Blog #9

Chugh, D. (2004). Societal and managerial implications of implicit social cognition: Why milliseconds matter. Social Justice Research, 17(2), 203-222. 

I really enjoyed Chugh’s article on implicit social cognition and found her findings fascinating. I had never considered that just seconds can make such a major difference for an individual in their career, all based on the biases of a manager. Chugh states that her primary objective is to, “show how and why managerial work is prone to unintentional social justice violations,” (2004, p. 204). A great deal of the article dealt with social injustices having to do with race.

We learn, through Chugh and her research of Mintzberg, that there are three general managerial roles: interpersonal relationships, information processing, and decision making (p.205). It is noted that these three roles need to have someone that is socially cognitive. However, many organizations have managers in place that are not of the highest social cognition. Personally, I have experienced this in my professional life. Although I did not deal with an issue of race (as is largely discussed in this article) I feel that gender biases were an issue. In a previous job, I learned that the women were paid less for doing the exact same job as the men in the office. Also, my boss at the previous job was somewhat of a male chauvinist and always gave the preferred clients and tasks to my male colleagues. It was frustrating and unfair, but at the time I did not feel I could say anything.

Luckily, since that job, I have not been in this position again (that I am aware of!) and I hope never to be again. Managers play such an integral role in the health and well-being of a strong organization.

Mintzberg states it best by saying: No job is more vital to our society than that of the manager. It is the manager who determines whether our social intuitions serve us well or whether they squander our talents and resources (1975, p. 61).