By Hugo J. Garcia
UCLA Anderson School of Management recently presented its professional conference Embracing Diversity. The annual conference demonstrates Anderson’s commitment to increasing diversity in its programs and provides business school applicants invaluable insight into what diversity means in today’s corporate world. Industry leaders are invited to address prospective students, and, without exception, they advocate for every business to seek a diverse pool of candidates in the hiring process.
Corporate Commitment
The 2017 event focus on the role of diversity in business school and the corporate world, not only as socially important, but as a factor that leads to greater efficiency. One of the most memorable presentations was on CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™, the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion within the workplace. This initiative is led by CEOs from numerous companies such as Accenture and Deloitte who believe in the strength that diversity brings to their business performance.
The presentation opened with a statement about research that shows “diversity increases creativity and innovation, promotes higher quality decisions and enhances economic growth.” This research has inspired CEOs to actively pursue the diversification of their employment base, creating avenues for businesses to capitalize on the rewards of introducing new perspectives into their company.
Advantages of Inclusion
During a presentation about the “Inclusive Advantage,” alumnus Devon Dickau (’15), chief of staff for the Diversity & Inclusion Center of Excellence at Deloitte Consulting, expressed his interest in “aligning business strategy with social values.” He argued that diversity initiatives are being redefined, and corporate understanding of diversity is expanding to include diversity of gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, education, industry, cultural experience, language ability and personality. Bringing candidates from all walks of life into the company will allow it to experience the benefits of a “diversity of thought” that can help businesses adapt in a dynamic landscape and innovate in a globally competitive market.
Jessica Kimball (’15), head of global diversity and inclusion at Mattel, said that companies feel the need to implement diversity and inclusion initiatives to maximize their objectives. Companies that do perform better financially than companies that do not invest in these programs. She said, “Diverse groups make better decisions, and make them two times faster.” However, just employing a diverse group isn’t all that’s required, a company must have a business culture that embraces all voices.
Kimball believes that “diversity and inclusion is about valuing every employee and encouraging intellectual risk taking.” It is important that every employee understand the value he or she brings to the company. Only then will the business succeed in meeting the demands and preferences of all its clients, whether here in the U.S. or abroad.
Competition and Business Strategy
Time and again all speakers agreed on the fundamental principle of the business world in 2017: Companies need diversity to remain competitive. As prospective applicants to Anderson expressed curiosity about how diversity is achieved, the single most common response from professionals was implement diversity programs within every organization and involve specialists who understand the needs of the company base. Companies need to prioritize diversity as part of their business strategy to maintain an innovative culture.
The most important thing the Embracing Diversity conference provided prospective applicants with was the reassurance that the school wants candidates from all backgrounds. Anderson assumes responsibility as a high ranking institution to help foster the most diverse and talented business leaders available. At Anderson, diversity is not only an imperative of a distant future but an imperative of the present.
UCLA Anderson presents Embracing Diversity, a professional conference for prospective students to learn what diversity means at Anderson and what makes our full-time MBA and fully employed MBA (FEMBA) programs top choices for students. All participants connect with current Anderson MBAs and alumni from the Anderson Latino Management Association, Black Business Students Association and [email protected], and walk away with a clearer picture of what an MBA at UCLA Anderson can look like.
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