Case Study Analysis For Harvard Business Review

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Discuss about the Case Study Analysis for Harvard Business Review.

The most recent cover stories of the Harvard Business Review have explored diversity programs in U.S. corporations is definitely going to be a fascinating resource for the race-ahead readers. Frank Dobbin, the professor and researcher of Harvard has stated that there is no reason to lose hope regarding the diversity programs, it is just the fact that there are some companies that tend to spend huge amount of money on the wrong things (Dobbin & Kalev, 2013).

It can be stated that multiplicity and impartiality of opportunity are high-quality things and at the same time, favoritism on the further hand, is both ethically disgusting and inexpensively reckless and up till now this unfortunately exists. It can be found that the target of diversity program is a creditable one, especially to expand multiplicity as a prominent way of combating back against universal favoritism. It is unfortunate yet true that that the business planet is many is still male dominating and despite of many advances, the women and marginal assemblies still make up disappointedly little portion of directors in the leading corporations. Many changes have come, but the rate is very slow and thus it is very disappointing. Dobbin and Kalev have stated that black people have barely gained strong position in corporate management since the year 1985 (Peretz, Levi & Fried, 2015).

In order to find out the effectiveness of diversity programs in many organizations, both the professors examined a wide assortment of agendas that were intended to hearten variety. Diversity teaching, official complaint measures and hiring tests as well as performance rating system and unfortunately all their conclusions were resoundingly negative. They found out that the assortment agendas not only do not work; they lean to be more counterproductive in nature. They have found out that at the corporations that have established them, variety has characteristically and really been condensed (Bezrukova, Jehn & Spell, 2012). Dobbin and Kalev have suggested three issues and these are as follows:

• Such programs can be negative in nature. If the management caught discriminating, they would be sued immediately and people tend to reach badly at such reasoning (Olsen et al., 2015).
• Secondly, it can be found out that some corporations make the diversity training courses compulsory and the employees blame that very underprivileged assemblies the programs were aspiring to assist.
• Lastly, Dobbin and Kalev conjecture that when the directors observe such agendas instituted, they feel answerable and thus reach deficiently to that (Madera, 2013).

It is necessary to mention here that the outcome in all these three cases is the possible for reaction and for the directors to find out end-runs around plans they do not akin to.

With sole regards to diversity programs, Dobbin and Kalev have recommended three major strategies and it is useful to mention that none of these concentrates on manage.

• Firstly, they have suggested that the corporations must connect the directors in resolving the issues. It can be stated that the managers are required to take action as counselors to the public in the underprivileged clusters and thus they are required to get them personally involved in the actions (Pugach & Blanton, 2012).
• The second strategy states that it is necessary to make use of mere exposure effect among the diversified group of people. It is necessary to expose the human resources to populace from dissimilar groups by having them work jointly on varied and self-managing team.
• Dobbin and Kalev has thirdly suggested that it is necessary to make the managers feel personally accountable for the changes. It can be found out that answerable in a communal way always comes with the sentiment that populace around are well conscious of the manager’s behaviors (Banks, 2015).
• Final suggestion came from Dobbin and Kalev and they have stated that department-level transparency is highly necessary.  

Identification of the Problem

The managers are required to follow the below mentioned steps and this might be helpful in handling the diversity programs effectively.

Workplace that go after the rule and stay put enough truthful to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are more probable to have a varied place of work. As per this act, it is very illegal to maltreat the human resources depended on age, race, gender, faith and other aptitudes. Niederle, Segal and Vesterlund (2013) have stated that the employees who treat the employees with due admiration and recruit with proper variety in mind harvest the reimbursements of faithful workers who work hard enough to increase the rate of income.

Andrevski et al. (2014) have stated that it is crucial enough to place of work that assortment is infused during all the subdivisions, commerce proposals and the corporation strategies. In order to focus on this part, it is necessary to have a printed variety policy and provide a duplicate to the human resources. Moreover, it is important enough to conduct sensitivity training and workplace for all the employees. Pugach and Blanton (2012) have shown in his research paper that the companies that take part in benevolent occasions widen the viewpoints of the workers and finish up having a staffing benefit.

Work on funding has clarified that, whilst an adviser is good but subsidize is superior. This is useful because the sponsors do not just answer a subordinate person’s questions rather they vigorously sponsor for them and thus it is highly useful in nature.

It is necessary to mention that giving responsibility for progress on diversity to a high potential executive and this might ease the situation.

Strengths ·         When a company arranges diversity training and that receives a huge support from the executives, the employees are more likely to take part and engage in the training. ·         Human resources are more likely to put into practice the information fetched from the diversity training in their interaction with the co-employees, supervisors, managers and the customers (Pugach and Blanton 2012).

Weakness ·         Mandatory diversity program can be a weakness, as in that case, the employees are forced to take part and complete the diversity training. ·         Apart from that, it can be said that the issue of compulsory training might not be well-received among the employees and thus the training might be ineffective.

Opportunities ·         It can be stated that external opportunities in diversity program counts building the reputation of the company as an employer that thoroughly treats all the human resources in a fair and equitable manner. ·         Apart from that, it can be stated that effective diversity training is an opportunity to create as well as maintain the status of the company both in the community and the customers.

Threats ·         Pugach and Blanton (2012) have stated that the external threat represents diversity training is the task of selecting a well-qualified diversity consultant. ·         One of the best ways to overcome this type of threat posed by diversity experts promising amazing results at high consultant fees is to consult other business in the industry.

There are three types of programs and these are obligatory variety teaching, job tests and complaint schemes. According to the analysis it has been identified that although these diversity programs has been based on the motive of the corrective actions, the approach has been totally faulty and unrealistic. The organizations have been depended on the forced transition of the behaviors of the top managers. However, the present statistics have indicated that these actions have been rejected by the managerial professionals. It has been also surfaced by the analysis that the managers tend to bend the rules according to their opinion. This scenario further complicated the current problem instead of resolve it. In this scenario the organizations must shun their forced approach and appeal to their consciousness more directly. The organization must focus on raising the awareness regarding adverse impacts of the discrimination on the workplace. The organization must concentrates on voluntary training rather than forcing the employees to undergo mandatory diversity management training program. In addition to that, the diversity program must be conducted in an equal and fair manner rather than using it as a tools of discrimination.

After analyzing the case study from different perspectives, it is necessary enough to provide some effective recommendation that would justify the situation properly.

If any organization restricts the employing to the instantaneous geographic locale then they must be missing the chance to expand a varied employee. It is recommended to use other recruiting mechanisms to enlarge the base including online job boards, as this allows everyone to see with the minimum internet access.

Many researchers have argued that providing the training in English as the second language is one of the effective ways to enhance diversity. This particular type of program allows one to recruit from a large base of candidates because it moves language barrier as a major reason for not considering a qualified applicant.

References

Andrevski, G., Richard, O. C., Shaw, J. D., & Ferrier, W. J. (2014). Racial diversity and firm performance the mediating role of competitive intensity. Journal of Management, 40(3), 820-844.

Banks, J. A. (2015). Cultural diversity and education. Routledge.

Barak, M. E. M. (2013). Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage Publications.

Bezrukova, K., Jehn, K. A., & Spell, C. S. (2012). Reviewing diversity training: Where we have been and where we should go. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 11(2), 207-227.

Dobbin, F., & Kalev, A. (2013). The origins and effects of corporate diversity programs.

Madera, J. M. (2013). Best Practices in Diversity Management in Customer Service Organizations An Investigation of Top Companies Cited by Diversity Inc. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 54(2), 124-135.

Niederle, M., Segal, C., & Vesterlund, L. (2013). How costly is diversity? Affirmative action in light of gender differences in competitiveness. Management Science, 59(1), 1-16.

Olsen, J. E., Parsons, C. K., Martins, L. L., & Ivanaj, V. (2015). Gender Diversity Programs, Perceived Potential for Advancement, and Organizational Attractiveness An Empirical Examination of Women in the United States and France. Group & Organization Management, 1059601115583579.

Peretz, H., Levi, A., & Fried, Y. (2015). Organizational diversity programs across cultures: effects on absenteeism, turnover, performance and innovation. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(6), 875-903.

Pugach, M. C., & Blanton, L. P. (2012). Enacting diversity in dual certification programs. Journal of Teacher Education, 63(4), 254-267.