Ethical approaches to technology use: some intergenerational differences

Abstract

Workplace diversityRecent decades have ushered in a significant growth in workplace diversity. In many organizations, it has therefore become the norm for employees to differ widely in respect of dimensions like nationality, ethnicity, gender and age, among others.Some research has noted pros and cons associated with diversity. Indeed, one might even suggest that diversity has scope to bring benefits and challenges in almost equal measures. In the latter case, much can be attributed to variations in such as beliefs, priorities and motivations.This might well be the prevailing situation within the high number of firms where the workforce is multigenerational. For example, it is common to find sizeable representations of Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z cohorts working alongside each other.At the basic level, each generation is defined by its range of birth years. Age serves as a starting point for differentiation. Plenty of research has also explored how those within a generation are influenced by their shared experience of important social, political, historical and technological events and developments. This helps form a collective identity that is subsequently reflected in the similarity of such as their values, attitudes and behaviors. It then becomes the norm for people within a generational cohort to cooperate and collaborate readily.Studies show that these defining characteristics often lead to differences between generations in the workplace. For instance, many scholars have discovered how employees often vary by age with regards to aspects that include work values, commitment, work ethics and intention to leave the firm.