Module Title Contemporary Issues in Business and Management Module Code - 6BUS1101 Academic Year - 2012/13 Semester - A Module

e Leader Rachelle Andrews Assignment 2

Name: Muhammad Ghanim Shaikh ID: 11689790 Word Count: 2405 Deadline Date: 11/Jan/2011

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Introduction Globalization has been on the rise in the 21st century which has led to large organisations maximizing their potential in the shortest time possible along with lowering costs in achieving that goal. This however has led to negligence of one very important issue in todays world as organisations are ignoring ethical implications and the social responsibility. Milton Friedman a renowned economists once said that The social responsibility of business is to maximize its profits (Capitalism and Freedom, 1962). However the fact that the business world is ever growing, changing and dynamic in nature has led to some criticism and limitation as to what Friedman suggests. Ethics in regards to business have often been the victim of ignorance which has led to the increasing implications that businesses face today, whether they are an environment issue, Security issue, Exploitation issue, Privacy misuse or blatant misleading advertisement. It is important for any business to indulge itself into Ethical practices for longer sustainability (Financial Times 2012). Multi-national companies such as Mcdonalds , BP, Shell UK etc have all included ethics and corporate social responsibility through different practices in their business model for example Health and Safety regulation deployed by Shell UK with their Goal Zero (Shell.com) which consequently leads to Environmental safety aswell , it is quite evident for other striving businesses to see what is the reason for longer sustainability and that without it, it will only lead to short term profitability but once they become renowned businesses, communities like trade unions etc will only appear to be another obstacle in the near future of their success that is why it is important to include Ethical practices from the inception of any business idea. It has long been a debate that Social Networking and Ethics are entities that are completely separate and should be kept that way as the concept of social networking is still relatively new to the phenomena of Ethics and Social Responsibility (Forbes 2011). Internet has become the new medium for businesses to explore which has led to them reaching/branching out to a wider audience which was improbable before. However with the creation of Social Networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Youtube, LinkdIn, Pinterest etc researchers have now taken the step to explore the Ethical dilemmas that theses websites creates for their users and businesses that can associate themselves with these social networking websites. This essay will specifically focus on Facebook and why it is important for them to understand the concepts of Ethics and Social Responsibility as more articles suggests that the notion of bogus accounts, Third Party Applications, Rouge application developers, account hacking, Cyber stalking and last but not the least and the most important issue that Facebook faces is the Exposure of Privacy are all issues that need Ethical investigation. I have taken different ethical stances in the process to further explain the relevancy of this issue to the chosen company and its importance. The second part of this essay will then look at what Facebook has actually done in order to minimize these issues and how they are tackling this contemporary issue.

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Facebook and Ethics Ethics is difficult to define in a precise way. According to Daft (c2010) Ethics can generally be explained as The codes of moral principles and values that governs the behavior of a person or a group with respect to what is right or wrong. However organizations today see Ethics as a complex issue which has eluded even the biggest of companies, Enron being the obvious and prime example of how ethics prevailed in the fight of whats wrong and whats right. Ethics can be more clearly understood when compared with laws and freedom of choice. Daft further illustrates this by comparing this theory with human behavior and categorizing it into 3 different domains.

Source: Richard L.Daft Management 6 Edition c2003 p139

th

According to this theory it can be concluded that the Ethics in relation to Facebook is more inclined towards the free choice domain as Facebook being a social networking website has prompted researchers in determining Facebooks Ethical dilemma stems from the fact that every user has their freedom of choice for their privacy and how they share their cyber profile also in this domain it can be said that Facebook has the freedom of choice for it to have any kind member after 2006 given that they are below the age of 13. However with the Advancements of the sites popularity and usage the Domain of Codified Law has now had a significant effect on Facebook as Paula J Hane in her article (Information Today July/Aug 2011) states that lawsuits were filed against Mark Zuckerburg the CEO of Facebook, shareholders claimed the defendants hid weakened growth forecasts in advance of the IPO (Initial Public Offering). Not only this but Mark had to pay a settlement of $65 Million regarding him stealing the idea of Facebook (Theguardian 2009). Such incidents are prime example as to why any organization should abide legally and be accepted by shareholders. In between these two domains comes the Domain of Ethics which has been largely eluded by Facebook. Facebook right of its inception in 2004 had no social standards and was created by Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues as a website for students to connect and share. This was ultimately taken into administration by Harvard itself claiming that Mark had used personal Data from the Universities server of the students and used it to create a social networking site. Most Ethical conflicts arises between the needs of the part and the whole (Daft c2010). It is either an individual vs the organization or the organization vs the whole society, Facebook being in the latter statement i.e. oraganisation vs the society. According to Normative Ethics this paper concludes on the notion that to best describe Facebooks Ethical decision making is through Moral-Rights Approach. Taking this approach in which the moral decisions are those that best maintain the rights of those

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people that affected by it, Facebook has done something similar in regards to ethics in their Terms of service in which they touch upon of the 6 moral rights that come with this approach. (Facebook 2012) However this approach has also led to Facebook being subject to much unethical behaviour. The entire purpose of Facebook since inception has been to share your information with a small group of people in your private network. Everyone knows that and everyone expects that. In fact, Facebooks success is largely based on the face that people feel save putting their private information on Facebook. Facebook now has more than 900 million users and because of this increasing popularity and usage of the site has lead them to be open to the eligibility of unethical behavior even if they did not intend to. An article published by Heather Kelly of CNN stated that 83 million Facebook accounts are Fakes and Dupes. This ultimately has led to more cyber stalking and information being shared by everyone subject to exposure and usage prior to the users consent. (CNN 2012) Another Example of Facebooks increasing concern of privacy control is explained in the article by David Stuart Stating that the biggest problem Facebook faces is not the data it deletes, rather the Data it collects. Social network sites such as Facebook collect vast quantities of user data, and in exchange for free use of a service, some of this data is made available to marketers. It could be argued that you don't have to use Facebook, although its popularity means that a Facebook account is increasingly assumed for a wide variety of online interactions: Corporate customers are asked to interact on their Facebook page, and Facebook usernames and passwords are often used to sign into third-party sites and services. (Infotoday 2011) This means that the personal information that you share on Facebook is openly exposed to Third party members to use for their own benefits in advertising which contradicts the concept of Facebook as being a safe website to share your personal information. The Ethics of Emerging Media is a book in which the authors have discussed the ethical issues students face when using Facebook. The research led was due to the fact that Hall residents were fired by the university administration which prompted the creation of a page by the student as Save the RAs. Students involved with this page were disciplined by the administration which further gave evidence of the university using Facebook membership for strict disciplinary act even though the group was a closed membership. Not only this but the study showed that students came into great scrutiny with high usage of Facebook such as getting into trouble with other Students over private matters as the concept of News Feed and Mini-feed was deployed by Facebook in 2006 and closed in 2009 (CNN 2011). This led to private information of their friends being open on their walls. Businesses on the other hand that are connected through Facebook or use it to further advertise their products have to be careful of such easiness to exploit information as competitors can use such information for their own benefit aswell as for Facebooks benefit to increase its target audience. This further displays the misconduct of facebook regarding information and privacy. These articles and research clearly points out the fact the Ethics and Social Responsibility have much maligned what Facebook intended to do. Surely an organization as big as Facebook has to be aware of these circumstances and act accordingly. The Relevancy of the Topic is evident and should be approached as Facebook could be the next Enron in the context of Ethics. 4|Page

How is Facebook dealing with this Issue (Ethics and Social Responsibility). Social Responsibility and Ethics are closely related concepts, which further lead an organization to sustainability. They force an organization establish goals that are both for their own financial profitability as well as the betterment of the society as a whole. Danielle Cohen (2009), in his paper, states that a companys ethical policies that go further than just keeping with basic law can add immense value to a brand. He further suggests that in order to be successful the business must incorporate with ethical practices in their business model. Kotler & Lee (2005) suggest that CSR can be either a rational business strategy or a defensive mechanism. In the case of Facebook it can be argued that it could be both, a rational business strategy as well as a defensive mechanism. According to the article published by Brafton Editorial (Dec 2012) Facebook will introduce a small experiment in the United States that allows individuals to pay for messages to reach leads social inboxes. It is known as the new pay-for-delivery program that has the potential to reduce spam and other unwanted messages, while also giving users greater capabilities to reach new people on the web. Furthermore CNET (2012) reports that the cost for each message for this program will be as low as $1. The program is still not officially launched but the pay-for-delivery system allows Facebook additional ways of generating revenue and can be said that marketers stand beneficial with this program. This can be seen as to what Kotler & lee suggested as a rational business strategy in which they are looking to generate revenue with regards to businesses looking for advertisement and marketing therefore they are invigorating the concept of CSR by looking after their stakeholders. Not only this but an article published by Jordon Robertson in Bloomberg Businessweek Facebook is now rewarding ethical hackers with cash and cachet in the form of a Black visa card. The article further suggests that in the wake of how identity thieves, spammers, and other con artists used fake Facebook profiles to mount scams, independent hackers were given the opportunity to identify the flaw with Facebooks programming and then de-bugging to rectify the situation. Facebooks six-monthold bug bounty program has already distributed $190,000 in debit cards to 93 researchers, says Joe Sullivan,Facebooks chief security officer. With this Strategy Facebook is handling the situation of such independent hackers selling the flaws to criminals by rewarding them and also giving them recognition of their work in the form of this Bug Bounty black card. (Bloomberg Businessweek 2012) In regards to Ethics Facebook has delved itself into numerous research into how to resolve the most important issue it is facing which is Privacy misuse and information Theft. In an article published by John D Sutter on CNN Tech, Facebook is in the process of moving all of its users in North America -- and soon the rest of the world -- to a type of Internet connection that is more secure but also tends to slow down Web browsing a bit. The Type of internet connection is known as HTTPS in which the S stands for Secure. This was primarily used in the sector of e-commerce and Banking sites which further indicates how secure your information is on this server. The HTTPS icon can be seen before the websites URL as soon as you log in (CNN Tech 2012). Not only this but Facebook is also seen as a source for other Ethical Groups to spread their word through closed groups as well as its assistance in controlling riots, more specifically speaking the London Riots that escalated in Birmingham that happened in 2011. Even though 5|Page

social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter etc were used as a communication forum for these kinds of disturbances, according to an article published by Torn Douglas on BBC police used these websites to track down the people that were involved in the riot (BBC 2011).

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Conclusion Ethics and Social Responsibility are topics that are regularly connected to an organization as this paper concludes on the bases of articles, journals and blogs that Facebook has been on the wrong end of the Ethical Conflict it creates with the society. However companies have integrated ethical decision making into their corporate cultures to further their sustainability development. Whether its to protect their own personal interests or genuinely help the community and the environment, ethical decision making has infused with the most basic business models; and with companies working towards long term survival, a corresponding relationship between the two has formed. Even though Facebook being a very big social networking site faces these ethical conflicts it is fair to say that they have taken some initiative in controlling this contemporary issue that is eluded by many.

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References
Ben Light, Kathy McGrath, (2010),"Ethics and social networking sites: a disclosive analysis of Facebook", Information Technology & People, Vol. 23 Iss: 4 pp. 290 311
Brafton Editorial. (2012). Facebooks pay-for-delivery could revolutionize social media marketing. Available: Facebooks pay-for-delivery could revolutionize social media marketing. Last accessed 10th January 2013. Chris Soghoian. (2008). Exclusive: The next Facebook privacy scandal.Available: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9854409-7.html. Last accessed 10th January 2013. Daft, Richard L (c2003). Management. 6th ed. USA: Thomson South-Western . p136-168. David Vinjamuri. (2011). Ethics and the Five Deadly Sins of Social Media.Available: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2011/11/03/ethics-and-the-5-deadlysins-of-social-media/. Last accessed 10th January 2013. Drushel, Bruce E (2011). Ethics of Emerging Media Information, Social Norms, and New Media Technology. USA: Continuum International Publishing. p174-188. Greenberg, Andy. (2012). Is Zuckerberg's 'The Hacker Way' Letter Facebook's 'Don't Be Evil'? And Will He Live Up To It? . Available: http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/02/01/is-zuckerbergs-thehacker-way-letter-facebooks-dont-be-evil-and-will-it-live-up-to-it/. Last accessed 10th January 2013.
HANE, PAULA J. (2012). Facebook in the Spotlight. Information today. 29 (7), p37-39.

Heather Kelly . (2012). 83 million Facebook accounts are fakes and dupes. Available: http://articles.cnn.com/2012-08-02/tech/tech_socialmedia_facebook-fake-accounts_1_facebook-accounts-facebook-profiles-facebookestimates. Last accessed 10th January 2013. Joe Mullin. (2012). How much do Google, Facebook profit from your data?. Available: http://articles.cnn.com/2012-10-09/tech/tech_web_facebookgoogle-profit-data_1_privacy-controls-facebook-privacy-settings-facebook-andgoogle. Last accessed 10th January 2013. 8|Page

John D Sutter. (2012). Why Facebook's about to slow down (and that's probably good). Available: http://articles.cnn.com/2012-11-19/tech/tech_socialmedia_facebook-https_1_facebook-page-https-web-site. Last accessed 10th January 2013. Mateo Gutierrez. (2012). The Ethics of Social Media Marketing.Available: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mateo-gutierrez/social-mediamarketing_b_2206357.html. Last accessed 10th January 2013. Nicole Saidi. (2012). How did viral Facebook privacy hoax capitalize on privacy fears?. Available: http://articles.cnn.com/2012-11-27/tech/tech_socialmedia_facebook-privacy-hoax_1_privacy-fears-online-privacy-facebook-andtwitter-posts. Last accessed 10th January 2013. Robertson, Jordan. (2012). Black Bounty for Facebook's Bug Hunters.Bloomberg Businessweek. 4264 (00077135), p40-42. Sharlyn Lauby. (2012). Ethics and Social Media: Where Should You Draw The Line?. Available: http://mashable.com/2012/03/17/social-media-ethics/. Last accessed 10th January 2013. Stuart, David. (2012). Technological Threats to Privacy and Information Access. Online. 36 (5), p22-23. Torin Douglas. (2009). Social media's role in the riots. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14457809. Last accessed 10th January 2013.

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Appendix 1 Reflection
In the first assignment I was paired up with 5 other group members and we were allocated the topic for diversity. Following the presentation we did as a group, individual assignments were given to each member on a question that was later posted on the studynet on the topic we presented. I myself thought the paper I wrote on diversity was good enough for me to achieve a minimum grade of 2.1, however when I got my marked assignment with the feedback included I was disappointed to find out that I had gotten 51 which is a low 2.2 grade. This prompted me to do better for my second assignment. The second assignment consisted of 5 topics and each topic had 2 organisation on which I had to write a paper in the form of a hybrid between an essay and a report of at least 2500 words explaining why the topic is relevant to the chosen organisation and what the chosen organization has actually done to resolve this issue. Since I presented and wrote on Diversity on my first assignment I was not eligible to write on the same topic, so I chose Ethics and Social responsibility and chose the organization Facebook. The reason as to why I chose this organization is because Facebook has now completely changed the face of social interaction online. Every person I know has a Facebook account and logs on to it at least every day not only this but they spend an average of 2-3 hours a day on Facebook. However with such popularity comes some kind of flaw and what Facebook faces is the Ethical Conflict it creates for its users and ultimately the society as a whole. For this assignment I had taken the feedback I got on assignment one and acted accordingly. I knew that for me to achieve a better grade I had to broaden my search on the topic I was writing on and use as much reference as I can. So for this assignment I used Studynet specifically speaking sources like Emerald, Business Journals and INexis UK and the core text as much as I could to my capabilities. There was a quiz on the module website which further helped me find relevant information on the organization I was writing on, apart from this I even took into account another book which was not even recommended to us although I found it quite useful for my research. This time I made sure that my assignment wasnt as descriptive as before but be more of a discussion and analysis on the topic. Finally before starting the assignment I planned on how my essay will present itself as this helped me a lot in organizing my work. The feedback I got on my assignment were of the biggest of help for me to do better on this assignment, which hopefully would be reflected by the grade I get for this assignment.

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Appendix 2

Name: Muhammad Ghanim Shaikh Student ID: 11689790 Word Count: 2082

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Discuss the value of diversity in the workplace and how this might help organizations maintain a competitive edge. Give examples from your research of organizations that you believe have successfully used diversity to add value to company practices.

INTRODUCTION As global Economies unite, new markets materialize and corporate cost controls become more rigid, it is more significant than ever for companies to maximize all of their resources if they are to survive, let alone succeed, whether they are raw materials, proprietary technologies or even human resources for any given organization. If companies are to take full advantage of their human resources they will need to productively manage diversity. This is easier said than done as diversity management comes with many challenges it requires a long term commitment from the organization as a whole and given todays lean organization structures most managers favor the short-term approach in which returns are clear. Around the world, the workforce is becoming diverse. In 2007, women constituted 46% of the workforce in the United States. In the same year, 11% of the workforce was African American, 14% were of Hispanic origin, and 5% were Asian. People no longer live and work in a narrow-minded marketplace; they are now part of a worldwide economy with competition coming from nearly every corner of the world. For this reason, profit and non-profit organizations need diversity to become more ingenious and open to change/flexible. Maximizing and capitalizing on workplace diversity has become an important issue for management today. It is important to recognize that a one-size-fits all' approach to managing people does not achieve fairness and equality of opportunity for everyone. People have different personal needs, values and beliefs. Good people management practice demands that people propositions are both consistently fair but also flexible and inclusive in ways that are designed to support business needs. WHAT IS DIVERSITY AND WHY ORGANIZATION VALUES IT? Diversity is generally defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status (Esty, et al., 1995). It is not only this but diversity is all of the ways in which people are different. Organizations are mainly adopting these two models when implementing diversity in their workforce 1. Traditional Model 2. Inclusive Model

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Traditional looks at the obvious characteristics of an individual in terms of race, gender, age, lifestyle, disability and pay level. Whilst Inclusive Model broadens the definition and added additional elements such as language, nationality, social status and many more. With this transition, companies now recognise and support the ways in which people are different and the factors that influence how they interact with each other, derive satisfaction from their work, and define who they are as people in the workplace. Organization keep these points in mind as they know what value it brings to them and these are some of the values in general that a firm can expect when they deal with diversity in the workforce: To give the organization access to a broader range of opinions and viewpoints To reflect an increasingly diverse customer base To obtain the best talent in a competitive environment To effectively compete in the market place.

Companies can adapt to diversity by also looking at other companies practices and adapt different theories in practice to help minimize the challenges that come with diversity and its implementation. Geert Hofstede is an influential Dutch researcher in the fields of organizational studies and more concretely organizational culture, also cultural economics and management. His studies demonstrated that there are national and regional cultural groups that influence behavior of societies and organizations. Companies can use his research when trying to achieve success with mergers and acquisitions. Federick Herzberg twofactor theory is another theory companies can look to when minimizing the challenges diversity brings with it. His studies argued that there are certain factors in the workplace that cause job satisfaction, while a separate set of factors that cause dissatisfaction. Companies can use this to help them manage their workforce more efficiently and effectively not only this but when the workforce is diverse it helps as a stepping stone for the organization to determine what are the motivating factors and what are the hygiene factors which they can further utilize on how to effectively manage the workforce and keep low absenteeism and high turnover.

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COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE To be competitive, organizations need everyone who works for them to make their best contribution. Increasingly, employers are recognizing the importance of diversity in recruiting and retaining the skills and talent they need and the importance of designing appropriate and fair people propositions to be successful. Creating open and inclusive workplace cultures in which everyone feels valued, and respects colleagues, is recognized as key. Successful global organisations recognise the diversity of the world marketplace and are able to cope with the uncertainties of doing business (Hill 2009). Having a competitive advantage is now on the list of every organization that prioritizes growth and managing diversity is one of the many elements needed for growth as it has a direct correlation with the organizations human resources It became clear that workforce diversity was the bridge - greater workforce diversity could help attract more diverse customers (Thomas 2004). The benefits of having a diverse workforce can vary for every organization given their precedence for example these benefit of diversity are important for all organisations, but they are critical for agencies like Federal Bureau of Investigation that are striving to keep communities safe in todays complex multicultural world. Not so long ago, if you were a woman or member of a minority group, you didnt stand a chance of becoming an FBI agent. Today however the agency's goal is to reflect the diversity of U.S. society. An organization will have these beneficial elements about them once they deploy diversity and take full advantage of the situation. Here are some of the dividends of having diversity in the workforce: Better use of employee talent. Increased understanding of the market place. Enhanced breadth of understanding leadership positions. Increased quality of team problem solving. Reduced costs associated with high turnover. Building employee commitment, morale and discretionary effort. Managing the impact of globalization and technological change. Enhancing creativity and innovation. Improving knowledge of different cultures and how to operate. Better understanding of the needs of different customers or clients. Better assistance in making new products, services and manufacturing. Enhancing organizations image and reputation with external stakeholders. Building social cohesion. More awareness.

Competitive Advantage is an advantage that a firm has over its competitors, allowing it to generate greater sales or margins and/or retains more customers than its competition. There can be many types of competitive advantages including the firm's cost structure, product offerings, distribution network and customer support. The more sustainable the competitive advantage, the more difficult it is for competitors to neutralize the advantage. With the benefits 14 | P a g e

listed above an organization can achieve competitive advantage over their rivals and competition whether its concerning cost structures, products, customer support not only this but it will also help them have a better infrastructure. DIVERSITY AND EXAMPLES OF CURRENT COMPANIES Tarmac Ltd & Tarmac Building Products Ltd Tarmac is one of the UK market leaders in road surfacing. It is also the country's largest quarrying company and key producer of aggregates (gravel), ready-mixed cement and mortar. Tarmac UK is sub-divided into two separate businesses:

Tarmac Ltd extracts key building aggregates and materials. Tarmac Building Products Ltd focuses on turning raw materials into products useable by the building sector.

Tarmac the company and Tarmac the brand can easily be seen on major construction projects all over the country. The new Wembley stadium, the M1 widening and London 2012 are strong examples. It also has operations in the Middle East producing crushed rock, sand and gravel, asphalt and contracting activities. With sales impending 2 billion mark in 2010 Tarmac has more than 5,000 UK employees. As a firm in the building materials industry, the company most commonly had a strong male bias in its workforce, but this is now shifting. Many vacancies are now open to men and women across a huge variety of job roles. For Tarmac to succeed in a competitive marketplace, people were a critical resource. This is due to the fact that diverse talents of staff made Tarmac unique in the marketplace. Technical knowledge, corporate experience and the perceptions of customers all make a significant difference. Drawing staff from the widest possible pool of talent is a key to building and sustaining competitive advantage.

Tarmac has a meticulous policy for equal opportunities. No current or probable employee should experience any discrimination arising from:

background gender ethnic origin age religion sexual orientation political belief Disability.

Tarmac has taken this a stage further. It is now building a culture and vision that is known by the term 'Diversity and Inclusion. When an employee comes to work, they bring with them their own thinking and learning style, personality, experience and ambitions. To embrace all these differences, Tarmac is pursuing a strategy of inclusion. This means creating a working environment that values the differences between employees. To attain the change, effective 15 | P a g e

training and the active example of leadership right up to CEO level were essential. Senior managers aimed to provide Diversity and Inclusion support, guidelines and resources for employees. The firm enthusiastically searches for staff in the widest possible labor pool. For example, it advertises job vacancies on the Equality Britain website. By valuing the individual qualities that each worker brings to a job, Tarmac can generate a 'feel good factor' among their employees. This gives them the assurance to add that extra value for each customer. All employees receive core training to do their job effectively and safely. A full annual appraisal identifies personal goals and training needs. Tarmac offers a wide range of internal courses for all levels of staff. A very noteworthy part of Tarmac's overall competitive advantage depends on the communal interaction, talent and insight of its personnel. Diversity and Inclusion are not just a set of boxes to be ticked. They are a part of culture that enables Tarmac to stand out from competitors.

McDonalds McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries. Women and people of color make up 73% of McDonalds total workforce, 43% of all franchise staff and 55% of suppliers. The company instigated an absolute cultural change. Diversity officer Pat Harris was an essential part of the effort. Hamburger University, almost 50 years old, started a training and development program that teaches restaurant crews, emphasizes leadership development and identifies employees with potential. McDonalds growth today is an accumulation of a lot of good decisions, according to Rich Floersch, vice president of HR. The top three priorities for our CEO include leadership development and talent management, he said, emphasizing that this dedication has made McDonalds a training ground for high potential candidates. Practices like these make McDonalds as the largest chain of fast food and because of diversity in their workforce it has kept them on top of the food chain industry.

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CONCLUSION I believe that recognizing and valuing diversity is central to good people management practices. HR practitioners have a vital role to play in initiating inclusive workplaces where everyone can contribute to the success of the organization. A diverse workforce is an indication of a changing world and marketplace. Diverse work teams bring high value to organizations. Respecting individual differences will benefit the workplace by creating a competitive edge and increasing work productivity, value-added approach should be adopted so that competitive benefits can be gained from developing good practice. Diversity strategies need to be designed and implemented to support business objectives and strategies to add real value to business performance.

Employers who sit on the sidelines regarding diversity will quickly become less attractive to existing and prospective employees. Finally Diversity due to its increasing demand which stems from the fact of increasing globalization has made it a core Contemporary issue that every large organization faces and according to the Guardian UK Newspaper organizations can Predict what is not under your control, but Plan what you can determine. To put it in easy context what this means is that organizations should distinguish how much of future trends are predetermined in order for them to implement changes in their workforce. Factors such as race, gender, age, ethnicity etc are a major concern for any organization.

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REFERENCE
Jeff Burkhardt (2005) Notes about Competitive Advantage, Competitive Advantage of Diversity Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/jeff_burkhardt/the-competitive-advantage-of-diversity7573847#btnPrevious [Accessed: 23/11/2012] Kelli A. Green, Mayra Lpez, Allen Wysocki, and Karl Kepner (2002) Notes about Diversity, Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges, and the required Managerial tools Available at: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hr022 [Accessed: 23/111/2012] Emmelyn Mah (2009) Notes about the dividends of Diversity, What is the Value of Diversity in the Workplace? Available at: http://www.helium.com/items/1440503-benefits-of-diversity-in-theworkplace [Accessed: 23/11/2012] CIPD (2012) Factsheets For Diversity, Diversity in the Workplace: An Overview Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/diversity-workplace-overview.aspx [Accessed: 23/11/2012] Business Case Study (2012) Tarmac Ltd Case Study, Competitive Advantage Through Diversity A Tarmac Case Study Available at: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/tarmac/competitive-advantage-throughdiversity/introduction.html#axzz2D0qCgdrM Aman Singh (2010) McDonalds Notes and facts, McDonalds makes Diversity About the Bottom Line Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/csr/2010/09/08/mcdonalds-makes-diversity-about-thebottom-line/ [Accessed: 23/11/2012] Ludi Simpson (2012) Further Notes for Diversity and More Facts, Demographic Change: How Planners can prepare for the Future Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/local-governmentnetwork/2012/jul/23/demographics-population-change-planning-future [Accessed: 23/11/2012]

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