The Diversity Audit Project : Starbucks

Regardless of how diversity is defined, it is an issue that is sweeping the nation. By the 21st century, racial and ethnic minorities will constitute 25% of the U.S. population, affecting the makeup of the U.S. labor force (7). By the year 2000, women will constitute 47% of the total workforce and the average age of the workforce is expected to increase from 36 in 1986 to age 39 (7). If the corporate society does not address the issue by learning how to manage diversity, they will fail.

Three ways of gaining executive commitment to diversity are to gather data and to assess the organizations current commitment to diversity to show where and why there is a need for change. The development of diversity council can also garner executive support because it offers a way for executive members of an organization to have a dialog with other members of an organization about diversity. Systematic changes are also necessary such as hiring from a diverse roster of candidates when filling a position. (Moodian, 2009,

Diversity at Target, like everywhere, is a work in progress. Target is ahead of the national average in terms of minority hiring. Additionally, the company has a higher percentage of minorities in management positions than the industry average. “The Strength of Many. The Power of One,” is Target’s tagline for diversity. It is realized that we need many points of view all working towards the common goal in order to be successful. The goals set forward in this plan are: to increase diverse hire mix by 30% over last year; improve retention rate by 30% over last year; and to develop high potential diverse talent in the ST. Louis market. This can be done

Diversity in the workplace has always been an interesting topic to explore. When studying the topic, one is able to see how minorities and women do not get the same job opportunities at career growth as non-minorities. The lack of diversity in the workplace can definitely keep a company from reaching its full potential. Our guest speaker Patrick McKay explored different topics dealing with diversity in the workplace that shed light on why trying to diversify the workplace occasionally fails. McKay also mentioned how it is important to be mindful of the location you choose to live when beginning your career. In the article Doing Diversity Right, Derek R. Avery and Patrick F. McKay explain how “managing diversity” in the workplace is vital in today’s workplace. Over the years there has been a greater emphasis put on insuring diversity within the workplace. McKay and Avery explain the importance of creating a diverse environment in which companies promote. It is not enough to solely recruit minorities or women but also the environment of the workplace must allow the individuals to thrive. In the article Warning! Diversity recruitment could Backfire, Patrick McKay and Derek Avery explain how companies should implement diversity into their company programs. Having a company culture that embraces diversity is the key to successfully diversifying a company.

Diversity is what makes people different, not just culturally but in human differences. Having a multitude of differences in the workforce gives an organization the ability to use many ideas to reach a common goal. A person could say that a diverse group of people together in one room can accomplish greater achievements than a room filled with the same types of individuals. Managers understand the concept of diversity, and how important diversity is to the success of a company’s ability to implement programs that continue to develop a harmonious and diverse workplace. The recognition that diversity is a reality in the workforce has generated an enormous amount of activity over the years among leaders in business, government, and civil

Although, cognitively diversity is necessary for a company’s success it is not often implemented as it is difficult to find, people tend to hire those individuals that are like them, and that people are often scared to voice their different perspectives. Therefore, focus on getting rid of these barriers as a means to help the organization

This diversity audit begins with a background about the company, as well as some important information about key Diversity executives. What will be addressed in the audit are what efforts Johnson & Johnson made to foster diversity competence and understand, what efforts were made in furthering the knowledge or awareness about diversity, what strategies were used to address the challenges of diversity and how will you ensure that your leaders and managers will be committed to the diversity initiative. The audit concludes with a quote from the vice president of recruiting at Johnson and Johnson, as well as

In this paper we are going to take a look at eight companies that have received special awards for their efforts at diversity management. We will look at how each company approached diversity management. The eight companies I have chosen are: MasterCard, AT&T, Procter & Gamble, Wells Fargo, The Walt Disney Comp., Northrop Grumman, Time Warner and Verizon Communications.

In the most recent years, racially based incidents occurred all across America. As the tragic events unfolded, Starbucks saw the opportunity to expand our services to humanity. Starbucks cares about race issues so we are willingly taking the leading role to have the unprecedented conversation about race in America. Starbucks recognizes the differences and difficulty of the topic, however we feel it is our responsibility to our communities, employees, and partners. Starbucks is passionate and empathetic to the current state of racial inequality in America.

The article primarily focuses on Howard Schultz's, Starbucks CEO, idea of supporting diversity of all kinds. However, this article aims to portray Starbucks as intolerant of traditional values, to where they have gone as far as stating; " Everyone should brand Starbucks as illiberal and stop buying their product."

The article presents information on the management of diversity programs that are applied by companies. The article utilized benchmarking assessment to analyze the programs of diversity management. The importance of accommodating various groups in the workforce proves to offer benefits. The practice of managing diversity as revealed by the article, indicates that the training programs on diversity, employing mentoring and networking, together with cultural awareness is critical for the success of an organization. Similarly, the article offers an extensive data, whereby organizations are able to thrive by embracing a diverse workforce. The investigation carried out by the author, reveals that cultivating diversity propels the success of an organization.

The first thing to acknowledge about diversity is that it can be difficult. In the U.S., where the dialogue of inclusion is relatively advanced, even the mention of the word “diversity” can lead to anxiety and conflict. Supreme Court justices disagree on the virtues of diversity and the means for achieving it. Corporations spend billions of dollars to attract and manage diversity both internally and externally, yet they still face discrimination lawsuits, and the leadership ranks of the business world remain predominantly white and male.

With the changing demographics of the U.S. workforce (Ng & Burke, 2005) and the need for organizations to continually innovate their products and services to remain competitive, embracing diversity and the benefits its brings is going to be key to driving a successful organization

As a result of these demographic changes as stated above, the ability of us as future business leaders to attract, recruit, and develop a qualified workforce from diverse populations will become critical for business survival. As managers, especially in today’s fast paced business environment we have little time to assess the impact of diversity efforts. Organizations are under pressure to improve the product and services they provide to customers, with greater accountability for achieving results, for reduced cycle time, and at a lower cost. So, as managers how do we manage diversity?

First, understanding the meaning of diversity will be helpful before getting into the reasons of its importance in today’s organizational behavior. According to Williams (2013), “Diversity is a variety of demographic, cultural, and personal differences among an organization’s employees and customers.” (p. 487). Examining current trends, diversity is strategically utilized by organizations to take advantage of its benefits through acceptance while promoting its positive impact. It is known to the leaders and hiring managers that understanding diversity creates paths leading to success such as