Dear friends,
Read the following interviews from Outlook Magazine, May 29, 2005 issue
'Diversity Is Key To Our Business Wins'
V-P, Diversity and Equal Opportunity Programmes, at Lockheed Martin Corporation on the company's commitment to diversity.
ASHISH KUMAR SEN interviews Shan Carr Cooper
When did Lockheed Martin start its AA and EEO programmes?
Lockheed Martin has had an equal employment opportunity programme since its inception in 1995. AA is a programme that became law with the passage of the Equal Economic Opportunity (EEO) Act, 1972. It states that employers, unions, employment agencies and labour-management apprenticeship programmes must seek to eliminate job discrimination and increase employment of women, minorities, veterans and the disabled. We have policies and practices creating equal opportunities for our workforce. \nWhat has been the experience with this programme?Our commitment to diversity made possible many of our key business wins. Today, we have more than 300 alliances, joint ventures and other partnerships in over 50 countries. All this needs a diversity of individuals, thoughts and perspectives. \nDid Lockheed Martin seek to patent its AA programme?Actually, we could not patent our AA since it is based in law. However, we are in the process of patenting an innovative model we have developed to measure the success of our diversity efforts. Our diversity maturity model (DMM) is based on an engineering construct, therefore easily understood by our predominantly technical workforce. Most importantly, it provides us with a common framework and definition to guide our diversity efforts. The DMM is an innovative way to take the measurement of diversity to a completely different level—one that goes far beyond race and gender to embrace the many ways that diversity and inclusion contribute to the success of our business. A key element of the DMM that distinguishes it from other measurement tools is that the scoring system we use is most heavily weighted toward an employee survey conducted annually. We are most concerned with how our employees actually view the organisation from a diversity standpoint and not as much by other factors such as the race and gender makeup of the workforce. \nDoes your programme differ from those at other firms?I believe the DMM helps us capture, to the best of our ability, what amounts to a cultural transformation of our business. I don\'t think many business enterprises can claim to have such a tool to measure cultural transformation—other than perhaps a database that is tracking the number of women and minorities in any given organisation.
Lockheed Martin has had an equal employment opportunity programme since its inception in 1995. AA is a programme that became law with the passage of the Equal Economic Opportunity (EEO) Act, 1972. It states that employers, unions, employment agencies and labour-management apprenticeship programmes must seek to eliminate job discrimination and increase employment of women, minorities, veterans and the disabled. We have policies and practices creating equal opportunities for our workforce.
What has been the experience with this programme?Our commitment to diversity made possible many of our key business wins. Today, we have more than 300 alliances, joint ventures and other partnerships in over 50 countries. All this needs a diversity of individuals, thoughts and perspectives.
Did Lockheed Martin seek to patent its AA programme?
Actually, we could not patent our AA since it is based in law. However, we are in the process of patenting an innovative model we have developed to measure the success of our diversity efforts. Our diversity maturity model (DMM) is based on an engineering construct, therefore easily understood by our predominantly technical workforce. Most importantly, it provides us with a common framework and definition to guide our diversity efforts. The DMM is an innovative way to take the measurement of diversity to a completely different level—one that goes far beyond race and gender to embrace the many ways that diversity and inclusion contribute to the success of our business. A key element of the DMM that distinguishes it from other measurement tools is that the scoring system we use is most heavily weighted toward an employee survey conducted annually. We are most concerned with how our employees actually view the organisation from a diversity standpoint and not as much by other factors such as the race and gender makeup of the workforce.
Does your programme differ from those at other firms?
I believe the DMM helps us capture, to the best of our ability, what amounts to a cultural transformation of our business. I don't think many business enterprises can claim to have such a tool to measure cultural transformation—other than perhaps a database that is tracking the number of women and minorities in any given organisation.
'AA helped Harvard Connect To America'
The co-founder and director of the Civil Rights Project at Harvard on the university's experience with affirmative action.
ASHISH KUMAR SEN interviews Prof Gary Orfield
When and why did Harvard implement its affirmative action (AA) programme?Like most other US varsities, Harvard implemented AA during the civil rights movement in the '60s. The period of the Alabama demonstrations to the death of Martin Luther King, that was when most colleges decided they needed to do something about this issue. In '64, the Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, and after that there's been no looking back.
Was the Civil Rights Act a reason for Harvard deciding to go in for AA?No. The federal government had only required AA programmes from universities with a history of segregation—in 19 of our states we had legally separate colleges and universities. But Harvard wasn\'t part of that. Outside the 19 states, AA is a university\'s choice. But most universities decided to go for it when the social protest movement started out. It made them think about the fact that they never really represented the population of the country in any kind of reasonable way.\nWhat has been Harvard\'s experience with AA? Students from every racial group have said that AA actually changed their understanding of a number of key legal issues. For example, their view of their professions, their view of society, their understanding of the criminal justice system, their understanding of rights issues...all these were affected. The vast majority of the students from groups that might have been thought to be critical of AA—White students, for example—actually said it was a very valuable educational experience. Studies show students who have been in diverse classes develop more complex ways of thinking about issues in general. They learn to take multiple perspectives on issues. \nWhat challenges have you faced at Harvard with AA? Admitting students isn\'t enough. You have to make sure they have financial support, the ability to make up for whatever deficit their previous education might have had.... (But) AA has been a great asset for the university. Without this, Harvard wouldn\'t really connect to a very large sphere of the US public. Right now, 42 per cent of students at public schools are students of colour. At Harvard, around 37 per cent are of colour. That doesn\'t adequately represent African American and Hispanic students but it is infinitely more diverse now. It\'s much more connected to the future of our society.
Was the Civil Rights Act a reason for Harvard deciding to go in for AA?
No. The federal government had only required AA programmes from universities with a history of segregation—in 19 of our states we had legally separate colleges and universities. But Harvard wasn't part of that. Outside the 19 states, AA is a university's choice. But most universities decided to go for it when the social protest movement started out. It made them think about the fact that they never really represented the population of the country in any kind of reasonable way. What has been Harvard's experience with AA? Students from every racial group have said that AA actually changed their understanding of a number of key legal issues. For example, their view of their professions, their view of society, their understanding of the criminal justice system, their understanding of rights issues...all these were affected. The vast majority of the students from groups that might have been thought to be critical of AA—White students, for example—actually said it was a very valuable educational experience. Studies show students who have been in diverse classes develop more complex ways of thinking about issues in general. They learn to take multiple perspectives on issues. What challenges have you faced at Harvard with AA? Admitting students isn't enough. You have to make sure they have financial support, the ability to make up for whatever deficit their previous education might have had.... (But) AA has been a great asset for the university. Without this, Harvard wouldn't really connect to a very large sphere of the US public. Right now, 42 per cent of students at public schools are students of colour. At Harvard, around 37 per cent are of colour. That doesn't adequately represent African American and Hispanic students but it is infinitely more diverse now. It's much more connected to the future of our society.
Curtsy www.outlookindia.com
