Act

ionResear
chPr
oject
on

Di
ver
sit
y&I
ncl
usi
onChal
lenges
At

Submi
tt
edaspar
tof
MBAZG511
By
Zi
kraAnsar
i
(
2019HB59052)
 I
ntr
oduct
ion
CulturalDiv
er sit
yisdefi
nedas“ theexistenceofavar ietyofcul turaloret hnicgroups
withinasoci ety”
.Cul
turedefinest hebehav i
orofthepeopl e.Globali
zat i
onist hedrivi
ng
for
ceofdi versit
yinthewor kplace.Recent l
y,theworkplacecompr isesofpeopl ewi t
h
dif
ferent gender ,ethni
city
,r el
igion and nat i
onal
iti
es. Di v
erse per spectiv
es and
experiences ar eimportantf ort he gr
owt h and success oft he or ganizati
ons but
somet imesi tbecomeschal lengingt omanaget hediversewor kfor ce.Thusi tisv er
y
i
mpor t
antformanager stoconductt het
raini
ngandpr ogramsaddr essingthesei ssues.
“Diver
sit
yandinclusi
onisnotanHRstr
ategy;iti
sabusinessstrat
egy…resear
chal
so
showst hatteamst hatoper
ateinanincl
usivecul
tur
eout per
formt hei
rpeersbya
staggeri
ng80percent.
”(
Anart
icl
ebyDel
oit
te)
Di
ver
sit
ycanbecl
assi
fi
edi
ntot
wot
ypes;
i.
e.sur
facel
evel
anddeepl
evel
div
ersi
ty
Surf
acelev
eldiver
sit
ycanbeseenast hepr ominentattr
ibutesani ndi
vi
dualpossess
suchasgender,nat
ional
it
y,r
eli
gion,r
aceet c.Deepleveldiversi
tyi
st hepsychol
ogical
andinf
ormati
onaldiver
sit
ysuchasat ti
tudes,personal
it
y,belief
s,skil
lset
swhi chare
l
essobserv
able.
Someoft
hecommonchal
l
engesr
egar
dingdi
ver
sit
yar
easf
oll
ows:
Et
hni
candCul
tur
alDi
ff
erences:
Ther
ear esomepeoplewhohav eprejudicedopini
onsagainstother
shavi
ngdif
fer
ences
fr
om them i
nsomewaywhet herit
’sracial,f
ait
h,age.Ther
efore,
thepol
ici
esneedstobe
madesoast ohandl
ethesekindsofissues.
Di
ff
erencesi
nLanguageandCommuni
cat
ion:
Though Engli
sh i sthe mostcommonl yused communicati
on language invar
ious
organi
zat
ions,therearenumberofpeoplespeaki
ngotherlanguagesespecial
lyi
fthey
arenotnati
vetot hatpar
ti
cul
arcount
ry.
Accordingt
ot hedatafrom t
he2016Amer i
canCommuni tySurvey(ACS)from t
heU.S.
CensusBureau,onei nfiv
eU. S.r
esi
dent
sspeaksaf or
eignlanguage,esti
mati
ngthat
moret han65mi ll
i
onpeopl earespeaki
ngal anguageotherthanEnglish.Thi
sisan
i
ncreaseof1.9%ov ert
hepastdecade.
Gener
ati
onal
andAgeDi
ff
erences:
Everyyear,thegr aduatesarehi
redandt heseniorempl
oyeesgetret
ir
ed.Thepeopl
eon
seni
orlev elpositionsarethoughttober i
gidi
ndecisi
onmaki ngandlessadapt
ivet
o
changeswhi chi snotal waystrue.ThusAgeandgener at
iondif
fer
encescancreat
e
i
nterpersonal confli
ctsamongtheempl oyees.
Respect
ingandAccept
ingDi
ff
erencesofOt
her
s:
Aparti
cularissuethatar
isesinwor kpl
acesisdeali
ngwi t
hsocialorculturaldif
ferences.
Partofthismayst em f
rom al ackofunderstandingorrespect.Exampl esoft hiscan
i
ncluderefusalbyanempl oyerormanagert oal l
owanempl oyeeobserv ethei
rf ai
thby
taki
ngtimeof fforanyfait
h-r
elatedholi
days,ordiscri
minati
onagainstagayorl esbi
an
employeebecauset hemanageroranot heremployeedisagreeswiththeirli
fest
yle.
Wewil
ldiv
edeeperononesuchdiv
ersi
tyi
ssuef
acedbytheCoca-Col
aCompanyand
t
heact
ionplanwhi
cht
heyhav
efol
lowedinor
dert
oresol
vethesame.
 Backgr
ound
TheCocaCol aisr ecognizedasoneoft hemostpopul arbev
eragesacrossthe
worldfounded in 1892.Thebev eragewasor i
ginated bytheAtl
anta based
PharmacistJohnS.Pember tonathischemi calcompany .Fr
ankRobinson,the
accountantpennedt hename‘ Coca-
Cola’.Itwassupposedt obet hetonicfor
common ai l
ment sbased on thecocai ne( f
rom t hecoca l
eaf)and extr
acts
contai
ningcaff
eineoft hekolanut
,butlaterin1903,cocainewasremovedf r
om
thebeverageandithasbecomet hecarbonatedbev erage.
Atpresentthecompanyisengagedinproducti
onofar ound2, 800productssol
d
i
n mor et han 200 count
ri
es.Itisthe largestbev er
age manuf acturerand
di
str
ibutorintheworldaswellasoneoft helargestcorporationsi
nt heUnit
ed
St
ates.TheCoca-Colaheadquar
ter
sisl
ocatedinAt l
anta,Georgia.
Ther oadt osuccesshasneverbeeneasyforCoca-
Col
a.Asthecompanywas
evolv
ing,ithascomeacrossvari
ousissuesduet
odiver
seeconomi
c,soci
aland
cult
uralcondit
ionsacr
ossthegl
obe.
TheCoca- Colahasbeencr i
ti
cizedforbeingtheunhealt
hydr inkinmostoft he
regions.Itwasalsosuedforoverconsumpt i
onofwateri
nthepr oduct
ionprocess.
Ther ewer enumerousracialdi
scriminati
onall
egat
ionsagainstt hecompanyas
wel lwhichl edtohugeeconomi calloss.TheCompanyt riedt otackl
et hese
i
ssuesi nabestpossi bl
ewayt hroughamendment sinthepoliciesandadv anced
strategi
cpl anni
ng.
 Pr
obl
em St
atement
InApril1999,ALawsui tcommonlyreferredas“QuotaCol aCase”wasf iledagainstthe
companyby4Af ri
can-Ameri
canempl oyeesforraci
aldiscri
minat
ionundert heUSCi vi
l
RightsAct .Al
legedlytheyhadbeensuf feri
ngthediscri
minati
oninpay ,promotionsand
perfor
manceev al
uati
ons.Theyalsocl aimedthatthecer t
ainpoli
cieskeptt hem f r
om
ri
singtot opposi ti
onsandi npar
ti
culardepartmentswithinthecompany .Onlyf ewhad
madet ot het opl ev
elpositi
onsascompar edt ot henumberofAf r
ican-
Amer icans
amongal l sal
ariedempl oy
ees.
Itwasnott heonlyall
egationmader egardingtheracialdiscri
minati
ons.Therewer e
other simil
ar cases fi
led against the company .I n Oct ober 2001,a gr oup of
approximately 1,
000 Af ri
can-
Amer i
can accused Coca- Col a of creating host i
le,
i
ntimidati
ng,offensi
veandabusi vewor kplaceenvironmentf oritsAf r
ican-
Amer ican
employees.Itwasalsost at
edthatmi norit
yempl oyees(AsiansandNat i
veAmer icans)
werephy si
call
yandment all
yabusedbyt hewhi teemployees.
Furthermore,t wofor
merAsianemployeesfi
l
edasuitcl
aimi
ngthatt
heyhadbeenfi
red
forwhi stl
ebl owi
ngonanexecutiv
ef orci
ngempl
oyeesforposi
ti
ver
evi
ewsinorderto
receiveincreasedbonuses.
Theabovementi
onedinci
dent
simpl
iest
heweakdiversi
tymanagementatCoca-
Col
a
al
thought
hecompanyhasdeni
edsomeoftheal
l
egat
ionsmadeagainsti
t.
I
nresponset
otheseall
egat
ionst
hecompanyhastakenconsi
der
abl
eamountofef
for
ts
i
nimprovi
ngpol
ici
es,
educati
ngandrai
singawar
enessamongstt
heempl
oyees.
 CausesofDi
scr
imi
nat
ion
Mal
eDomi
nantWor
kfor
ce:
Thepiechartdepi
ctsthepercent
ageofbot hgender
si nTheCoca-ColaCompany
,
whi
ch cl
earl
yshowst hatthe majori
tyare men which makesup 82%,whil
ethe
per
cent
ageofwomeni ntheor
ganizat
ioni
stheremaini
ng18%.

Maj
ori
tyVsMi
nor
it
yEt
hni
cit
y:
Thispiechartshowst hepercent
ageofr acesinTheCoca- ColaCompany .
55% oft heempl oy
eesar eCaucasi an,21% areAfri
can Amer i
can,while
Hispani
cintheorganizat
ionconsi
stsof18%, 3%ofAsian,2%ofot herr
aces
andlastl
y,onl
y1%ofNat iveAmerican.Thesedif
fer
encesstem themajorit
y-
minori
tyconfl
ict
samongstt heempl oyeesleadi
ngtobiasatti
tudesagainst
minori
ti
esindail
yprocesses.

Li
mit
edJobOppor
tuni
ti
esf
orMi
nor
it
ies:
Biasatt
it
udesagainsttheminor
it
iesconti
nuousl
yoccur
redwi
thoutpr
event
ionasmost
minori
ti
eshav eli
mitedjobopportuni
ti
esandlackofpromot
ionsascomparedtothe
dominantraces.
Di
ff
erencesi
nOv
ert
imeWor
kingHour
s:
TheCaucasi
andr
iveswer
egivenchancet
ohaveover
ti
meworkinghour
swhil
eAfr
ican
Ameri
canandHispani
cstaf
fworker
swerenotal
lowedtohav
eanyov ert
imewor
king
hour
s.
These causes i
mpl i
es t
he Coca-
Cola’
sinabi
l
ityt
o under
stand t
he si
gni
fi
cance of
di
versi
tyinthesuccessofthecompany.
 I
nit
iat
ivesofCompany
Di
ver
sit
yManagement
:
From theyear1999t o2006, Coca-
ColaCompanyr eal
izesthattheorgani
zati
onneedst o
targetmultiplev ari
ous segmented customers.Therefor
e,t he companystarted to
dev el
opdiversit
ypolici
esandv al
uesintotheorgani
zationsincetheyear1999.I
nor der
to successfullyt ar
getdiverse consumers,Coca-Cola Company deci des t
o start
recrui
ti
ngmor ewomenandt heminori
tyraces.
Thesustai
nabi
li
tyr
eportofthey ear2018,showsthesigni
fi
canceincreaseint
he
numberoffemal
eemploy
eesalongwithempl
oyeesbel
ongi
ngtominori
tyraces.
I
mpr
ovedHumanRi
ght
sPol
i
cy:
TheCompanyhaspri
mari
lyf
ocusedonthediv
ersi
tyandi
ncl
usi
oni
ntheHumanRi
ght
s
Pol
ici
es,
2017.Someoft
hepoli
ciesar
equot
edbelow,
Weval ueandadvancet hedi versit
yandi nclusi
onoft hepeopl ewi thwhom wewor k.We
arecommi tt
edt oequaloppor tunit
yandar ei nt
olerantofdi scriminati
onandhar assment .
Wewor kt omai nt
ainwor kplacest hatarefreef rom discr iminationorhar assmentont he
basisofr ace,sex,color,nati
onalorsoci alor i
gin,ethnicity,rel
igion,age,disabili
ty,sexual
ori
ent ati
on,genderi dentifi
¬cat i
onorexpr ession,pol it
icalopi nionoranyot herst atus
protectedbyappl icablelaw.Thebasi sforr ecruitment ,hiring,placement ,development ,
tr
aining, compensat i
on and advancement at t he Company i s qual i¬ficati
ons,
performance,ski l
lsandexper i
ence.Wedonott oleratedi srespectfulori nappr opri
ate
behavi or,unfairtr
eatmentorr etal
iat
ionofanyki nd.Har assmenti snott ol
er at
edi nt he
wor
kpl
aceandi
nanywor
k-r
elat
edci
rcumst
anceout
sidet
hewor
kpl
ace.(
Div
ersi
tyand
I
ncl
usi
on)
Thesaf etyandhealthofourempl oyeesisofparamounti mport
ance.Ourpoli
cyi sto
provi
deasaf eandhealt
hywor kpl
aceandcompl ywithappli
cabl
esafetyandhealthlaws
andr egulat
ions,aswellasinternalrequi
rements.Wewor ktoprovideandmai ntaina
safe,heal t
hy and producti
ve wor kpl
ace,in consult
ati
on wit
h ourempl oyees,by
addressingandr emediati
ngidenti¬fi
edrisksofaccident
s,inj
uryandhealt
hi mpact s.
(
Saf
eandHeal
thyWor
kpl
ace)
Wearecommi ttedtomaintaini
ngawor kplacethatisf r
eefrom viol
ence,har
assment ,
i
nti
midati
onandot herunsaf eordisruptivecondi t
ionsduet oi nter
nalandext ernal
t
hreat
s.Secur
itysaf
eguardsforemployeesar epr
ovided,asneeded,andar emaint
ained
wi
threspectf
oremployeeprivacyanddignity.(WorkplaceSecur
it
y)
Wepr ohi
bitt
heuseofallf
ormsofforcedl
abor
,incl
udi
ngpri
sonlabor
,indent
uredlabor,
bondedlabor
,mil
it
aryl
abor,moder
nformsofsl
averyandanyfor
m ofhumant r
affi
cking.
(
For
cedLaborandHumanTr
aff
icki
ng)
Wecompensat eemployeescompet
it
ivelyrel
ati
vetotheindustryandlocall
abormar
ket,
andinaccordancewit
ht er
msofapplicabl
ecollect
ivebargai
ningagreements.Wework
toensur
ef ullcompli
ancewithappl
icablewage,wor khours,overti
meandbene¬f it
s
l
aws.(WorkHour s,
WagesandBenefi
ts)

‘
5by
20’
Ini
ti
ati
ve:
Thisi
nit
iati
veai
mstoeconomical
lyempower5mi
ll
i
onwomenentr
epreneursacr
ossthe
company ’
sval
uechai
nby2020.Thecompanyhasmadeasi
gni
fi
cancepr ogr
essint
his
regar
dsasperthesust
ainabi
l
ityr
epor
t,2018.
‘
Div
ersi
tyi
sEv
ery
body
’sBusi
ness’
:
TheCoca-Col
ahaslauncheda‘Diver
sit
yi sEver
ybody’sBusi
ness’awar
enessr
aising
progr
am r
equir
ingmanagerst
or undiversi
tyandinclusi
onworkshopduri
ngat eam
meeti
ng.
‘
Div
ersi
tyi
nAct
ion’
Progr
am:
Coca-Col
ahasalsocr eda‘
eat Di
versi
tyi
nAct i
on’program i
nordert
oaligndi
versi
tyand
i
nclusi
onplanswit
hbusi nesspri
ori
ti
es.Itencouragessit
esandbusinessfuncti
onsto
creat
eandt rackt
hepr ogressofdiversi
tyactionplansbasedonassessment sand
regul
armeeti
ngswit
hseni ormanagement.
‘
Successi
sMe’
progr
am i
nPol
and:
TheWomen havebeen t r
ained and empowered t
hrough t
hemostcompr ehensi
ve
prof
essi
onal
act
ivat
ionpr
ogram knownas‘SuccessisMe’ i
nPolandSi
nce2016.

Empower
ingAf
ro-
Brazi
l
ianWomenEnt
repr
eneur
:
Coca-Col
a’sBrazilbusi
nessunitandt heCoca-Col
aBrazilFoundat
i aunchedNegr
onl as
Potênci
as,ani nnovati
veini
ti
ati
vet oempowerAf ro-
Brazil
ianwomen andgir
ls,oneof
themostv ul
nerablegroupsint he count
ry.Thecompanyj oi
nedeffor
tswit Fundo
h 
Baobá,afundwhose 
endowmentcreat
ionwas 
support
edbytheKel
l
oggFoundat
ionto
fost
erraci
alequal
it
y,and Benf
eit
ori
a,acrowdf undi
ngplat
for
m,tolaunchBrazi
l
’s
l
argestmatchi
ng f und.The partners are suppor t
ing projectsled byAf ro-
Brazil
i
an
women bybui l
ding the women’s communi cations and fundr ai
sing capaci
ti
es and
matchingt
hefundi ngtheyrai
se.13of17sel ectedprojectsr eachedtheirtar
getsand
ar
enow bei ngimpl emented.Project
sr ai
sedR$549t housandi ncl
udingCoca- Cola
Br
azil’
smatchi
ngf undsandR$206t housandwi thoutmat ch( i
ndivi
dualdonors).

Concl
usi
on
Ef
fi
cient
lymanagi
ngadi
ver
sewor
kfor
cecangi
veahi
ghl
ybenef
ici
alout
comet
owar
ds
anor gani zat i
onespeci all
yi nt helongr un.Itcanal sobeacompany ’scompet i
ti
ve
adv antagei fthedi versi
tyint hewor kplaceismanagedpr operly.Howev er,i
fnotpr operl
y
managed, negat i
veout comeswi l
lbei nevit
able,suchasdemot iv
atedempl oyeesduet o
discrimi nat i
onwhenat ypeofenv i
ronmentt hatisnotconduci vetowor ki n.Itcanalso
resultinabi gl ossf oracompany ;suchi sthecasewi thCoca- Colai
nt helawsui tagai
nst
them wher et heyhadt opay$192mi l
li
oni ncompensat iont oi t
sAf r
ican-Amer i
can
empl oy eeswhower eunder paidcompar edt otheirCaucasiancount erparts.Nurturi
ng
andembr aci ngt hedi ff
erencesi nallpeople,aswel lastreatingthem equal lywithi
nan
organi zationwi llhelpCoca- Colaint hef utureasi twil
lreducet hechancesofsi mil
ar
l
awsui tsbei ngf il
edagai nstt hecompany .Impl ementi
ngt hepr operpol i
ciest hatwill
helpel iminat ediscriminationandhar assmentwi thi
nthewor kplacewi l
lbeagoodst ep
forwar df ort hecompany ’
sf uture.

Ref
erences
 2018Business&Sustai
nabili
tyReport
.(n.d.)
.Retri
evedfrom ht
tps:
//www. coca-
colacompany.
com/cont
ent/dam/j
ourney/us/en/pr
ivat
e/f
il
easset
s/pdf/2019/Coc
a-Cola-
Busi
ness-
and-
Sustai
nabil
i
ty-
Report.pdf.
 AMERICAS|Coca-Col
ainr acepay-
out.(2000,Nov
ember16)
.Ret
ri
evedf
rom
ht
tp:
//news.
bbc.
co.
uk/
2/hi
/ameri
cas/1027051.
stm.
 Coca-Colalawsuit( reraci
aldiscr
iminat
ion in USA).(2014,Februar
y 18).
Retr
ieved fr
om ht t
ps:/
/www.busi
ness-
humanright
s.or
g/en/coca-
col
a-l
awsui
t-
re-
raci
al-
discr
iminat
ion-
in-
usa.
 Coca-
Col
a_125_y
ears_bookl
et. (n.
d.)
. Retri
eved f r
om ht tps:
//www. coca-
col
acompany.
com/content/
dam/j
ourney/
us/
en/pri
vat
e/fi
leasset
s/pdf/2011/05/
Coca-
Col
a_125_y
ears_bookl
et.
pdf
.
 Di
ver
sity i
s Everybody'
s Busi
ness. (2014, January 30). Ret
ri
eved f
rom
ht
tp:
//www.di
ver
sit
yjour
nal.
com/
12148-diver
sit
y-ev
erybody
s-busi
ness/
.
 Spencer,T.(
n.d.
).Di
versi
tyEffor
tsatTheCoca-Col
aCompany.Retr
iev
edf
rom
htt
ps:/
/www.academia.
edu/24413864/
Div
ersi
ty_
Eff
ort
s_at
_The_
Coca-
Cola_
Company .
 The Coca-Cola Company Human Ri ght
s Pol
icy
.( n.
d.)
. Retri
eved fr
om
htt
ps:
//www.coca-
col
acompany.com/cont
ent/dam/jour
ney
/us/
en/
pri
vat
e/f
il
easset
s/pdf
/2014/
11/
human-r
ight
s-pol
icy
-pdf
-engli
sh.
pdf.
 Winter
,G.( 2000,Nov ember17)
.COCA-COLA SETTLES RACIAL BI
AS CASE.
Retr
ieved f rom ht t
ps:/
/www.
nyt
imes.
com/2000/
11/17/busi
ness/
coca-
col
a-
set
tl
es-raci
al-
bias-
case.
html.
Annexur
e(Si
mil
ari
tyI
ndexRepor
t)