What is the difference between Affirmative Action and Managing Diversity?
Affirmative Action was written over 30 years ago with these premises in mind: 1. Adult, white males make up the U.S. Business mainstream. 2. The U.S. economic edifice is a solid, unchanging institution with more than enough space for everyone. 3. Women, blacks, immigrants, and other minorities should be allowed in as a matter of public policy and common decency. 4. Widespread racial, ethnic, and sexual prejudice keeps them out. 5. Legal and social coercion is necessary to bring about change. Today these premises need revising. To begin with, more than half the U.S. workforce now consists of minorities, immigrants, and women, so white native-born males, though still dominant, are a statistical minority. Second, while the edifice is still large enough for all, it no longer seems stable, massive and invulnerable. Third, women and minorities no longer need a boarding pass; they need an upgrade. The problem is not getting them in at the entry level; the problem is making better use of their
