Leadership in Action: Issues and Observations—Gaining a Critical Edge in Mastering Globalization

VALUING DIFFERENCE

Practitioners of diversity and inclusion, who until recently have worked almost exclusively in the United States, have been involved in research, consulting, education and training, public advocacy, workplace and community engagement, legal work and legislative lobbying, and above all organizational transformation. Their success is plain to see: today few U.S. organizations offer employees and customers a homogeneous environment.

Instead, conscious efforts are made to value human differences in gender, race and ethnicity, age, and other traits. The resulting expansion of employees' backgrounds and perspectives invigorates a company's efforts to think outside the box and to appeal to the sensitivities of multiple domestic markets. ...