COMPANIES FOR
DIVERSITY
WILL DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
BECOME AS PREVALENT THROUGHOUT
CORPORATE AMERICA AS OTHER TRADITIONAL BUSINESS STRATEGIES?
Clark: I imagine it will, given the labor shortages, talent pipeline, and global marketplace
demographics … The question will be how
soon it will take companies to stop asking
“why?” and start asking “how?”
Lanni: As more and more companies grapple
with changing demographics, issues of diversity will continue to command attention.
However, I believe that in order for diversity to
continue to be relevant, it must evolve to meet
the challenges and changes occurring within
the business environment.
Weldon: Diversity enables us to attract leaders, and leaders help us drive our business …
As a global company that impacts the lives of
patients and customers all over the world,
diversity influences everything we do. Without
it we cannot innovate, we cannot grow and we
cannot deliver quality healthcare.
Salzberg: By the year 2010, Asians, blacks
and Native Americans in the United States will
have a combined buying power or $1.1 trillion, and those customers will expect—and
already expect—to see high levels of diversity
in the companies with whom they do business
… What’s more, when you’re talking about
Gen Y talent, they are demanding diversity in
the organizations they join. Any way you look
at it, diversity, like corporate social responsibility and environmental responsibility, is seen as
a sign of business excellence—a critical characteristic of the places with whom the best will
choose to work or do business.
Gorsky: I believe it will certainly become as
prevalent … These programs have proven their
value and have helped my leadership team to
develop as leaders, to appreciate individual
styles and to attract, recruit and develop the
best talent. Additionally, the demographics of
the consumer base continue to evolve. It is
critical to engage diverse points of view to really understand and deliver on customer needs.
IS DIVERSITY SUCCESS IN THE GLOBAL
MARKET DEPENDENT UPON DIVERSITY
SUCCESS IN THE UNITED STATES?
Wilson: Yes. The parts must equal the whole.
This is not only true between individual countries but within countries, business units and
small workgroups. Diversity programs should
address all levels of the organization and all
individuals since we are the sum of all of our
individual behaviors and actions.
Weldon: Our goal at Johnson & Johnson is to
successfully incorporate our diversity and inclusion strategies globally and to keep in mind that
a “one-size-fits-all” strategy does not work.
Macedonia: For
Sodexho, the next
frontier is to make
its global strategy as
robust and successful as our U.S. and
North America
efforts … [Our]
global CEO Michel
Landel … appointed Rohini Anand to
a role that builds
upon her chief-diversity-officer
position in North
America—Rohini is
now group diversity
officer, giving her global responsibilities.
Richard Macedonia, president and
CEO, Sodexho
Solso: Sales in [foreign] markets … are growing at one-and-a-half times the rate of U.S.
sales … The best way to grow into new businesses and more geographic regions is to have
employees who understand the local culture.
Lanni: Global diversity cannot be U.S.-centric. As companies continue to expand operations around the world, the consideration of
local cultural norms and values will be extremely important. Rather than presuming that practices in the U.S. will transfer seamlessly into
other regions of the world, corporations must
be sensitive to the values in the countries where
they choose to operate. DI
