Understanding Inequity and Economics: Airbnb Inc. and Saint Lucia
ECONOMIC JUSTICE AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY
Assignment Overview
Economic Justice
Economic Justice is a global issue. The struggle for Economic Justice in modern America is not a new movement. Paradigm-shifting events in 2020 pushed companies and organizations to address inequities and assess their track records while devising a different course for the future. Defining Economic Justice and Social Justice.
Case 4 Resources
Economic Justice (2022)
World Economic Forum: Social Justice Articles (2022)
We can’t keep ignoring the ties between inflation and economic justice (2022)
How companies can 'walk the talk' on pressing social issues (2022)
Advocacy on Monetary Policies for Economic Justice - A handbook for Civil Society (2022)
The Impact of SAP’s Pro Bono for Economic Equity Program (2022)
When Protesters Occupied D.C. for Six Muddy Weeks to Demand Economic Justice (2021) Historical Perspective
Case Assignment
Understanding Inequity and Economics
The assignment consists of a domestic and international component. This session’s Organization and Country are found in the data set. Companies and countries are talking about equality. Is it more than talk?
Research the organization using news reports; its website/publications; and government, professional, or scholarly sources.
Discuss the company’s track record on economic justice and equity. Define the measures used to assess the entity. (1 page)
Outline its recent investments or plans to improve economic inequity. (1/2 page)
Based on the firm’s historical actions, evaluate its odds for meaningful change. (1/2 page)
Research the country using news reports; global organization data/sites; and government, professional, or scholarly sources including GINI index (World Bank estimate) - Country Ranking and Time Series Comparison
Discuss the country’s track record on economic justice and equity. Define the measures used to assess the country. (1 page)
Compare it to other countries in the region. (1/2 page)
Based on the country’s value system, evaluate its odds for meaningful change in the near term. (1/2 page)
No quotations are permitted in this paper. Since you are engaging in research, be sure to cite and reference the sources in APA format. NOTE: failure to use research with accompanying citations to support content will result in reduced scoring “Level 2-Developing” across the grading rubric. This is a professional paper; not a personal one based on feelings. It must be written in the third person; this means words like “I”, “we”, and “you” are not appropriate.
Assignment Expectations
Use the attached APA-formatted template (BUS530 Case4) to create your submission.
The template is set up in APA 7: double-spacing, font, margins, headings, page breaks, APA help links.
BUS530 Case 4
Your Name
Trident University International
BUS530 Managerial Economics
Due Date
BUS530 Case 4: Airbnb Inc. and Saint Lucia
Understanding Inequity and Economics: Airbnb Inc.
Airbnb Inc. is an American company headquartered in San Francisco. Airbnb runs an online marketplace for short-term homestays. It was founded in 2008 by Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia. Since its formation, Airbnb has revolutionized the tourism and hospitality sector. Like other companies, one of the issues Airbnb has encountered is ensuring economic justice and equity.
Airbnb's business model is crucial in evaluating the company's track record in economic justice and equity. Airbnb uses the multifaced platform model (Reinhold & Dolnicar, 2021). Here, the company is in the middle, connecting customers and businesses. In this case, Airbnb connects guests needing accommodation with hosts with extra space to rent out. The stakeholders and the nature of the business make Airbnb a focus company when discussing economic justice and equity, which are building blocks to equality. Airbnb faced acute criticism from customers and the general public that the company was exploiting and discriminating against hosts and guests. There were also allegations of sexual, ethnic, gender and racial discrimination against people using the company's platform.
However, Airbnb has acted on these concerns to ensure economic justice and equity. It has done this by implementing policies and regulations that protect customers, clients and other stakeholders. Airbnb has enforced several policies that have helped improve its economic justice and equity (Airbnb.com, 2022; Reinhold & Dolnicar, 2021). One of the policies is the community commitment and non-discrimination policy, which aims to ensure that all stakeholders get equal treatment and value for their roles. The second policy is on reviews, where the company rolled out a prompt review mechanism to help guests give reviews, especially on black, Latin and other hosts of color.
Airbnb launched projects like the Open Doors and Project Lighthouse. Project Open Doors is a corporate social responsibility initiative to temporarily accommodate the people affected by natural and human-made disasters. Project Lighthouse addresses how people of color experience Airbnb (Reinhold & Dolnicar, 2021). The project measures the degree of discrimination based on perception. Therefore, these projects have helped Airbnb achieve economic justice and equity in the communities they serve.
Future Plans
Airbnb has plans in place to improve economic inequity. In November 2022, the company launched the Adapted category targeting people living with a disability. The people recruited for the Adapted category program give the company feedback on the market needs of people living with disability (Reinhold & Dolnicar, 2021). In turn, this helps Airbnb to implement good policies on economic justice and equity.
The company has implemented an all-inclusive workforce policy. This ensures that employees from different cultural and economic backgrounds are hired. Airbnb's goal by 2025 is to have a 50% of its global employees who identify with the binary gender as women and 20% as those from underrepresented communities (Airbnb.com, 2022). Additionally, Airbnb has implemented an annual pay equity analysis program to assess salary distribution. The analysis includes a hiring strategy which promotes workforce diversity, economic justice and equity.
Airbnb has also ensured supplier diversity, currently standing at 13.8%. Most of these suppliers are minority groups, including the LGBTQ community, veterans and women. By 2025 the company targets a 20% diversity ownership of the business they work with (Airbnb.com, 2022). These strategies are crucial for Airbnb because they are Lilley to revolutionize the industry in future. The company will be working in a conducive environment with a diverse workforce.
Company Evaluation
Airbnb is on the right trajectory and is likely to make positive progress in the future. The company is roughly 15 years in the market and has made positive progress since its startup. It occasionally reviews the market and its policies to allow smooth operations in the prevailing market environment towards achieving economic equity. The fact that Airbnb maneuvered through the COVID-19 pandemic shows its resilience and determination for business success. The tourism and hospitality industry that the company sits in was adversely affected by the pandemic due to the restriction on movement and social gatherings. However, Airbnb survived it. Currently, the company is working towards achieving 2025 long-term goals, which were set in immediately after the pandemic in 2021 (Airbnb.com, 2022). These goals include having an inclusive workforce from different cultural and economic backgrounds. The policies and projects that Airbnb is implementing are working towards achieving economic justice and equity. Therefore, this progr...