Address the Diversity Issues at Ace Consulting
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You are one of four regional Human Resources Managers employed by Ace Consulting, an international consulting firm. You have been assigned to the International Sales division. Currently, one HR Manager is assigned to each of the four global regions: the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America. You report to the Corporate HR Director.
It has become apparent to management that their global customers are critical to their future growth. If there is a need to serve any locations of a customer in another region, there is no good contact point or process to handle it. This gets confusing and is not effective for the larger customers. There is a desire to greatly improve the communication and coordination across regions. Top Ace management has decided that the sales force needs to be organized in teams across regions to better serve these critical global customers.
The HR Director has given you and the other three HR managers the task of developing and implementing a new global-team-based sales force. You will need to design the appropriate team make-up, determine the best way to staff these teams, provide guidance on developing a consistent global approach, design the team-building tools needed to establish these teams, and conduct the necessary training. You also need to design a compensation program that will support the team concept, give incentive to the best performers, and maintain a stable workforce.
Task needing assistance:
The laws of the US protect the rights of individuals based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. In an expanded view of diversity, what other aspects of diversity would you want to include on the new global sales teams to enhance their ability to have a wide range of insight? For example, would you want to have some people at different levels and areas of technical experience or from a diversity of cultural backgrounds, to look at issues from different perspectives?
Identify and discuss these things with the other HR managers. Include in response whether including the suggested aspect of diversity will add significant value to the team.
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To address diversity issues, consider these questions: what policies, practices, and ways of thinking and within our organizational culture have differential impact on different groups? What organizational changes should be made to meet the needs of a diverse workforce as well as to maximize the potential of all workers, so that organization can be well positioned for the demands of the 21st century?
Diversity is perceived to enrich an organization's human capital. Whereas equal opportunity focuses on various disadvantaged groups, the management of diversity is about individuals. Managing diversity means acknowledging people's differences and recognizing these differences as valuable; it enhances good management practices by preventing discrimination and promoting inclusiveness. Good management alone will not necessarily help you work effectively with a diverse workforce. It is often difficult to see what part diversity plays in a specific area of management. Thus the most important factor is the principals and values of the company in developing and implementing the diversity initiatives. This is because values describe what your management team really cares about. Thus is has to come from within then only one can develop a truly talented diversified organization.
Incidentally, Ace Consulting is planning to "develop global sales teams in which employees from around the world will need to interact effectively with each other." (CTU Online, 2005) These teams will assist the company in expanding their global customer base. However, there is the need to establish cultural awareness amongst the members and the organization. As this will provide a foundation for diversity, training that will include the support of the workforce, which will assist in their success. The major diversity initiatives could be:
a) Training of high potential managers
Organization must give rigorous training to its high potential managers around the globe. They can work together at the corporate center on various projects. This will be a good ...
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