Does your board reflect the diversity of your consumers? It is a simple question and one that is just as applicable to your senior marketing team.
The world’s most innovative companies don’t simply accept the current state of things, they are
reworking business structures in diverse and inclusive ways. As Kathryn Parsons, founder of digital training company Decoded, told Management Today, there is a need for a mindset shift in business that "does not penalise women for having children, which scraps the male culture of business that has evolved in the past 50 to 100 years and which values diversity of all forms at the top of business".
Compare and contrast these comments with the series of scandals that has dogged Uber, the cab app brand that has revolutionised the taxi industry, only to have its corporate reputation trashed by its toxic culture.
Plagued by accusations of sexism, the company was forced to apologise after one of its executives boasted that he planned to smear journalists who criticised the brand. Uber may have benefited from first-mover advantage in a competitive market, but disgruntled consumers have a range of alternatives to which they can turn.
In an age of ultra-transparency, morality and diversity are part of the fundamentals of a successful business. The onus is on each of us to speak up every time brands fail to live up to these principal goals.
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