Executive Session
Beyond Tame Solutions for a Wicked Problem: Evolving the Diversity Business Case
Evolving diversity trends: What are the implications for your business
Engaging Gen X and Y
The core demographic of social networking sites (i.e. Facebook and MySpace) is 16-34 year olds, and they are not just gossiping. There are business groups, industry groups, professional groups and interest-based groups getting 90+ million viewers every month.
Targeting the African American multicultural population, BlackPlanet.com was named the fourth most visited social networking website in 2007.
Blurred boundaries for Gen X and Gen Y
California AAA fired 27 employees for posting messages to MySpace that were offensive on the basis of weight and sexual orientation.
Collectors Universe fired an employee for posting a photo of the CEO on his MySpace profile. The company called it identity theft.
Challenging corporate responsibility
64 percent of people would be willing to pay a higher price - a premium of 11 percent, on average - for products and services that produce lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Retaining the wave of new workers
By 2015:
- Hispanics will make up 15.9% of the labor force, up from 13.7% in 2006.
- African Americans will make up 12% of the labor force, up from 11.4% in 2006.
- Asians will make up 5.1% of the labor force, up from 4.4% in 2006.
Managing workforce hostility due to job loss
At least 3.3 million white-collar jobs and $136 billion in wages will shift from the United States to low-cost countries by 2015.
Navigating work/life integration
Worker stress costs businesses between $50 billion and $300 billion annually in lost job productivity due to over 52 million working parents' concern about their kids' after school time.
Serving diverse markets and customers
- Hispanics are the fastest growing group in terms of buying power and both Asian American and African American buying power is increasing at a higher rate than white buying power.
- One in four gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender adults over this past year switched to companies that support the GLBT community.
- American women spend more than the entire population of Japan.
- Social economic disparities
- The median income for white families in the United States is $56,700, compared to $35,328 for African Americans, $65,326 for Asian Americans and $35,401 for Hispanic Americans.
- People with disabilities' aggregate income tops $1 trillion; they are the largest minority population in the United States that spans all other minority groups and they demonstrate loyalty to companies that serve their needs, as do family members of people with disabilities.
Shrinking the high school dropout rates
The national high school dropout rate in 2004-2005 was 4.7 percent. Among the four largest racial/ethnic groups, Hispanic students were the most likely to drop out in 2004 (8.9 percent), followed by Black students (5.7 percent), White students (3.7 percent), and Asian/Pacific Islander students (1.2 percent).
Discuss
Discuss these and other issues on the executive session blog.
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