve the ultimate result, a “good show”.
Employers that base employment decisions, including hiring and promotion, on protected class characteristics are engaging in disparate treatment. When they do so overtly and argue that it is necessary to limit a particular type of employment to people with specific protected class characteristics, this type of disparate treatment is termed a facially discriminator policy or practice. An important, but limited, defense is available to employers that adopt facially discriminatory requirement is legal. If an employer can show that a particular protected class characteristic is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) for the job in question, the facially discriminatory requirement is legal. According to the Title VII of the Civil Right Act,
The guide of a company which dictates what happens / how things are governed in a setting and how they are expected to work / the manner that they must act in accordance to the ethics, and principles and values. It is based on a childcare practitioner:
Rhode gives several examples of discrimination to support her intended audience of various individuals in work environments who have been were fired or passed over from being hired, due to issues of body weight and/or appearance, despite their qualifications for the intended job. Rhodes makes the case that appearance discrimination is a “civil rights issue,” and that
Give examples of being able to maintain legal and good practice requirements when assessing occupational competence.
The Disney theme park is an organization that focuses on customer satisfaction. The management style at the Disney theme park is very diverse and non-traditional. All employees from janitors to performers are called “cast members.” Managers at the Disney theme park focus on the role of employees in service delivery. Employees are broadly trained in communication, quality awareness, and customer service. Employees at the Disney theme park have regular team meetings for effectiveness evaluations. Disney theme park employees are additionally made
The Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) is contained in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under this title, employment in particular jobs may not be limited to individuals of a particular sex, religion, or national origin unless the employer can show that one of these factors is an actual and necessary qualification for performing the job. BFOQ is usually decided on a case-by-case basis. Race is never a BFOQ. When BFOQ is used as a defense, the employer admits sex discrimination but under the terms of the statute it is justified (Sovereign, p.91). The Supreme Court has determined that the BFOQ exception is intended as a narrow exception to the prohibition of sex-based discrimination (Hawke, p.58).
As learned in Occupations, completing a developmental profile can be beneficial in both, learning about a client and identifying their needs. Through identifying a client’s needs, occupational therapists can create appropriate interventions to assist the client with those needs. These interventions can be beneficial in improving a clients well-being and life balance.
In this paper, we will explore the magical experience of Walt Disney Company through the structure and symbolic frames based on the Bolman and Deal?s individual lens. The structural frame focuses on the architecture of an organization and other features like: rules, regulations, goals, policies, roles, tasks, job designs, job descriptions, technology, chain of command, vertical and horizontal coordinating mechanisms, assessment and reward systems, and many more (Bolman, L., & Deal, T. 2013). The symbolic frame focuses on the culture, meaning, metaphor, ritual, ceremony, stories, heroes and inspiration of the organization (Bolman, L., & Deal, T. 2013). On this analysis I will also explain the organization?s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that impact the leadership, partners, employees and community internally and externally.
The Walt Disney Studio’s Diversity Mission Statement is “To create an inclusive environment that is open to all perspectives, allowing us to tell compelling stories in film, animation and music that visually and emotionally reflect our audience worldwide.” “The Walt Disney Studios maintains that the only existing boundaries are those of talent, ambition, imagination and innovation.” (Moore, 2007)
The topic of minorities in the workforce and how the struggle to accomplish equal treatment in today’s workforce is nothing new to our society. For centuries we have been concerned that by bringing together our different backgrounds, skills, and experiences, as well as the many businesses of this great
The Walt Disney believes diversity helps to bring creativities, innovation, cost-effective and quality work within the company and achieve its goals. When the company’s product, entertainment, and, attraction put out of the market that meets the need of the diverse global costumers, fans, and viewers. The Walt Disney has uniquely reflected the diversity of the consumers, audiences, and fans through their products. The company has focused on diversity of “workforce, inclusion, and opportunities within the workplace, and leveraging global diversity to grow the company and engage diverse communities” (PDF)
Walt Disney saw change as a consequence of employee behaviour (Brownell, 2008). If a leader were to be effective, he or she must understand the needs of a member in an organisation. This also included an awareness of motives, personalities, skills, and abilities (See ‘Emotional Intelligence’ in Northouse 2010, p. 23; Brownell, 2008). Path-Goal Theory comprises the motivation of leaders toward subordinates in order that such needs are met and achievement of an organisation’s proposed goal is reached (Northhouse 2010). Walt Disney sustained subordinate involvement and interest through his leadership commitment to employees, as well as his dynamism and enthusiasm (Bryman 1993). After all, “Walt Disney’s greatest creation was not Fantasia, [n]or Snow White, but...his uncanny ability to make people happy” (Collins and
Disney strives to maintain a workforce that reflects open opportunity, where everyone is at an advantage by the company potential.
At Disney World, English speaking employees are brought in from all over the world on one-year contracts, and combined together to create the fantasy experience the has made Disney's theme parks so popular (Global Agenda 2007, p.1). This engineered melting pot creates a unique situation for a manager, as they will be responsible for leading a very diverse group of young men and women, potentially from all over the globe. Leading and controlling this broad based group requires the ability to shift gears quickly and correctly to approach individual team members differently, while continuing to be conscious of the cultural differences and how particular actions could be perceived. With more than 58,000 workers and an annual payroll that exceeds 1.1 billion, Disney World is a shining example of a management formula that has set a standard for getting many different cultures to work together (Global Agenda 2007, p.1). I guess Disney truly is a small world after all.