Diversity, equity, and inclusion: A content analysis of Colgate-Palmolive’s annual reports

Year 2023, Volume: 6 Issue: 3, 285 - 303, 30.11.2023

Yasemin Tekinkaya , Hatice Özutku

https://doi.org/10.58308/bemarej.1355327

Abstract

Globalization leads companies to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion as a daily topic. This study concentrates on Colgate-Palmolive and its diversity, equity, and inclusion reports. The aim of the study is to provide insight into how Colgate-Palmolive constructs dimensions of diversity, equity, and inclusion and its comparison with the literature framework. Content analysis is conducted on diversity, equity, and inclusion reports to create a deeper understanding. Findings reveal that “ethnicity, race, gender, conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, ability” are over-emphasized while “religion, age, educational background, and parental status, income, appearance, personal-recreational habit, marital status, neuroticism, work experience” are less or hardly mentioned for diversity dimension. “Pay parity, sexual orientation” are too often mentioned for equity dimension as “pregnancy, maternity, civil partnerships, psychological safety” are relatively less seen dimensions in reports. Also great importance is given to inclusion for integrating differences and creating a culture of belonging through many inclusive practices. The insights generated from our study have the potential to contribute to the diversity management literature with new dimensions and to assist practitioners to locate DEI dimensions in their companies.

Keywords

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Multinational Corporations

Çeşitlilik, eşitlik ve kapsayıcılık konusunda bir içerik analizi: Colgate & Palmolive'in yıllık raporları

Abstract

Küreselleşme, işletmelerin çeşitliliği, eşitliği ve kapsayıcılığı günlük bir konu olarak ele almalarına neden olmaktadır. Bu çalışma Colgate-Palmolive ve onun çeşitlilik, eşitlik ve kapsayıcılık raporlarına odaklanmıştır. Çalışmanın amacı, Colgate-Palmolive'in çeşitlilik, eşitlik ve kapsayıcılık boyutlarını nasıl inşa ettiği hakkında bir içgörü sağlamak ve bu boyutları literatürdeki modeller çerçevesinde incelemektir. Daha derin bir anlayış oluşturmak için çeşitlilik, eşitlik ve kapsayıcılık raporlarında içerik analizi yapılmıştır. Bulgular, raporlarda çeşitli boyutlar edilmiş ve bazı boyutların modellerle örtüştüğü sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Çalışmamızdan elde edilen içgörüler, çeşitlilik yönetimi literatüre katkıda bulunma ve uygulayıcılara işletmelerinde çeşitlilik, eşitlik ve kapsayıcılık boyutlarının kendi işletmelerinde nasıl inşa edilebileceğine dair bir içgörü sağlama potansiyeline sahiptir.

Keywords

Çeşitlilik, Eşitlik, Kapsayıcılık, Çok uluslu işletmeler

References

• Alhejji, H., Ng, E. S., Garavan, T., & Carbery, R. (2018). The impact of formal and informal distance on gender equality approaches: The case of a British MNC in Saudi Arabia. Thunderbird International Business Review, 60(2), 147-159. doi: 10.1002/tie.21828
• Ali, F., (2015). Gender equality in the workplace. J. Syed & M. Özbilgin (Ed.), Managing Diversity and Inclusion: An International Perspective (p. 113- 138). SAGE Publications Ltd. Ch.4.
• Ashtiany, S. (2011). The equality act 2010: Main concepts. International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 11(1-2), 29-42. doi: 10.1177/135822911101100204
• Beavers, D. (2018). Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Framework. The Greenlining Institute.
• Benschop, Y., & Meihuizen, H. E. (2002). Keeping up gendered appearances: representations of gender in financial annual reports. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 27(7), 611-636.
• Capitman, J. (2002). Defining diversity: A primer and review. Journal of the American Society on Aging, 26(3), 8-14.
• Ciuk, S., Śliwa, M., & Harzing, A. W. (2022). Implementing the equality, diversity, and inclusion agenda in multinational companies: A framework for the management of (Linguistic) diversity. Human Resource Management Journal, 1–21. doi: 10.1111/1748-8583.12487
• C&P’s DEI Report (2021). The power of WE: A report on diversity, equity, and ınclusion at C&P. retrieved from https://www.colgatepalmolive.com/content/dam/cp-sites/corporate/corporate/common/pdf/colgate-palmolive-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-report-2021.pdf, (Accessed Date: 01 July 2023).
• C&P’s DEI Report (2022). 2022 Diversity, equity, and ınclusion report. We are working to create a more ınclusive company and world. Retrieved from colgatepalmolive.com/content/dam/cp-sites/corporate/corporate/common/pdf/colgate-palmolive-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-report-2022.pdf, (Accessed Date: 01 June 2023).
• Curtin, M., & Fossey, E. (2007). Appraising the trustworthiness of qualitative studies: Guidelines for occupational therapists. Australian occupational therapy journal, 54(2), 88-94.
• DeLancey, R. M. (2013). Employees' perceptions of multiculturalism and diversity in multinational corporations. African Journal of Business Management, 7(36), 3559.
• Drisko, J. W., & Maschi, T. (2016). Content analysis. Pocket Guide to Social Work Research Methods. Oxford University Press.
• Diversity. (2022). 2022 top 50 companies for diversity. Retrieved from https://www.fair360.com/top-50-list/2022/, (Access Date: 30 May 2023).
• Equality Act. (2010). Equality act 2010. A handbook for advisors. The Stationary Office.
• Espinoza, O. (2007). Solving the equity–equality conceptual dilemma: A new model for analysis of the educational process. Educational Research, 49(4), 343-363. doi: 10.1080/00131880701717198
• Fiske, E., & Ladd, H. (2006). Racial equity in education: How far has South Africa come? Perspectives in Education, 24(2), 95-108.
• Fell, E. V., & Dyban, M. (2017). Against discrimination: Equality act 2010 (UK). The European Proceedings of Social & Behavioural Sciences, 1(25), 188-194. doi: 10.15405/epsbs.2017.01.2
• French, E. (2005). The importance of strategic change in achieving equity in diversity. Strategic Change, 14(1), 35-44. doi: 10.1002/jsc.708
• Foy, C. M. (2021). Successful applications of diversity, equity, and inclusion programming in various professional settings: Strategies to increase DEI In libraries. Journal of Library Administration, 61(6), 676-685. doi: 10.1080/01930826.2021.1947057
• Fuentes, M. A., Zelaya, D. G., & Madsen, J. W. (2021). Rethinking the course syllabus: Considerations for promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion. Teaching of Psychology, 48(1), 69-79. doi: 10.1177/0098628320959979
• Gardenswartz, L., & Rowe, A. (2003). Diverse teams at work: Capitalizing on the power of diversity. Alexandria, Virginia: Society of Human Resource Management.
• Gomez, E. T. (2022). The Politics of affirmative action: Ethnicity, equity, and state-business relations in Malaysia. United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research, 1-22.
• Haq, R., & Ng, E. S. (2010). Employment equity and workplace diversity in Canada. In international handbook on diversity management at work. Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Huq, A. Z. (2018). Racial equity in algorithmic criminal justice. Duke LJ, 68, 1043.
• Jora, R. B., Sodhi, K. K., Mittal, P., & Saxena, P. (2022). Role of artificial intelligence (AI) in meeting diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) goals. In 2022 8th International Conference on Advanced Computing and Communication Systems (ICACCS) (Vol. 1, pp. 1687-1690). IEEE. doi: 10.1109/ICACCS54159.2022.9785266
• Kreitz, P. A. (2008). Best practices for managing organizational diversity. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 34(2), 101-120. doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2007.12.001
• Livingston, R. (2020). How to promote racial equity in the workplace. Harvard Business Review, 98(5), 64-72.
• Lumadi, M. W. (2008). Managing diversity at higher education and training institutions: A daunting task. Journal of Diversity Management (JDM), 3(4), 1-10. doi: 10.19030/jdm.v3i4.4996
• Maj, J. (2015). Diversity management’s stakeholders and stakeholders management. In Proceedings of the 9th International Management Conference Management and Innovation for Competitive Advantage 2015, (November), Retrieved from http://conference.management.ase.ro/archives/2015/pdf/82.pdf (Access Date: 03 March 2023).
• Maxwell, J. A. (2012). The importance of qualitative research for causal explanation in education. Qualitative Inquiry, 18(8), 655-661. doi: 10.1177/1077800412452856
• Mazur, B. (2010). Cultural diversity in organizational theory and practice. Journal of Intercultural Management, 2(2), 5-15.
• McCleary-Gaddy, A. (2019). Be explicit: Defining the difference between the office of diversity & inclusion and the office of diversity & equity. Medical Teacher, 41(12), 1443-1444. doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2019.1597261
• Meriläinen, S., Tienari, J., Katila, S., & Benschop, Y. (2009). Diversity management versus gender equality: The Finnish case. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences/Revue Canadienne des Sciences de l'Administration, 26(3), 230-243.
• Milliken, F. J., & Martins, L. L. (1996). Searching for common threads: Understanding the multiple effects of diversity in organizational groups. Academy of management review, 21(2), 402-433.
• Mor-Barak, M. E., & Cherin, D. A. (1998). A tool to expand organizational understanding of workforce diversity: Exploring a measure of inclusion-exclusion. Administration in Social Work, 22(1), 47-64. doi: 10.1300/J147v22n01_04
• Mor-Barak, M. E. M., Findler, L., & Wind, L. H. (2016). Diversity, inclusion, and commitment in organizations: International empirical explorations. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 2(2), 71-96.
• Moriña, A. (2017). Inclusive education in higher education: Challenges and opportunities. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 32(1), 3-17. doi: 10.1080/08856257.2016.1254964
• Ng, E. S., Rajendran, D., & Waheduzzaman, W. (2023). Promoting workplace inclusion and self-efficacy among skilled migrant workers in Australia. International Journal of Manpower, 44(2), 267-282. doi: 10.1108/IJM-01-2022-0044
• Ohunakin, F., Adeniji, A., Ogunnaike, O. O., Igbadume, F., & Akintayo, D. I. (2019). The effects of diversity management and inclusion on organizational outcomes: A case of multinational corporation. Business: Theory and Practice, 20(3), 93-102.
• Ozbilgin, M. F., Syed, J., Ali, F., & Torunoglu, D. (2012). International transfer of policies and practices of gender equality in employment to and among muslim majority countries. Gender, Work & Organization, 19(4), 345-369. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0432.2010.00515.x
• Point, S., & Singh, V. (2003). Defining and dimensionalising diversity: Evidence from corporate websites across Europe. European Management Journal, 21(6), 750-761. doi: 10.1016/j.emj.2003.09.015
• Ravazzani, S., Mazzei, A., Fisichella, C., & Butera, A. (2021). Diversity and inclusion management: an analysis of practice developments in Italy. Sinergie Italian Journal of Management, 39(3), 213-229. doi: 10.7433/s116.2021.11
• Rijamampianina, R., & Carmichael, T. (2005). A pragmatic and holistic approach to managing diversity. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 109-117.
• Rothmann, S., & Coetzer, E. P. (2003). The big five personality dimensions and job performance. SA Journal of industrial psychology, 29(1), 68-74.
• Romansky, L., Garrod, M., Brown, K., & Deo, K. (2021). How to measure inclusion in the workplace. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2021/05/how-to-measure-inclusion-in-the-workplace (Access Date: 30 May 2023).
• Rust, N. A., Abrams, A., Challender, D. W., Chapron, G., Ghoddousi, A., Glikman, J. A., ... & Hill, C. M. (2017). Quantity does not always mean quality: The importance of qualitative social science in conservation research. Society & natural resources, 30(10), 1304-1310.
• Shore, L. M., Randel, A. E., Chung, B. G., Dean, M. A., Ehrhart, K. H., & Singh, G. (2011). Inclusion and diversity in work groups: A review and model for future research. Journal of Management, 37, 1262–1289. doi: 10.1177/0149206310385943
• Spector, N. D., Asante, P. A., Marcelin, J. R., Poorman, J. A., Larson, A. R., Salles, A., & Silver, J. K. (2019). Women in pediatrics: Progress, barriers, and opportunities for equity, diversity, and inclusion. Pediatrics, 144(5). doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-2149
• Singh, V., & Point, S. (2004). Strategic responses by European companies to the diversity challenge: An online comparison. Long Range Planning, 37(4), 295-318. doi: 10.1016/j.lrp.2004.05.009
• Syed, J. (2009). Contextualising diversity management. In M. Özbilgin (Ed), Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion at Work: A Research Companion, 101-111. Edward Elgar.
• Tang, N., Jiang, Y., Chen, C., Zhou, Z., Chen, C. C., & Yu, Z. (2015). Inclusion and inclusion management in the Chinese context: An exploratory study. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(6), 856-874. doi: 10.1080/09585192.2014.985326
• Thomas, D. R. (2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. American Journal of Evaluation, 27(2), 237-246. doi: 10.1177/1098214005283748
• Thompson S. (2017). Defining and measuring ‘inclusion’ within an organization. K4D Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development Helpdesk Report. Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies.
• Woiceshyn, J., & Daellenbach, U. (2018), Evaluating inductive vs deductive research in management studies: implications for authors, editors, and reviewers. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, 13(2), 183-195. doi: 10.1108/QROM-06-2017-1538
• Velasco, R., Villar, R., Lunar, R., & Velasco, V. (2016). Diversity in the workplace: evidence from gulf college, Oman. Journal of Asian Business Strategy, 6(4), 73-84. doi: 10.18488/journal.1006/2016.6.4/1006.4.73.84