International Management: Microsoft and Workplace Diversity in the United States

International Management: Microsoft and Workplace Diversity
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International Management: Microsoft and Workplace Diversity in the United States
Workplace diversity is a trending and growing topic in international management and is critical to an organization's efficiency, growth, and development (Hussain & Farooquie, 2021). Inegbedion et al. (2022) assert that the management of diversity influences the efficiency of an organization through cultural diversity, conflict management, employee and teamwork attitudes, and workers' perceptions of marginalization. Efforts to protect minority and marginalized communities from workplace discrimination date back to the 1960s with the establishment of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Grissom, 2018). Federal law prohibits the discrimination of workers based on gender, color, race, religion, and national origin. Despite the progress, women and minorities are still underrepresented at top management levels in workplaces in the United States. As Grissom (2018) observes, women account for 48.9 percent of the total workforce in the U.S. but less than a quarter serve as board directors across Fortune 500 companies. At Microsoft, the labor force in 2015 was 75% male and 60% white (Tulshyan, 2015). In 2020, the organization pledged to double the number of Black senior employees and managers by 2025 as per the civil rights laws (Guynn, 2020). With the rapidly increasing globalization, Microsoft must embrace interaction among people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs to enhance organizational efficiency. From the perspective of international management, this paper focuses on Microsoft's cultural dynamics, the impact of globalization, and the successes and failures of the organization in terms of labor force diversity in the United States.
In 2015, Microsoft reported that women made up only 17.1 percent of tech jobs and 44.5 percent of non-tech jobs, while women took 17.3 percent of leadership roles. Besides, 60.6 percent of the total population at Microsoft was Caucasian, also comprising 72.2 percent of persons in leadership positions (Demmitt, 2015). Microsoft is one of several companies in the United States that have pledged to diversify their white-dominated leadership. The initiatives to increase black representation in U.S. organizations became a priority, especially after a national protest against the murder of Floyd, a black man killed by a white law enforcement officer in Minneapolis (Guynn, 2020). Earlier in 2015, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella promised to release more data on the company's efforts to ensure a diverse workforce. The company was under attack when Satya commented that women should not request pay increases but wait for their efforts to reward them. These comments caused harsh criticism of Microsoft and other tech companies in the United States for their lack of diversity, especially within their leadership ranks (Demmitt, 2015). Compared to other tech companies, such as Facebook and Yahoo, each had 23 percent of women leaders by 2015, while Microsoft only had 12.5 percent of women as senior leaders in the United States (Tulshyan, 2015). According to Tulshyan (2015), Intel and Google had 21 percent of women taking up executive roles in the United States as of 2015. Although Microsoft has since committed to closing its diversity gaps, it is not acting to fulfill its promise of ensuring a diversified labor force.
Diversity in the workforce relates to innovation, especially in the tech industry where Microsoft operates. As Tulshyan (2015) cites, a lack of diversity may become an obstacle for the company and other tech firms that will fail to keep up in a highly competitive business environment. Data shows that cultural diversity drives innovation and ensures team success (Jones et al., 2020). in addition to strategic leadership, companies such as Microsoft should consider the process of innovation, which involves entrepreneurs and ideators from various backgrounds working in smaller teams and guided by strategic goals. According to Jones et al. (2020), a diversity of approaches and thoughts benefits the innovation process that thrives on alternating viewpoints and creative tension. In their workforce, tech companies and other organizations should consider gender, ethnicity, culture, geographical location, country of origin, and disciplinary diversity. However, as Swartz et al. (2019) observe, diversity continues to face significant challenges at the staff recruitment and retention levels, education, and promotion of workers in many organizations.
The U.S. population is increasingly becoming diverse, and the minority population has witnessed faster growth than the nonminority population. The U.S. Census Bureau has shown that the Latin American population increased by 43 percent between 2000 and 2010, while the African American population grew by 12 percent during the same period (Davis & Bhargava, 2018). In 2009, Standard & Poor's (S&P 500) companies in the United States had over 55 percent of their total income outside the country. As the U.S. population continues to become more diverse with increasing globalization, companies such as Microsoft should acknowledge and address the issue of diversity and inclusion. Davis and Bhargava (2018) argue that diversity is not just a moral thing to do, but it is a sound business decision. With increasing globalization, firms should be conscious that diversity inclusion needs to be a core policy in business strategy. People from diverse ethnic backgrounds and gender contribute to a varied mentality critical to a firm's competitiveness in the modern world. In Grutter v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court held that today's increasingly globalized marketplace demands skills developed through people's exposure to diverse cultures, viewpoints, and ideas (Davis & Bhargava, 2018). Since this landmark decision, many American companies, including Microsoft, have made efforts to expand their businesses into global markets. In these markets, multinational companies (MNCs) need people who can serve and work in teams comprising people from diverse cultures. Diversity inclusion...