Business to research: Walgreens
In this assignment, your challenge is to determine whether and to what degree a company you select is actually practicing the principles of managing a diverse workforce.
The steps associated with this project are as follows:
1. Select a publicly-traded company (preferably one of the Fortune 500) that has a comprehensive web presence. Increasingly, companies are publishing documents that convey important information (sometimes self-serving!) about their commitment to diversity issues. You can find such documents by going to your selected company’s home page and looking for references to terms such as “diversity”, “corporate social responsibility,” “ethics,” “Code of Conduct,” etc.
2. Analyze this company’s website in depth to form a reasoned opinion regarding its puported commitment to diversity. Address questions including, but not limited to, the following:
• Is diversity mentioned in its Mission Statement or Vision Statement (if either of these is published on its website)? If not, what does this suggest to you?
• Does the company provide a document describing its “(corporate) social responsibility”? If so, does this document address diversity? If not, what does this suggest to you?
• How is diversity presented on its “Careers” or “Employment Opportunities” page?
• Search for other references to “diversity” throughout the corporate website; e.g., in community service, philanthropy, press releases, awards, etc. How comprehensive does this company’s commitment to diversity appear to be?
• Evaluate not only website text (the words the company publishes) but the context of its message. Does it use diverse visual images on pages other than those specifically discussing diversity?
• DO NOT PAD YOUR REPORT BY QUOTING LONG MISSION OR VISION STATEMENT!
2. Conduct extensive external research (No less than 5 references 2 of which must be academic) about this company’s commitment to diversity, using as keywords the company’s name and terms such as “social responsibility,” “ethics,” “Code of Conduct,” “corporate citizenship,” “labor practices,” and — of course — “diversity.” Does your external research support the impression one would get from viewing the company’s website? If not, how do you explain this discrepancy?
Format Requirements: 12-point Times New Roman, cover page, reference page, APA citations, double spaced
The following subject headings are required:
• Introduction: This section should seize your reader’s interest, preview key points in your analysis, and provide necessary (but not extraneous) background of the company you have chosen to analyze.
• Corporate Website Analysis: How does the company you have chosen to analyze present its commitment to diversity on its corporate website and in information linked to its corporate website?
• Secondary Research: What do objective, external sources indicate about this company’s commitment to diversity? Has it been involved recently in any EEOC litigation? If so, what were the circumstances and if the charges have been resolved, how? Has the company you have chosen won any awards or been criticized in the media for its commitment to diversity or lack thereof?
• Analysis of Commitment to Diversity: Is there any inconsistency between the espoused and enacted values of the company you have chosen with regard to diversity? What do these inconsistencies suggest? Based on your analysis supported by research using credible sources, how would you evaluate this company’s commitment to diversity?
• Recommended Action Plan: Summarize key points in your analysis. Based on your evaluation of this company’s commitment to diversity, what recommendations would you make to management? Why? On what legal requirement, “best practice”, or idea(s) supported by credible source(s) do you base your recommendation(s)?
