Barriers to People With Disabilities in Businesses as Business Owner or As Employee - Research Paper

Disability

In as much as conducting business requires intellectual ability, skills, and experience, there are other factors such as mobility and soundness of mind which are basic to enable one to deliver in business either as the business owner or an employee. A lot of jobs require one to be mobile, to be able to move from one point to another. Various forms of disabilities might limit this mobility and hence making the person incapable and not competent to handle a particular task. Disability can be defined as any form of impairment which can be physical, developmental, intellectual, cognitive or sensory which where the individual can have one or a combination of more than one of these impairments. Disability impacts negatively one's life and may not be able to execute some activities. Besides mobility, there are other barriers to persons with disabilities which reduces their competencies in doing business.

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Thesis statement: disability is a barrier to doing business among persons living with disabilities.

Analysis of the Barriers

Mobility is a major barrier to people living with disabilities. Whether one is working as an employee or a business owner, movement from one place to another is inevitable and necessary. Various jobs and professions, a big percentage of them entail moving from one position to another. A person who is visually impaired, for instance, cannot work in a production company or industry which requires one to move in between various production units and machines within the industry (Wehman et al 328). A person who is fixed into a wheelchair may also not fit to work in such environments as one is required to access certain points which would be limited by the wheelchair. Moreover, these individuals may also not respond swiftly to emergencies and hence they become liable to accidents and also causing accidents.

Following instructions can be cumbersome for certain forms of disabilities. Various operations require strict following of instructions. Industries for instance manufacturing pharmaceuticals follow the strict measurement of reactants in order to form the intended product. The addition and mixing of various chemicals require one to care, to follow the required procedure and instructions and carry out the activity. Also, giving out instructions as an employer or the owner of the business might not always be possible. A dumb or a deaf person who is conversant with sign language might have a barrier of instruction when explaining a concept to a person who does not have a hearing problem (Zyskowski et al. n.p). There should be a mutual understanding to both the giver of the instruction and the receiver of those instructions.

Learning is an essential part of the employment. It is part of personal development which may be required of the employees of a company. In cases where there is a change in a way of carrying out tasks, for instance, an introduction of a new machine or new software, the employees in the respective departments are required to undergo training or a session of learning to be taught how to operate or use the new development. An employee or a business owner for instance who is visually impaired will not be fully capable of fitting into the learning session as he will require a special form of learning which might not be available at that particular moment (Nevala, et al. 441). It is also common to find that during such developments, and especially the application of technology to handle tasks, the disabled are usually not given many considerations.

Another barrier for persons living with disabilities is ineffectiveness to work and to coordinate in a team. Mostly, for particular tasks to be achieved the input of each individual involved is required. An example is working in a processing unit where each person is given a part of the job to handle and passes to the nest person. When making shirts, for instance, one person will make the collar, the other the cuffs, and yet another will fix the buttons (French n.p). This calls for coordination between all the members of the team involved. Disabled persons will not manage to work in such a coordinated task and this reduces their inclusivity in such tasks. A person who is visually impaired would not function as required in such a task.

Time is a very important factor when considering production. Time affects many other factors of production such as the energy used in production, the labor in terms of human force used in production among others (Gerber, Paul and Dale n.p). In order to increase output, the tasks should be carried out at a faster rate. An increase in output translates to increased profit for the company. The work of the supervisor is to see that the proper instructions are followed, each individual meets their duties and the employees are working at an efficient speed. However, for persons living with a disability, efficiency is not a guarantee (Moody et al. 2051). Most of them will work at a slower pace limited by their disabilities. A lame person, who is fixed in a wheelchair would not be swift enough in his or her work.

Quality of work is also another barrier which limits a person living with a disability not to be as competent as the person without a disability. Quality of work is a priority and it is expected by the employer from all employees. People living with disabilities usually have their quality of work compromised by their inefficiency to follow strictly to the required instructions, lack of meeting the deadline required and poor coordination with the rest of the team members (Vornholt et al 48). This has been a challenge and especially choosing whether to include them in carrying out particular tasks. Persons living with disabilities end up being sidelined not because they cannot deliver, but because of the quality of work, they will deliver which might compromise the profit-making aspect of the business.

Additionally, for business owners, management and supervision is a great barrier. An important factor for the success of the business lies within the management and oversight. The manager manages another factor of coordination and transforms the goals and dreams of the business into a reality. Managing human labor is an important responsibility of the manager. These responsibilities might, however, be cumbersome and unattainable for a business owner who is living with a particular disability such as being deaf, dumb, visually impaired among other forms. It would be difficult for a blind manager to oversee the execution of a particular operation within the business (Rose et al 21). In the management of the financial aspect part of the business, a manager who is visually impaired would not be able to see the financial documents which are presented to him or her. moreover, supervising for a person living with a disability would also be inefficient (Drakopoulou n.p). Supervision requires the owner of the business to move from one section of the business while accessing progress and duty delivery by the workers. This, however, would be impossible for a manager who is visually impaired.

Operations of machines are part of the many responsibilities of the workers. Employees in a company are assigned to work in various machines, operating these machines can only be efficient for a person who can see and hear well. For the persons living with disabilities, such as those who are amputated, the lame, and the blind find it a barrier to take up such jobs which would require them to operate such machines (Lindsay et al. 708). A visually impaired person whether blind or short-sighted or an insane person might not work in a processing unit of a company which requires handling the products along the process of manufacturing (Henry, Alexis and Anna 170). A company for instance that deals with the production of shoes will need individuals positioned at various stages of production to handle a task at the respective stage.

Conclusion

Persons living with disabilities face many barriers which makes them not to be efficient in business whether working as the owner or as the employee. Most operations in business require the individual to be fully capable and to use all the senses and physical abilities. Mobility is a very important human capability and is required along the delivering of one's responsibilities in a business. however, persons living with disabilities are incapable of such mobility thus making them inefficient to handle some tasks. Other human capabilities such as seeing, hearing and feeling are important, a fully capable intellectual ability which gives one the cognitive, judging and reasoning power is also important without which an individual faces barrier such speed, management, operations of machines and learning.

Works Cited

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