In this paper, I will be discussing the theory of the ineffectiveness of female managers disciplining employees. My information is based on a study done in 2001 by Leanne Atwater, professor of management at Arizona State University. Atwater looked at reprimands from 163 different workplace situations and came to the conclusion that the average worker felt that the only thing worse than being reprimanded on the job was to be reprimanded on the job by a boss who is a woman. The study included a variety of occupations including warehouse workers, teachers, cashiers and accountants, among many others. .
Findings show that when a woman delivers discipline to an employee, the employee is less likely to believe that the punishment is fair, less likely to accept responsibility for their behavior or is more likely to think the manager is incompetent or does not know how to properly deliver discipline. The good news is that even though employees feel this way, the study also determined that men and women managers alike are equally effective in changing workers" behavior. .
How can we change this theory of ineffective discipline from women managers? Female managers may need special training in the area of discipline. This does not necessarily mean that women are not capable of being managers. It only means that women are different than men in many ways. They take in information and evaluate it differently and then deal with situations in a different way than men do. New and improved training methods in administering discipline should be implemented to accommodate women managers. Based on the "person-centered theory" (p. 537) female managers may need to be trained more effectively to have more assertiveness or dominance. On the other end, employees should also be orientated on behavior types so that they are more accepting of a wide range of behaviors of different types of managers. .