COMPANIES FOR
DIVERSITY
“It’s not only about looking like our customers. It’s about ideas—especially for technology companies competing in a global digital arena,” says Eastman Kodak Co.’s
Chairman and CEO Antonio Perez. Kodak is
No. 35 in the 2007 Top 50. ”My career has
taken me to many countries and many assignments. I have seen opportunities where diver-
TOP 50 PARTICIPATION
350
317
256
203
178
118
50
0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
300
NUMBER OF ENTRANTS
250
200
150
100
*Source: DiversityInc
sity practices fell short, in some way, because
organizations did not leverage the diversity of
thought at their fingertips. You cannot achieve
diversity of thought without a
diversity of people,” adds Perez.
“Everyone must feel valued.”
The 2007 DiversityInc Top
50 Companies for Diversity
demonstrate consistent strength
in CEO Commitment, Human
Capital, Corporate
Communications and Supplier
Diversity, the four categories evaluated in the
survey. CEO Commitment is ranked most
heavily, however, because without support
from the top, nothing meaningful gets done.
Here are case studies from several of this
year’s Top 50, illustrating why diversity is critical to their business success and how they
leverage it in every way to be competitive in
the marketplace.
CEO COMMITMENT:
Institutionalizing a Culture
When PepsiCo CEO and Chairman Steve
Reinemund announced his decision to retire last
fall after five years in the top spot, an analyst
asked him to name his greatest contribution in
his more than 23 years with the company.
“Without blinking, he said, ‘Efforts around
diversity and inclusion,’” recalls Ronald Parker,
senior vice president of human resources, global diversity, for PepsiCo North America, No.
10 in the Top 50. “He didn’t say, ‘I grew shareholder value by 68 percent,’ which he did; he
didn’t say, ‘We acquired Tropicana, Gatorade
and Quaker Oats’” or that he increased dividends five years in a row, which he also did.
Reinemund attributes 20 percent of
PepsiCo’s business growth to diversity and
inclusion, says Parker. “Different perspectives
brought to bear on unique business challenges
capture the best of the best ideas,” he adds.
“You cannot speak about growth and innovation and being a market-segment leader without speaking about diversity and inclusion.”
The strong diversity commitment clearly
continues with Indra Nooyi, who assumed
responsibilities as CEO on Oct. 1 and chairman last month, and has publicly identified
diversity and inclusion as a key objective in
driving Pepsi’s continued growth. She is the
“You cannot speak about growth
and innovation and being a market-segment leader without speaking
about diversity and inclusion.”
Ronald Parker, PepsiCo North America
only woman to lead a Fortune 100 company
and the first woman of color in that capacity.
The transition is natural. Nooyi, a six-year
board member and most recently president and
CFO, spent 12 years working closely with
Reinemund, who adopted personal accountabili-ties around diversity and insisted his senior staff
do the same. Diversity metrics are reviewed 13
times annually along with volume and profit—
