Diversity in a Global Economy — Ways Some Firms Get It Right

As companies do more and more business around the world, diversity isn’t simply a matter of doing what is fair or good public relations. It’s a business imperative.

If companies are going to sell products and services globally, they will need a rich mix of employees with varied perspectives and experiences. They will need top executives who understand different countries and cultures. They will need executives around the world who intuitively understand the markets they are trying to penetrate.

A wide swath of corporations, however, don’t yet realize that. That fact is evident in the numbers, which show that management ranks and boardrooms remain almost exclusively white-male enclaves. African-Americans made up 13.8% of the U.S. work force in 2003, but just 6.5% of managers, while Hispanics were 11.1% of the work force and 5% of managers. Whites, by contrast, made up 69.9% of the work force but 84.5% of managers–and dominate even more among top managers. Just 7.9% of top earners at Fortune 500 companies are women.

By Carol Hymowitz

From The Wall Street Journal Online

Full Story: http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/diversity/20051117-hymowitz.html?cjcontent=mail