SLEPT Analysis: The Socio-Political Compass
Please watch the following Leadership Channel video, then read the instructions and complete your Case Assignment:
Joun, S. (2016). Implementing diversity & inclusion: Leaders and believers [Video]. Available from Books24x7 in the Trident Online Library.
In the Module 2 Case, we will examine ways in which the external environment affects the choice of strategy (creation of threats and opportunities), and how the external environment affects an organization’s chosen strategic direction, specifically through the lens of a diversity and inclusion issue.
Conduct research on an organization that has struggled with a specific diversity and inclusion issue over the past year or so. Once you have selected the organization, apply a SLEPT analysis to critically assess the external environment of the organization. Determine the extent to which the company’s strategies should be adjusted based on the opportunities and threats you observed in the external environment, and explore ways to mitigate similar problems in the future.
Pay specific attention to the diversity and inclusion issue that has caused the organization to struggle and offer concrete solutions based on the SLEPT analysis to help move the organization forward.
Do the following:
* Describe the specific diversity and inclusion issue faced by your chosen organization.
* Describe the strategy (or strategies) followed by the organization.
* Use a SLEPT analysis to assess the external environment of the chosen organization to highlight and articulate the major opportunities and threats faced by the organization through the lens of the diversity and inclusion issue.
* What specific choices were made in handling the diversity and inclusion issue that should have been handled differently? Why should an alternative strategy have been used? What would the outcome have been had this strategy been adopted instead?
* What changes in procedures can the organization make moving forward to prevent the same issue from occurring or from causing the same level of damage?
* Support your work with credible sources.
The Socio-Political Compass
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The Socio-Political Compass
Organizations face several challenges in their operational environment. They have no control over these factors and hence have to make the appropriate adjustments to deal with the problem. One of the prominent external factors that affect an organization's performance is diversity and inclusion. The challenge comes from the changing trends in globalization and the increasing ethnic and gender diversity. Managers must learn how to handle the cultural differences that arise following the diversity and inclusion challenges. Google is one of the multinational companies that has been struggling with the issue of diversity and inclusion issues for the last year. Application of a SLEPT analysis on the entity helps determine the organization's progress in the field.
Specific Diversity and Inclusion Issue
Google's employees and its ex-employees joined hands in the recent past to castigate the organization for significantly rolling back its diversity and inclusion initiatives. The workers alleged that the company took the drastic step to avoid being perceived as anticonservative. Since 2018, the company has either reduced or completely discarded the internal diversity and inclusion training programs. In addition, the members noted that the team in charge of those programs had been downsized and the positions initially held by full-time employees were outsourced or refilled following the departure by members of the diversity team (Glaser, 2020). The company eliminated one of its major programs called Sojourn, a racial justice program that the management had created for employees to learn about aspects of bias and navigate the conversation on race and inequality. The members attributed these moves as measures to protect the firm from backlash from the conservatives.
Strategy Followed
The organization had implemented a series of programs to help the employees overcome the diversity and inclusion issues. The firm introduced the Sojourn diversity training program in 2015 and operated it up to 2018. The program covered issues such as how color-blind policies are not helpful to people of color and how racism causes cognitive load among people of color (Lewis, 2020). The program also talked about white fragility, which tried to explain why white people avoided talking about racism despite being able to address the problem. Unfortunately, the program was canceled because of a backlash from white people, many of whom were uncomfortable talking about the problem. The program focused on addressing the harm caused and training the workers to coexist peacefully with each other.
SLEPT Analysis
SLEPT is an acronym for the external business environment's social, legal, environmental, political, and technological factors. Each of these factors plays an essential role in shaping the company's direction in its strategic decisions.
Social Factors
Google's social environment is characterized by racism and sexism to the extent that the problem has been normalized. In a recent interview with one of the employees, the individual noted that the company resorted to advising mental health care workers who complained about racism and sexism (Glaser & Adams, 2021). The fact that the company dropped the Sojourn program because of the backlash from the white people shows that racism has been normalized within its social settings and influenced the workers' lives.
Legal F...