Bravo Industries, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Within nearly the past two decades, roughly since the time Benjamin Franklin discovered the broad accessibility of electricity and soon thereafter local communications began to lead the way for a greater sense of global interconnectedness, people eventually learned that we all have the capacity to be more

prolific by working together for a greater good. Well, two world wars in the early half of the nineteen hundreds and then all the assassinations, revolts, and rebellions of the latter half were needed to cause a dramatic change before people learned this fact. Aside from all that, here we are in the twenty-first century broadcasting methodologies for world leaders, corporate CEOs, and more bureaucrats-to-follow discovered the gains from a diversified response.

In this essay, we peer into such methodologies available for our collective gain. First, Alaina Love enlightens us with her journal, titled “Diversity as a Strategic Advantage: It’s about more than filling quotas, as such companies as Turner Broadcasting, IBM, and Pfizer have discovered” (Bloomberg Businessweek. May 14, 2010, 3:15PM EST).   Next,

Butz and Goodstein present us with some thoughts to expand upon with “Measuring customer value: Gaining the strategic advantage” (Organizational Dynamics, 1996). Further, an unaccredited author within Small Business by the Numbers presents a straightforward “Q&A” session with “What role do women, minority, and veteran entrepreneurs play in the economy?” (SBA, Dec 2003). Finally, Dr. Val Singh draws some great points with “Managing Diversity for Strategic Advantage” from his book, titled A Report for the Council for Excellence in Management and Leadership Managing Diversity for Strategic Advantage (2002).

Body

First, Bloomberg Businessweek (May, 2010), Alaina Love enlightens readers with some proof of profit. In this article, titled “Diversity as a Strategic Advantage: It’s about more than filling quotas, as such companies as Turner Broadcasting, IBM, and Pfizer have discovered,” through examples set by these businesses, corporations, organizations, or companies, Love builds a solid and memorable conclusion on successful business affairs as opposed to the (implied) closed-minded hostility proving one point: History is our greatest teacher.

“Giving Everyone a Voice… The best organizations recognize that beyond race, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, diversity also applies to thought, skill, and passions” (Love, 2010).

In fact, that basis set about learning through historical losses and triumphs is the main point of this article. A Prepared Leadership and Workforce; Sophisticated Programs to Attract, Engage, Develop, and Retain Diverse Talent; and Measuring and Demanding Inclusion are pointers leading to that resounding characteristic. Next, the lineup of all this affirmative acceptance and change that has lead to corporate gain, growth, development, and generalized mercantilism:

“Since the establishment of affirmative action in the early 1960s, organizations have struggled with shifting their focus on diversity from a numbers exercise of quota achievement to leveraging the benefits that can be derived from employees with different backgrounds and perspectives in a way that provides a commercial advantage” (Love, 2010).

Within the United States, the bust brought on from the late-1960s throughout the 1970s lead to quite a strong boom in the 1980s. That was truly the decade of the CEO and the profitability of the individual. Collectively, the U.S. workforce is facing the next move, one to achieve greater unity. Presently, all the third-world nations are (again) coming out of an economic haze similar to the late-1960s throughout the 1970s. Thankfully an abundance of assassinations did not come as part of a package-deal this time. Regardless, it is odd how the globe seems so much smaller, now, since humanity has become more aware of the growth possibilities to come from communal efforts than individual strife; the world has grown much smaller, a paradox indeed.

The more recent move from a mechanized and industrialized culture to a digital society has fundamentally modified what citizens consider these key-phrases: occupation, employment, profession, career, assignment, and vocation.  What’s nice, of course, is that advancement and promotional encouragement is much more easily attainable, and will continue to increase as the world’s economy strengthens from quite a low from which we all currently are rebuilding.  This loss of revenue we are now recovering from and facing will be compensated soon enough.

Salaries within any sector do not fluctuate too greatly, and there is always safety to be found in numbers (that is, numbers of additional operative employees within any workforce).  Therefore, the self-confidence and composure that comes from this assurance instills a sense of serenity and calmness that is inductive to production and progress.  Several traditional work ethics and procedures have become entirely unidentifiable to young people entering the workforce of today.  In fact, even folks resuming employment after some time off, even a few years, must learn an entirely new code of principles and behaviors. On the upside, though, people are working cooperatively and productively more now than ever; people learn only through the benefit of other people; thus, advancement is becoming easier to grasp than ever before now.

By far the most beneficial and productive element of this technological age that brings humanity to take part in, and is therefore crucial to consider in terms of information technologies, is the process of self-determination. Acknowledging and adapting an aptitude toward this state of life-long-learning has become and will continue to be essential.  This recognition will continue to be the most integral part of corporate culture.  Training is nonstop, and that is a bonus.  To reap the most favorable benefits and the full potential of leading technologies, personnel will exist in a state of perpetual training.  Thus, life will only continue to become faster paced.  Rather than accepting that as overwhelming or frightening or out of control, humanity must embrace it for the benefits.

For one, we will be working intellectually smarter, and not physically harder.  This will draw a more strengthened state of generalized consciousness and further human evolution.  Accordingly, we will not pessimistically waste time blaming the group; each of our mindsets will have shifted from the utmost need to find social acceptance on the job.  That shift will soon placed on the expeditious completion of every chore so as to have time to then socialize.  Humans are social mammals, no doubt.  Therefore, we will only continue to further human evolution.

For another, new technological innovations will always be on the rise, and as a team we will always be trying to competitively accelerate more quickly than other corporations.  In order to optimize all prospective enhancements to their fullest, individual employees will need to be equipped with all options available in the implementation of pliable and functional practices able to facilitate technology, right alongside the comprehensive knowledge of the inception of the newest technology.

Next, Butz and Goodstein take us back to the basics. “Measuring customer value: Gaining the strategic advantage. Organizational Dynamics” (1996) discusses diversity through “the emotional bond established between the customer and a producer after the customer has used a salient product or service produced by that supplier and found the product to provide an added value” (Butz, Goodstein, 1996). Since compassion rings through any customer service encounter, regardless the customer’s or client’s ethnicity, that “emotional bond established” creates acceptance within every the mind of every employee. This is how tolerance comes about, then acceptance occurs and friendships develop.  Shallow and simplistic, sure (due to the short time spent appeasing any focal customer), but never insincere or superficial.

The insincere and superficial employees never last. Beside that, Starbucks Coffee, for example, has perfected customer service training. Starbucks is a great example from both ends, too; that is, from the angle of the customer or the employee.   Then again, a quality product should come first, right? Not entirely so…  “This article discusses the importance of customer value to the competitive edge of a company” (Butz, Goodstein, 1996). Humans are social. Therefore, a greater selling point is the sincere advice from another person than the namesake of a products reputation. “Finally, maintaining and solidifying current customer values and developing tactics for meeting these unanticipated emerging needs provides the basis for either developing or modifying the company’s strategic plan” (Butz, Goodstein, 1996). For a business to continually flourish, however, requires at least a quality product, if not better than all competitors.

From the very first line: “Have you noticed the people around you lately? We’re rethinking the term ‘minority’ these days. Reports issued by the U.S. Census Bureau, Dept. of Commerce and the Minority Business Development Agency, show that rapid changes are afoot. And we’d best pay attention” (SBA,2003), any reader acknowledges that he or she has run across an article on the diversity, right alongside the acceptance issues, that humanity had faced since Ben Franklin tapped-into the use of electricity. This article has a very engaging introduction.

“The 2000 Census showed other important trends. California, Hawaii, New Mexico and the District of Columbia now consider non-Whites their majority populations. Whites are moving from the cities to the suburbs; of the top 100 cities close to 20 would not have experienced any growth if their minority populations had not increased” (SBA,2003).

Integration and then infiltration, the way of humanity. Think about it. Throughout the years, humans of all ethnicities have learned to integrate before they postulate; this means that people have learned to appreciate and gain from one another rather than continue to blindly hate. Consider the KKK. Yes, this is going to an extreme.  At one time, that was a great gathering amongst the southern states. Soon enough, one humanity learned to reason collectively rather than out of individualistic fear, humans learned to work together and gain from one another. F.E.A.R. = False Evidence Appearing Real. That is the greatest emotion behind all segregation, and through our evolution we have learned to accept one another safely and gainfully.

“By 2015, non-Hispanic Whites will be a primarily elderly population, and by 2035 that group will be experiencing a negative growth rate. Racial and ethnic “minority” groups have a much younger median age, and by 2050 will account for nearly 90% of total population growth. The Census Bureau projects that by 2050 there will be 18 million more minorities than non-minorities under age 35” (SBA,2003).

Across the pond in Europe (specifically, the United Kingdom), Dr. Val Singh stresses the urge for an initial focus on Human Resources (HR) progressing toward an administrative effort, the management of mandated diversification.  First, however, he charts the noticeable differences amongst ethnic variance, informal (and at times deliberate) cluelessness about women’s capabilities and their oppression, along with the generalized notion “that everyone should be entitled to the same treatment at work” (Singh, 2002). “Managing Diversity for Strategic Advantage” from his appropriately titled book, A Report for the Council for Excellence in Management and Leadership Managing Diversity for Strategic Advantage (2002),

This subsection titled “Understanding of diversity and its importance for management and leadership” details the way that all individuals need to voice their own characteristics while agreeing to tolerate, if not accept with open-arms, the varying details of coworkers.  In a way, this follows the method or action of identifying someone or something for the sake of being identified to enable complete, cooperative liberalism:

“Organisations need to have a clear working definition of ‘Diversity’. It is even more useful if the definition statement includes reference to how it will be managed: ‘and will ensure that the diversity of their backgrounds, experiences and abilities is fully recognised and developed’. Making a public statement (for instance, on the corporate website) is likely to ensure CEO commitment to diversity. There are many talented women, ethnic minority individuals, and other diverse groups whose talents are not being used or developed sufficiently. This is a loss to their employers and society. There is evidence that organisations could benefit from more diversity in leaders and managers, for better decision-making, more creativity and better use of the potential of all employees, by investing in a wider talent pool” (Singh, 2002).

This furthers this recognition by allowing the reader an overview of the impact of diversity on prospective growth and improvement occurs while placing focus on the most recent statistics of diversity within the managerial population. By diffusing these career barriers for women alongside all ethnic minorities, the greater issues of any applicant who is not a white male will become better recognized and understood, with regard to the impact of a more unified leadership and “unintentional systemic discrimination on those who are different” (Singh, 2002).

The psychological awareness and understanding of diversity has great importance in all forms of management and leadership. Next, Dr. Val Singh approaches what is being missed due to what is being ignored; possibly this is why the word ignorance is understood any more (even greater than unawareness, unfamiliarity, or incomprehension) as a synonym for foolishness and stupidity:

“There are many talented women, individuals of various ethnic minorities, and other diverse groups whose talents are not being used or developed sufficiently. This is a loss to their employers and society. There is evidence that organisations could benefit from more diversity in leaders and managers, for better decision-making, more creativity and better use of the potential of all employees, by investing in a wider talent pool” (Singh, 2002).

Indeed, that adage “cut off your nose to spite your face” shines through this paragraph. Employers, managers, leaders, and every aspect of society gains more by acting rationally than by reacting emotionally (fearfully, then blindly, angrily, and hatefully). Next, the telling-statistics of what social group (who) have been continually displaced are listed:

“In 2001, women accounted for 45% of all employees in Britain but women held only 30% of management positions. Whilst the managerial group of men accounted for 18% of overall male employment, for women it was only 9%. But women are more successful in the less well paid public sector. At director level in the top FTSE 100 companies, only 2% of executive directors (only ten women out of over 500), and 9.6% of non-executive directors are female.

One executive female is from an ethnic minority. Almost half of the top 100 companies have no women directors at all” (Singh, 2002).

Conclusion

With a clear working definition of Diversity, and then by infiltrating it into the larger schematic of business ethics, operatives will gain by understanding “Diversity as a Strategic Advantage: It’s about more than filling quotas, as such companies as Turner Broadcasting, IBM, and Pfizer have discovered” (Love, 2010). Butz and Goodstein, with this diversified model illustrated in Measuring customer value: Gaining the strategic advantage (Organizational Dynamics, 1996), demonstrate ways to draw such a linear and simplistic stronghold by focusing utmost attention to the basics of customer service. These two core basics, plus a conscious focus on “What role do women, minority, and veteran entrepreneurs play in the economy?” (SBA, Dec 2003), reinforce a different shade of these exact points from Senior Research Fellow Dr. Val Singh with “Managing Diversity for Strategic Advantage”: A Report for the Council for Excellence in Management and Leadership Managing Diversity for Strategic Advantage (2002).

Sources

Love, Alaina. “Diversity as a Strategic Advantage: It’s about more than filling quotas, as such companies as Turner Broadcasting, IBM, and Pfizer have discovered.” Bloomberg Businessweek. May 14, 2010, 3:15PM EST

Butz, H. E., & Goodstein, L. D. (1996). Measuring customer value: Gaining the strategic advantage. Organizational Dynamics, 24(3), 63-77. Retrieved from  Hyperlink “http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0090261696900066” http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0090261696900066 Web. 6 April 2012.

“What role do women, minority, and veteran entrepreneurs play in the economy?” Small Business by the Numbers, SBA, Dec 2003.

Dr Val Singh, Senior Research Fellow. “Managing Diversity for Strategic Advantage”: A Report for the Council for Excellence in Management and Leadership Managing Diversity for Strategic Advantage. (2002) Cranfield School of Management. © Crown Copyright ISBN 1-903696-14-3. Publisher: Council for Excellence in Management and Leadership, 211 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HF:  Hyperlink “http://www.managementandleadershipcouncil.org” http://www.managementandleadershipcouncil.org

Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University. Cranfield Bedford MK43 0AL. UK.