Denny’s – From Worst to First
Mor Barak (2005) describes the major transformation that Denny’s underwent over the last decades to change the level of diversity within the company as well as to improve the way employees treat costumers. In the early 90's, Denny’s became infamous for its discrimination by denying service to African Americans as well as purchasing no supplies from minorities and having few minorities in the management. Denny’s' board of directors consisted almost exclusively of White men. In 1993, Denny’s faced two lawsuits for discrimination that accused Denny’s of repeated civil rights violations. Denny’s ended up settling the cases for $54 million. Denny’s losses from the lawsuits and its widespread negative publicity were significant and they resulted in major transformations within Denny’s. Firstly, beyond hiring a new CEO, the position of a chief diversity officer was created. Secondly, Denny’s implemented mandatory diversity training sessions for employees that mainly taught sensitivity for different cultures and how to empathize with costumers. Thirdly, Denny's' policy became not to tolerate any discrimination. In order to being able to identify and investigate any incident of discrimination, a toll-free number is posted in every restaurant. Additionally, Denny's implemented strict discipline standards for dealing with employees who discriminate or repeatedly perform questionable actions. Furthermore, Denny's focused over the last two decades on hiring minority employees. These employees were not only hired for low-level position but today also over 50% of the board of director positions are filled by women and/or minorities. Lastly, Denny's is now also purchasing 15% of its annual purchases from minority-owned suppliers. All the changes Denny's underwent since the early 90's have been noticed and rewarded by numerous organizations. The most remarkable recognitions Denny's received were that Denny's was ranked by the Fortune magazine as the best place for minorities to work in 2000 and 2001. Among other factors, Fortune ranks companies based on (a) whether minorities are promoted into management at the same rates as nonminority employees, (b) how successfully people of color have been integrated into succession plans and (c) the portion of charity going into minority-benefiting programs. Overall, Denny's is a perfect example for an organization that became aware of the benefits that come along with fostering workplace diversity and went through the necessary changes to value and honor diversity. Of course, the starting point that led to these changes should not be forgotten but today Denny's definitely stands in a positive light regarding its management of workplace diversity.
Fair Trade Companies versus Sweatshops – The Extremes Regarding Global Collaborations
Unfortunately, many organizations today operate sweatshops in developing countries. Sweatshops are generally defined as factories where workers are employed at very low wages for long hours and under poor conditions. In the center point for companies that operate sweatshops stands Nike. TeamSweat’s video, which was published in 2011, exposes Nike’s sweatshops in Indonesia where people live and work under inhumane conditions. On average, a worker at such a sweatshop earns 1, 25 $ per day and is forced to work about 15 hours per day just in order to afford a living. Besides, the sanitary conditions at such sweatshops are crucial and bathrooms have to be shared with up to ten families. Organizations that operate sweatshops can be categorized as exclusionary workplaces because they operate from a framework that is ethnocentric and they focus on short-term financial interests.
On the other side of the coin there are fair trade companies. Mor Barak (2005) points out some of the key principles of fair trade. These key principles include among others the creation of opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers, the payment of fair prices and good working conditions. Organizations that implement these principles can be categorized as inclusive workplaces because they see value in collaborating across national borders and they don’t exploit the workers in other countries.
The damage that the exposure of Nike’s sweatshops did regarding Nike’s reputation and the increasing demand for fair trade products in our society are indications that companies need to conduct their business in a fair and ethical way and respect other cultures in order to successfully utilize the potential of a diverse workforce across national borders. The short-term benefits of exclusionary workplaces are higher, but in the long run inclusive workplaces prevail over exclusionary workplaces, because they don’t risk ruining their reputation as well as their global collaborations.
IBM – The Development of a Multicultural Organization
Thomas (2004) highlights that the number of IBM’s female executives has increased by 370 % from 1995 to 2004. Besides, the number of ethnic minority executives has increased by 233 % and the number of executives with disabilities increased by 300 % during the same time span. The reason for these remarkable increases can be found in IBM’s creation of eight task forces in 1995. Each of these task forces consisted of 15-20 members that were of the same constituency as the constituency that the task force was focusing on. The eight groups represented Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, white man, Native Americans, people with disabilities, women and gays/lesbians/bisexuals/transgender individuals. Thomas (2004) points out that the goals of the task forces were to find out what needs to be done for the particular constituency to feel welcome and valued at IBM and to explore strategies to maximize the particular constituency’s productivity. Another focus of the task forces was to explore the constituencies’ buying decisions in order to establish IBM as the preferred solution provider for all constituencies the task forces represented. The task forces didn’t work isolated from the remaining work force but rather all employees were encouraged to provide the task forces with suggestions for how to make IBM a more inclusive organization. The task forces’ effort resulted among other things in the recruiting of a more diverse workforce and it also helped IBM to attract a more diverse costumer set. For instance, the people with disabilities task force achieved the establishment of Accessibility Centers that solely work on making IBM’s products more accessible to disabled people. The task force for women aimed to rectify the shortage of women in IBM’s workforce and started organizing “EXITE” (Exploring Interests in Technology and Engineering) camps worldwide which encourage school aged girls interests in science- and math-related subjects. Overall, the task forces helped IBM to develop to a multicultural organization by creating greater diversity in the workplace and by attracting a more diverse costumer pool.
Mor Barak (2005) describes the major transformation that Denny’s underwent over the last decades to change the level of diversity within the company as well as to improve the way employees treat costumers. In the early 90's, Denny’s became infamous for its discrimination by denying service to African Americans as well as purchasing no supplies from minorities and having few minorities in the management. Denny’s' board of directors consisted almost exclusively of White men. In 1993, Denny’s faced two lawsuits for discrimination that accused Denny’s of repeated civil rights violations. Denny’s ended up settling the cases for $54 million. Denny’s losses from the lawsuits and its widespread negative publicity were significant and they resulted in major transformations within Denny’s. Firstly, beyond hiring a new CEO, the position of a chief diversity officer was created. Secondly, Denny’s implemented mandatory diversity training sessions for employees that mainly taught sensitivity for different cultures and how to empathize with costumers. Thirdly, Denny's' policy became not to tolerate any discrimination. In order to being able to identify and investigate any incident of discrimination, a toll-free number is posted in every restaurant. Additionally, Denny's implemented strict discipline standards for dealing with employees who discriminate or repeatedly perform questionable actions. Furthermore, Denny's focused over the last two decades on hiring minority employees. These employees were not only hired for low-level position but today also over 50% of the board of director positions are filled by women and/or minorities. Lastly, Denny's is now also purchasing 15% of its annual purchases from minority-owned suppliers. All the changes Denny's underwent since the early 90's have been noticed and rewarded by numerous organizations. The most remarkable recognitions Denny's received were that Denny's was ranked by the Fortune magazine as the best place for minorities to work in 2000 and 2001. Among other factors, Fortune ranks companies based on (a) whether minorities are promoted into management at the same rates as nonminority employees, (b) how successfully people of color have been integrated into succession plans and (c) the portion of charity going into minority-benefiting programs. Overall, Denny's is a perfect example for an organization that became aware of the benefits that come along with fostering workplace diversity and went through the necessary changes to value and honor diversity. Of course, the starting point that led to these changes should not be forgotten but today Denny's definitely stands in a positive light regarding its management of workplace diversity.
Fair Trade Companies versus Sweatshops – The Extremes Regarding Global Collaborations
Unfortunately, many organizations today operate sweatshops in developing countries. Sweatshops are generally defined as factories where workers are employed at very low wages for long hours and under poor conditions. In the center point for companies that operate sweatshops stands Nike. TeamSweat’s video, which was published in 2011, exposes Nike’s sweatshops in Indonesia where people live and work under inhumane conditions. On average, a worker at such a sweatshop earns 1, 25 $ per day and is forced to work about 15 hours per day just in order to afford a living. Besides, the sanitary conditions at such sweatshops are crucial and bathrooms have to be shared with up to ten families. Organizations that operate sweatshops can be categorized as exclusionary workplaces because they operate from a framework that is ethnocentric and they focus on short-term financial interests.
On the other side of the coin there are fair trade companies. Mor Barak (2005) points out some of the key principles of fair trade. These key principles include among others the creation of opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers, the payment of fair prices and good working conditions. Organizations that implement these principles can be categorized as inclusive workplaces because they see value in collaborating across national borders and they don’t exploit the workers in other countries.
The damage that the exposure of Nike’s sweatshops did regarding Nike’s reputation and the increasing demand for fair trade products in our society are indications that companies need to conduct their business in a fair and ethical way and respect other cultures in order to successfully utilize the potential of a diverse workforce across national borders. The short-term benefits of exclusionary workplaces are higher, but in the long run inclusive workplaces prevail over exclusionary workplaces, because they don’t risk ruining their reputation as well as their global collaborations.
IBM – The Development of a Multicultural Organization
Thomas (2004) highlights that the number of IBM’s female executives has increased by 370 % from 1995 to 2004. Besides, the number of ethnic minority executives has increased by 233 % and the number of executives with disabilities increased by 300 % during the same time span. The reason for these remarkable increases can be found in IBM’s creation of eight task forces in 1995. Each of these task forces consisted of 15-20 members that were of the same constituency as the constituency that the task force was focusing on. The eight groups represented Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, white man, Native Americans, people with disabilities, women and gays/lesbians/bisexuals/transgender individuals. Thomas (2004) points out that the goals of the task forces were to find out what needs to be done for the particular constituency to feel welcome and valued at IBM and to explore strategies to maximize the particular constituency’s productivity. Another focus of the task forces was to explore the constituencies’ buying decisions in order to establish IBM as the preferred solution provider for all constituencies the task forces represented. The task forces didn’t work isolated from the remaining work force but rather all employees were encouraged to provide the task forces with suggestions for how to make IBM a more inclusive organization. The task forces’ effort resulted among other things in the recruiting of a more diverse workforce and it also helped IBM to attract a more diverse costumer set. For instance, the people with disabilities task force achieved the establishment of Accessibility Centers that solely work on making IBM’s products more accessible to disabled people. The task force for women aimed to rectify the shortage of women in IBM’s workforce and started organizing “EXITE” (Exploring Interests in Technology and Engineering) camps worldwide which encourage school aged girls interests in science- and math-related subjects. Overall, the task forces helped IBM to develop to a multicultural organization by creating greater diversity in the workplace and by attracting a more diverse costumer pool.