Diversity & Feminism

A Psychological Benefit of a “Black” Organization?

January 14, 2009

Tweet Here’s a nifty psychological tidbit for you, from the social research site ContextsDiscoveries , that triggers an interesting organizational question …. It’s not just life experiences that affect mental health, but also how they are resolved. While African Americans tend to have more negative events, they also tend to have more resolutions, thus giving […]

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“What if you could buy social justice?” or Does ‘values shopping’ really make a difference?

December 15, 2008

Tweet Can for-profit, for-purpose organizations make a difference, if we patronize them? Thinking about an organization’s authenticity invites us to examine simultaneously what the organization does and how it does it. When we think about organizations being authentic, we assume that organizations have their business purpose — the thing that they’re out there to "do", […]

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The Case Against A Marriott Boycott (part 2): Marriott is not Anti-Gay

December 4, 2008

Tweet Another reason not to boycott Marriott? Marriott is not an anti-gay organization. Marriage equality activists who advocate boycotting Marriott hotels are encouraging consumers to punish the Marriott Corporation for its connection to the Mormon Church. Boycott activists argue that the Marriott Corporation’s profits ultimately  subsidize the anti-gay activities of the Church of the Latter-Day […]

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The Case Against a Marriott Boycott: Marriott is not a Mormon organization

November 25, 2008

Tweet Many GLBT-rights and marriage equality rights activists are up in arms in protest against individuals, business and institutions that supported California’s Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriage. Letters to prominent individual contributors, protests in front of churches, and calls for boycotts figure prominently in these activists’ efforts both to punish the individual, businesses and […]

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What Makes an Organization Authentically "Mormon"?

November 19, 2008

Tweet Some supporters of GLBT rights are calling for consumers who support marriage equality to boycott "Mormon Organizations". These supporters want to punish the Mormon Church (Church of the Latter-Day Saints, or LDS) as well as Mormon individuals for supporting California’s Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage. (Note: The Mormon Church officially opposes same-sex marriage. However, […]

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McCain Campaign Exploits the Race of Their Hired Help

October 28, 2008

Tweet The McCain Campaign has hired Obama supporters to work as as "paid volunteers ."  As reported by Tom Baldwin in the UK Times, and picked up by The Huffington Post and the Daily Kos, the McCain Campaign is paying temp workers $10 an hour to go door to door handing out absentee ballot requests. […]

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Black Organizations: Authenticity through "an obligation to our own"?

September 5, 2008

Tweet What makes an organization or business authentically “Black”? [Or for that matter, what makes an organization authentically “feminist”, authentically “Mormon”, authentically “Republican”, and so on?] By my definition, an organization is authentically “Black” not when the majority of its members or employees are Black, but when the organization promotes the interests of the Black […]

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8 Ways to be Authentic: Tyson Foods suggests how

September 2, 2008

Tweet Tyson Food claims that, as part of its core values, it is “striving to be faith friendly”. But, if Tyson’s handling of the brouhaha over recognizing an Islamic holy day in the labor contract of its plant in Shelbyville, TN, is any indication, Tyson is having a hard time finding ways to demonstrate its […]

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Tyson Foods lacks faith in its own identity.

August 9, 2008

Tweet When organizations are being authentic, they approach their problems by drawing on their identity. An organization that wants to be authentic must regularly find ways to translate its beliefs about ‘who we are’ into actions that demonstrate ‘who we are’. When an organization has faith in its own identity, it will strive to demonstrate […]

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Want Authenticity? Design Homophobia Out of the Organization

July 31, 2008

Tweet The System isn’t working at Omnicom. Omnicom says “we are committed to ensuring that we use our position to promote socially responsible policies and practices. Yet, Omnicom’s agency, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO (AMV/BBDO) , creates advertising that is anti-gay. Because Omnicom is not addressing the contradiction between who it says it is as an […]

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