A Research Report on Diversity Management, Control and Resistance of a Beverage Company

1. Executive Summary

Diversity in the workforce has become a reality in today’s world; it is not just happening in industrial, but also happening in many countries. It is expected by the turn of the century, a larger proportion or larger source of the workforce will be occupied by older worker, women and workers from a wider variety ethnic and cultural group (Kramar 1998). If diversity can be effectively managed, the organisation could benefits from greater creativity and innovation from diverse cultural, however if it is not effectively managed it could leads to internal conflicts, breakdowns in communication, higher turnover, or even lawsuit (Earnest Friday 2003).

The aim of this research report is to review how a beverage company successfully manages diversity. The company did not take diversity seriously, until 1999 when the firm has been sue for racial discrimination, and it begin to form a diversity council. The council has implemented a series of diversity programs to train, attract, retain, develop diverse talent, and educate all associates so that the organisation can leverage on its rich diverse people and talent to achieve a sustainable growth (Coca-Cola 2006-2011). During 2005 to 2011, the organisation has received many awards for their efforts in diversity management.

2. Introduction

Diversity encompasses culture, nationality, age, gender, socioeconomic status, physical abilities, social class, and religion (Sadri, Tran 2002). In earlier days, many people tend to perceive that white male is more capable or superior than female and other culture. Men are often seen as rational, calculating and resilient, whereas women are seen as emotional, changeable and lacking resolution (Linstead, L & Lilley 2004). In many multinational organisation, it is beliefs that the primarily objective to implement diversity programs is to improve working relationships between white males and other demographically different individuals (Earnest Friday 2003).

While there may not be much empirical evidence to claims that effectively managed diversity can leads to bottomline increase, but there is real-world evidence to shown that poorly manage diversity can detrimental organisation and their bottomlines, such as Denny’s, Publix, and Coca-Cola settlements (Earnest Friday 2003). With all this evidence, it is no longer an option for organisation to ignore diversity but to manage it.

Coca-Cola is one of the leaders in beverage business. As of 2011 it has a workforce of 139,600 employees in over 200 countries, more than 50 percent of them are outside U.S. As a global business organisation, the ability to understand, embrace and operate in a multicultural world (both in the marketplace and in the workplace), is critical to sustainability (Coca-Cola 2006-2011).

3. Diversity