Organization Paper #4
The purpose of this assignment is to identify four concepts that relate to diversity in the workplace. The business in the case study is Walgreens, a semi-worldwide drugstore chain that has expanded to more than 6,000 stores. These four concepts will help with the understanding of what Walgreen’s will decide to do in the short/long term in regards to diversity in the workplace.
Diversity: Differences That Matter
The term diversity is defined in our textbook as a “variety of demographic, cultural, and personal differences among an organization’s employees and customers” (Williams, 2015). A simple way to define diversity is to say variety. Diversity is typically dealt in terms of people in schools and the workplace. If a
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Since the final settlement regarding the lawsuit could take up to a few years to decide, Walgreens needs to look at making some changes in their business diversity. One of the subjects from the textbook suggests diversity paradigms, or different methods for managing diversity (Williams, 2015). The first method for managing diversity is discrimination and fairness. This method specifically focuses on equal employment opportunities and fair treatment. With this method, success is found in how well a company handles diversity in gender, culture, and other outside groups. Seeing that Walgreens is treating African Americans unfairly, its top-level managers should get together to brainstorm ways to better this issue. Another method for managing diversity (that Walgreens should be aware of) is access and legitimacy. This method is defined in the textbook as “focusing on the acceptance and celebration of differences to ensure that the diversity within the company matches the diversity found among primary stakeholders, suppliers, and local communities (Williams, 2015). If Walgreens really wants to be a diverse business, they are going to need to shake things up a bit. The word that sticks out in the definition of the access and legitimacy method is acceptance. Having an open mind and encouraging employees to be who they are would help make the workplace more diverse. A way Walgreens could work on this is when they hold executive meetings; take turns inviting employees who come from different ethnic backgrounds. Also, making sure to include the same amount of men and women is important. While this case study primarily focuses in on race/ethnic backgrounds, there are other aspects of diversity that companies should be aware
The way in which an organization tackles diversity determines its negative or positive outcome. All the 5 companies agreed that diversity has contributed to their success. Some barriers were identified in managing diversity like the difficulties faced by women in managing the work and family, fear of discrimination, resistance to change, diversity is not seen as an organizational priority, resistance to change and unsupportive working environment for diverse employees. Diversity contributes to more productivity but if not properly managed could hinder success.
Walgreens prides itself on its diversity in the workplace. This is one of their core competencies. Since 2013 Walgreens has created an annual diversity and inclusion report that shows what they did that specific year that helped diversify their company. According to the report, in 2014 33% of the United States labor force was people of color while during that same time people of color made up 42.8% of Walgreens employees (“2014 Diversity,” n.d.). Walgreens also offers a disability inclusion report each year. At one of Walgreens distribution centers more than half of the employees have disabilities. With this center they have seen 120% increases in productivity so now they are expanding this model into retail locations (“2014 Diversity,” n.d.).
Walgreens is one of the companies that manage diversity well, as mentioned before Walgreens is widely scattering diversity throughout training programs which are delivered at every level. In such programs Walgreens make emphasis on what is expected from employees in concern diversity as well as Walgreens obligations with diverse employees. The training programs endorse cultural awareness to teach employees about others cultures and how to behave with sensitivity. Walgreens has established comprehensive policies and programs to ensure compliance with all applicable federal and state labor and employment laws. However, according to our research and survey, Walgreens is facing a problem in how to practice diversity in different stores. According to Melvin, Walgreens’s diverse customers vary depending in which area or suburb the store is located. In some stores Walgreens do not really have training diversity programs. (For instance if a customer were to come from another neighborhood and shop at a Walgreen’s which they noticed all of one race it
In order to manage and deal with workforce diversity the manager of Woolworths Ltd focuses on reviewing the internal policies and programs designed for staff members such as, characteristics of employees, equal
Early in my experience I learned vital skills in communication, management, and advertising simply from observing my superiors and interacting with customers. However, as I spent more and more time among the inviting promotions and colorful isles, harsh degrading practices became increasingly apparent. Behind Walgreen’s variety of cosmetic, grocery, and seasonal needs lies a
One of the objectives that the team discussed was diversity in the workplace. Major corporations have encountered issues concerning diversity in the work place. Our team can directly relate to this subject in the workplace since all of us are diverse minorities in our individual work place. It was discussed in the group that diversity in the workplace is the manager’s responsibility to insure that the workplace is a diverse environment. Managers in most companies are required to hire a diverse staff. Managers have the ability to use race, religion, and tenure as qualities to inspire success and
Companies worldwide have a tremendous business opportunity thanks to diversity. Multiple various perspectives, creativity, and fresh thinking are among the benefits that can be gained by corporations that take advantage of the opportunities diversity brings. Wal-Mart has been among the leading corporations that promote diversity initiatives. Just like any other internal or external factor, diversity has an impact on the four management functions.
of XYZ Hospital, diversity initiatives are applicable—but not limited—to our practices and policies on recruitment and selection; compensation and benefits; professional development and training; promotions; transfers; social and recreational programs; layoffs; terminations; and the ongoing development of a work environment built on the premise of gender and diversity equity that encourages and enforces:
Diversity and inclusion are hot topics in today’s business world. While treating individuals fairly and equally is a social imperative, it is also extremely important to the success of a business. With the changing demographics of society and its affect on the American workforce, organizations must truly embrace diversity and inclusion. “For companies to succeed in the global marketplace, they must make the most of the full range of their people. Companies must attract and retain the right skills, the best minds, all the required resources – and that means diversity” (Royal Bank of Canada, n.d.). There are a number of compelling reasons companies should adopt the core values of diversity and inclusion. This paper sets out to
Many organizations are beginning to view diversity as an organizational change. This could possibly mean changes in the power dynamics and organizational structure, the way decisions are made, and the way an
According to Wal-Mart's corporate website the company has been dedicated to diversity and inclusion for over five decades. This practice has fostered inclusiveness in the workplace, maximized talents, strengthened customer relevance and enabled the company to deliver innovative solutions to business practices. The company offers the following statistics to support this claim: 27 percent of U.S. officers are women as compared to 17.9 percent in the retail industry, 42 percent of U.S. first and mid-level managers are women; the number of minority associates has increased by 5 percent. Over the last year 38 percent of executive vice president promotions were women, 34 percent of officer promotions were women with 22 percent being people of color; 27 percent of corporate officers were women with 20 percent being people of color; 54 percent of hourly associates promoted in stores and clubs were women; and 77 percent of store and club operations managers started as hourly associates.
The general line of reasoning is that if we learn to incorporate each other’s diverse traits and characteristics in the workplace, we can then use these differences to foster an innovative environment, which will give the company a competitive advantage over the competitors that do not accept workforce diversity. According to the Allied Academies International Conference, “Diversity is rapidly becoming a common practice among companies due to the increasing number of minorities entering the job market today. As these groups become more prevalent throughout companies, upper-level employees are facing numerous challenges when determining what changes must take place to create a positive working environment for everyone. Management is responsible for the development and implementation of effective policies directly relating to diversity to ensure the acceptance of minorities into the workplace and to aid in minorities’ success through equal opportunities and treatment.” (Marcia L. James, 2001, Academy for Studies in International Business Proceedings)
In 2017, Walgreens Boots Alliance Company directly is affected by its competitors and how those competitors do business; the purchasing of Rite Aid from Walgreen for started is only the beginning (Walgreens finally buys Rite Aid stores in a diminished deal, 2017). September 19). One should consider any type of merger or acquisition of properties is only a small part of how the operation is affected and their effects on consumer services and the procurement of those desire products (Business Insider, Essentials, 2018). Furthermore, as a manager for Walgreens begins to transform a Rite Store leaves room for a lot of unanswered question from consumers, as to how will their old insurance provider make the switch with the Walgreens providers in
However, the example of Wal-Mart multinational corporation proved another aspect of the diversity policy. The Wal-Mart company was really popular with the most diverse employers, employees, and workplaces in the US and the different diversity dimensions and programs. Nevertheless, Wal-Mart had been investigated about discrimination in the recent years, especially discrimination case against African American. Besides, there is not only Wal-Mart case but also many other companies have the face with the individual claim of discrimination about sex or age discrimination such as Coca-Cola and
Diversity in workforce “include, but are not limited to: age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience”(Thomas 1992). Diversity in the workforce is initially perceived as a response toward the increasing diversity of the consumers in the market (Agocs & Burr, 1996). From there, it has been observed that capitalizing on existing differences among the employees provide benefits to the organization. Diversity in workforce fosters and encourages