Competitive advantages

When managed well, diversity often enables companies to develop a variety of competitive advantages through the different talents and characteristics of employees. Diversity management is therefore emphasized in many business organizations.

Your assignment this week is to first watch the On-the-Job video of JetBlue that is located in the online Mind Tap content associated with this course. Watching this video will give you an excellent example of a company that effectively manages diversity. JetBlue set out to bring humanity back to air travel. Lisa Borromeo, the director of brand, advertising, and market planning at JetBlue Airways, states that the way to differentiate JetBlue from its competitors is its people. This is demonstrated in its focus on customers and crew members. Because JetBlue is based in New York City, its personnel and customers reflect the diversity of the city. The diversity of the employees helps them understand and fill the needs of the customers. Hiring is based on technical skills, knowledge, and the ability to do a specific job. Interviewers look for employees who are a good organizational fit. They match employee talents to the jobs that need to be done. JetBlue mentors employees who want to move up in the organization and promotes its employees.

After watching the video, identify another company that is effective at managing diversity and write a short, 2-page report on the company’s diversity efforts. You should focus specifically on the policies and practices that the company uses to enhance the management of employee diversity.

To identify key information, look through reputable news outlets and business publications (online and/or print) for stories about your selected company’s diversity management efforts. To better understand these efforts, you should be somewhat familiar with the company in terms of background, industry, operations, and/or culture.

The report should be approximately 2 single-spaced pages (12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins; page count does not include title page or bibliography). At least 5 credible sources (much more is preferable) should be cited that provide support for your assessment. The file submitted should be in Microsoft Word format.

Company Diversity Analysis Rubric

Answer preview

Gender issues have been a significant area of concern for many companies. However, Amazon has taken center stage in putting efforts on women and diversity. The company has been criticized for operating as a male club for many years, where women have no room to operate as top officers (Colazo, 2018). Considering that women constitute more than 40% of the global workforce, it has not been evident in Amazon’s leadership positions. However, new projects like HQ2 allowed Amazon to remedy its shortcomings. For instance, the company has started using the A.I. recruitment process to ensure women get the same opportunities as men (Dastin, 2018). Additionally, the company has strongly reviewed its policies to enable the provision of the same opportunities to men and women.

Organizational Politics and Power

While Amazon has taken all measures to improve diversity in all areas of the organization, it would be counterproductive not to look at the top institutional management. For a company to set a good example, the changes must start with the top management. Therefore, a company must demonstrate diversity from its top management and trickle down to its lower levels. After much struggle and debate, Amazon passed a vote that will help improve diversity and inclusion on its top management and board that will include both men and women (Florentine, 2018). That was an apparent gesture of how the company is committed to practicing diversity even among its top management.

[1232 Words]

Competitive advantages