Group Ethnics - Anglo-European

Company History

Devrew Merchandising Inc. is a full service, national field sales, merchandising company that conducts servicing programs for a large number of high-profile companies throughout Canada. Devrew is a Canadian company focused upon the unique characteristics of retailing in this country. Today, there are six, decentralized, corporate offices located in Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Victoria.

Devrew has grown from an initial client in two retailers to more than twenty times, at the present, serving all of the mass merchandisers, department, and independent chain stores. The company's growth has been accredited to the mission statement "Strengthening both Supplier and Retailer" with increased focus upon: 'the challenge of today's retail business is to assist the client in the "sell through" of their product at the retail level'. The management team knows the retailing business both at the store and corporate levels and understands all aspects of the merchandising business. The team interprets the emerging retail trends in the market place by offering recommendations to their clients.

Devrew's sole function is the merchandising and servicing of the client's products at store level, which is an extension of the client’s sales and marketing departments.

Ethical Hiring Questionnaire

1. What ethnicity does Devrew Merchandising employ?

Devrew employs Anglo-Saxon, European-based individuals, and Spanish and Russian ethnicities.

2. What are the majority and minority ethnics?

The majority of Devrew’s employee base is European individuals; then followed by Spanish and Russian employees.

3. How does the organization accommodate these individuals?

Devrew Merchandising makes every effort to hire similar ethnic groups as the local retail population territory depicts. By hiring similar ethnics in the locale regions, Devrew has seen an increase in customer satisfaction, customer service, productivity, and fewer employee turnovers; thus, hiring minority ethnics is good business. Therefore, Devrew implements additional, costly training to empower and increase the ethnic employee’s skills in computer training, communication, conflict resolution, and most importantly, negotiation.

4. How do the different ethnics in the workplace collaborate with one another?

The vast majority of Devrew employees are merchandisers or sales reps that are assigned a geographic territory. Thus, there is very little employee to employee collaboration with one another. There are only two forms of collaboration: one, with the customer and client in order to facilitate the required task; and two, bi-weekly reporting to the corporate office providing reports and feedback. Therefore, there is little opportunity of employee to employee collaboration minimizing culture impact on others.

5. Are their challenges and advantages in hiring differing ethnics in the workplace,and if so, what are they?

Advantages of Ethnics: A greater rapport with customer and clients of similar ethnics, increase in customer satisfaction, customer service, productivity, and fewer employee turnovers.

Disadvantages of Ethnics: Often newly, immigrated employees will rarely ask for assistance when needed, do not give needed onsite impute, are ESL, and have poor communication skills. Thus, the company offers communication training.

6. Does the company require all employees to assimilate to company culture? and how is this accomplished?

Devrew Merchandising does not have a company made or branded culture; however, the job only appeals to those who are organized, having excellent attention to detail, and work in a timely fashion. In order to meet the job requirements, employees must thrive on quick, organized, and efficient visits. Thus, the company does not require employees to change; rather, it only attracts those of specific personalities.

European literature and its relation to the ‘American Dream’ of immigration

European literature refers to the literature of Europe. This type of literature includes literature in many languages, not just English, including the following: Spanish, French, Dutch, Polish, German, Italian, Modern Greek, Czech, Russian, Scandinavian, and Irish. In informal writings and conversations, European literature is often used as a synonym for Western literature.

The ever infamous Western literature refers to the literature written in the languages of Europe and is considered one of the defining elements of Western civilization. The best of Western literature is considered to be the Western Canon. The list of works in the Western Canon varies according to opinion and is virtually endless; however, the items are of great importance because of their influence, perspective, and ability to change history.

Two examples from the Western Canon that has influenced the world are Sir Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan (below left) and John Calvin’s (below right) Institutes of the Christian Religion.




Leviathan was published in 1651 during the English Civil War of 1641–1651 and discussed the structure of society and the legitimacy and need of government. John Calvin’s writings teach that chaos, war, death and what he calls “the war of all against all…” could only be averted by a strong, central government. Leviathan is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of social contract theory and its principles and ideals have been noted by the well- respected English philosopher, John Locke, and numerous governments around the world that have implemented its principles of unity, for example the United States of America.



John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion published in Latin in 1536 and in French in 1541 is a theological text, which is still commonly used today. It attacks the early Roman Catholic Church’s doctrines and motives. It discusses ideas such as of God's total sovereignty, particularly in salvation, sacraments, justification of faith alone, and Christian liberties. The text supported and moved the Protestant Reformation during many difficult times.



Because of John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, many immigrants escaping religious persecution traveled to America where their Protestant views would be welcomed and supported by a unifying government that was strongly influenced by Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan. Political and religious freedoms are the foundation of America and the heart and reason for the mass immigration that followed to the United States during the 18th Century.

Group Ethnics - East Indian

With more than 2.15 million peoples in America, perhaps one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States is East Indians. In the period of 1990-1999, the overall growth rate for East Indians in America was 105.87%, which is extremely high considering that the average growth rate for the whole USA is 7.6% (Embassy of India, 2009). Since that time, the growth rate has increased substantially, rowing to 421,006 in the 2000-2006 periods from 352,278 between 1990 and 1996, making America the second most East Indian populated country on earth (Embassy of India, 2009).



Of those in America, more than 85% of them have completed High School and 62% have some college level education. This, of course, makes for high numbers of East Indians in the American workforce, with 72.3% of East Indians actively working, while 57.7% of those employed hold managerial and professional jobs (Embassy of India, 2009). These people have fully taken advantage of the American dream, making many contributions to the American workforce while providing for themselves quite well while doing so. East Indians in America even tend to make approximately $20,000 more per year than the national average (Embassy of India, 2009).

At EB Games, the Human Resources department is very familiar with East Indian employees and their contributions to EB’s workplace. While they do not keep specific statistics about ethnic heritage, the Director of Human Resources was able to confirm that they hire many East Indians in all areas of their company (personal communication, June 3, 2009). There are about a dozen Indians working in their head office, which is made up of only about fifty employees as it is. In their distribution centre, the majority of employees are East Indian, mostly women, and their stores have a fair number of East Indians working in them as well. For the most part, these employees tend to prove themselves very well to EB Games, as they tend to have a strong work ethic and contribute as well as any of their co-workers, if not better. There have never been any serious problems with East Indian employees working with people of a different race at EB Games (J. Tadier, personal communication, June 3, 2009).

Group Ethnics - Filipino

An analysis with one of Canada’s largest integrated real estate companies was researched upon this project. Morguard Investments has been offering investments and property management services with operations nationwide. A large network has been established with a diversified labor force. As the president of Morguard Investments states, "At Morguard, the key to our success is the talent, expertise and energy of our people. Our employees are always thinking of ways to enrich the lives of our tenants and how to add value to the properties that we manage." (Morguard) In communicating with one of the representatives of Morguard Investments Human Resources department, their company has played a major role in hiring a multicultural work force from Canadian to Portuguese to India and Latino’s etc. As mentioned in the “Latino” section, America will have a population growth of immigrates in the next few decades. Like this real estate company, they recruit and evaluate their work force by the individuals expertise and how that person acts amongst other.

Morguard Investments has set goals for accomplishments in their business:
1. Powerful Thinking
2. Openness and Communication
3. Pride & Passion
4. Integrity
5. Respect & Recognition
6. The ability to use resources to deliver superior service

Most of these relates to the inner-personality of each individual that will also bring the company to a better working environment and success in business. Being a diversified company, it was mentioned during an interview with one of the representatives of the Human Resources department that employees of different ethnics get along with one another pretty well. Of course there will be some bad days such as not getting along, but for the most of it everyone is in good terms.

In comparison to Latino, Asian immigrants (Filipino) are about 16% less than Latino’s of increasing the population in the U.S. Landing immigrants to the U.S. just like Filipino’s are making decisions to enhance their life not only for themselves but mostly their children and family. The risk that takes place is leaving their homeland and the people they love. It also takes time to adapt to another land and may possibly be difficult to call it their home. These immigrants have inspirations and influences on having an “American Dream” that motivates themselves to find a job that can support their families to have a better life.

Group Ethnics - Chinese

IBM take on Equal Opportunities

Most people would agree that cultural diversity in the workplace utilizes our country’s skills to its fullest potential and contributes to overall growth and prosperity. But there is a widening gap between the rich and the poor and one of the reasons for this is that minority groups like African, Hispanic and Asian Americans are unfairly relegated to lower skilled, lower pay positions and unable to fulfill their fullest potential. Corporations have been quick to realize that diversity pays dividends back to the company by making it easier to retain good employees, lowering costs and developing a reputation that help attract new employees.

Formal statements relating to diversity at IBM can be found as far back as 1953 by the then CEO Thomas J Watson Jnr, who said: “It is the policy of IBM to hire people who have the personality, talent and background necessary to fill a given job, regardless of race, color or creed.”

This was from IBM’s first equal opportunity policy letter, a year before the U.S Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education which we read about in week 3 (Rico, B., 345). It was the ruling that the segregation of white and African Americans children in public schools on the basis of race that denied African Americans the equal protection guaranteed by the 14th amendment.

IBM have created a policy called Diversity 3.0 (IBM) that may sound like a software program but is actually a policy that is grounded in the Equal Opportunity legislation and compliance. IBM’s Equal Opportunity policy has different levels from Diversity 1.0 which is the law that was past in the mid-20th century to Diversity 2.0 which was created in 1990’s with the focus on eliminating barriers and understanding regional constituencies and differences between them. As the demographics have changed in America and the increase migration of different ethnic groups, IBM has adapted their workplace to be more flexible and began Diversity 3.0 which is focused on work-life integration. In addition, in the last five years, IBM’s has created policies that deal with ethnic values that link together with Diversity 3.0. IBM believes that their diverse workforce is a competitive advantage and by consciously building diverse teams helps them create the best results for their client. This shows IBM commitment to tackling the diversity issues way before the U.S government was to begin its campaign for diversity.
The chart below is a break down of IBM minority workforce, broken down between Blacks, Asian, Hispanics and Native America. I will focus on the Asian workforce and how they contribute and interact with their fellow employees. We can glean much information on what the Asians workforce is most interested in and gain insight from their interactions with co-workers based on job title.

This data was taken in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Asians roughly account for 50% of the Minority workforce at IBM, which is a very large number and account for 13% of the entire workforce. Asians have been groomed to want to excel in business and most have a passion for computers. IBM has a prestigious name that most people are attracted to and have to compete vigorously to enter into. The job categories that one can enter into at IBM are split into seven groups. Most Asians are either Professionals or into marketing which tells me a lot about how much IBM has wanted to accommodate diversity. I do not know many Asians that are into Marketing. Asian have been stereotyped as not being creative as others ethnicity groups. The world and China itself has brought the stigma of China being a copycat nation rather than a true innovator (Wadhwa,V, 2008) . So it is a relief that Asians are given to opportunity to excel in whatever field they desire at IBM.

To quote an IBM manager on Chinese workforce, He states that “Chinese are rated highly on hierarchy and low on individualism and middle of the road on assertiveness and masculinity”. (Ambler, T. 2008).

From this statement, Chinese are perceived as somewhat passive and middle of the road when it comes to making difficult decisions. This negative view of Chinese employees can hinder them from jobs such as Managerial positions that require proactive stance and decision making.







IBM business activities such as hiring, training, compensation, promotion and recreational activities are conducted without discrimination of race and comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws, including those dealing with equal opportunity. Managers at IBM are expected to ensure a work environment free from all forms of discrimination and harassment. IBM has been giving many awards for its proactive approach to ethnic diversity, for Asians it has received. It has been awarded as one of the Top 20 Companies for Asian Americans by Asian Business Ventures for the seventh consecutive year, 2009 (IBM, Awards) .
Aside from IBM’s diversity team within human resources, three other groups within IBM have formally identified roles in the implementation of the company’s overall diversity strategy. These are IBM’s Diversity Council, diversity contact officers and diversity champions.

The Diversity Council - IBM’s Diversity Council, chaired by our CEO Philip Bullock, ensures that IBM visibly encourages and values the contributions and differences of employees from various backgrounds. Its key objectives are to heighten employee awareness, increase management awareness, and encourage the effective use of IBM’s diverse workforce.

Cultural awareness/acceptance in action - Cultural diversity education and awareness initiatives at IBM can be grouped under two headings: individual professional development and general staff awareness.

Professional development - IBM manager ‘Quick Views’ are, as the name suggests, intranet-based resources designed to give managers essential and accessible information to conduct business successfully with clients or colleagues from another country. Topics include: culture and globalization, culture and business and diversity and multicultural management. So if a manager is called upon to travel suddenly to a new culture, Quick Views offers handy hints on business meeting protocol.

Another professional development initiative is IBM’s ‘Shades of Blue’ – a more in-depth program for managers who are engaged in cross-cultural business interactions or have multicultural teams. A shade of Blue is a unique learning experience in developing cross-cultural competence. The workshop-based tutorials train employees in:

• Understanding the cultural bias of each team member and their impact on mutual perceptions.
• Why certain behaviors and communication styles fail in some cultures.
• Identifying approaches to address cultural gaps that could lead to misunderstandings.
• Handling issues about team decision-making, giving or receiving feedback and conflict resolution.

The courses cater to individual managers or members of an established multicultural team and are designed to heighten awareness of each person’s own cultural biases and increase their sensitivity to other cultures. The shades experience can be a powerful team-building exercise for multicultural teams to transcend cultural differences and become a high-performing team.

General staff awareness and polices - IBM’s cultural diversity strategy relies on raising the general level of awareness of different cultures within the organization. General initiatives include:

• Celebration of Chinese New Year for employees.
• Publication of a diversity calendar, showing various dates of cultural significance that might be relevant to employees and business relationships.
• Introduction of a floating holiday program where employees can exchange a public holiday for a significant cultural holiday.
• Employee representation at an IBM global conference on multicultural people in technology.

Looking to the future, the most valuable learning for me has been to clearly distinguish religion from cultural diversity. Simply, cultural awareness and acceptance is the theme rather than religious observation.
The proof of programs, such as those designed to promote cultural diversity, lies in the results. Retention rates, staff satisfaction, client feedback and new contracts will all determine how successful the company has been.

Group Ethnics - Latino

In preparing for this project I reached out to the Human Resource Department of Frito in the New York region. Diversity and Inclusion has been an important focus for Frito Lay for many years now and besides doing the right thing it makes very good business sense.
“Key Business Messages
Diversity and inclusion are essential to PepsiCo’s growth - a strategic priority for our business.

The business case for diversity and inclusion is simple. Demographic trends clearly indicate the growth of minority populations in the U.S., which leads to changing palates, increased purchasing power and new entrants to the workforce. In addition, emerging markets and new communication technologies, coupled with ever-changing consumer trends create a need for professionals with diverse experiences to help continuously drive our success in an evolving marketplace.

To successfully respond, a company like ours must meet the needs of the changing consumer base and mirror the marketplaces through diversity – not just of race, ethnicity and gender, but of experiences and perspectives.

Although creating a diverse workforce is important, we must also create an inclusive environment where everyone – regardless of race, gender, physical ability or sexual orientation – feels valued, engaged, and wants to stay and be part of our growth. It is only through inclusion that we will fully unleash innovation – and growth for our business and associates”(, n.d., p. 1).

Immigration is going to be a big part of the population growth in America over the next few decades. “Overall, by 2050 the U.S. population is projected to increase by 47 percent, from 296 million in 2005 to 438 million. Newly arriving immigrants would account for 47 percent of the rise, and their U.S.-born children and grandchildren would represent another 35 percent”(Aizenman, 2008, p. 1). Armed with the information that the population in America is changing and that the immigrants especially Latino immigration will profoundly affect the ethnicity of America by the year 2050, Frito Lay has taken steps to hopefully ensure their success in a new America. “The U.S. Census Bureau's announcement Wednesday confirmed what many have treated as fact for some time. Even so, it's a symbolic milestone for a nation whose history has been dominated by black-white racial dynamics. Increased racial and ethnic diversity is adding a new dimension to everything from product marketing to political campaigning”(Nasser, 2003, p. 1).



Frito Lay has taken many steps to attract and retain many diverse candidates in to their organization and it has become and will be a major focus of this company now and in to the future. To accommodate this rich and diverse workforce Frito Lay has actively marketed itself with many diverse advertising tools - periodicals, TV, Radio etc… Frito Lay has worked to heighten awareness within the organization through “Diversity and Inclusion” days throughout all the different sites within North America. These “Diversity and Inclusion” days offer all employees the opportunity to learn a little more about many different cultures and to sample some of the food from their rich heritage, it brings employees together. Frito Lay has set aside space on their internal and external web page to focus only on “Diversity and Inclusion” within Frito Lay North America. Frito Lay runs a program for free software that will teach you how to become conversationally literate in the Spanish Language. The organization in Frito Lay North America is diverse from bottom to the top. There is a belief that there is a business advantage to diversity and the merging together of all different ideas in achieving the common goals of Frito Lay. The CEO of Pepsico (Frito Lay is owned by Pepsico) Indra Nooyi is a firm believer in diversity and inclusion and believes strongly that it is a huge business strategic initiative for all the Pepsico companies.

Recently when Indra Nooyi received the Chicago United Bridge Award for her leadership in advancing diversity and inclusion she commented on the importance of this initiative. ““At PepsiCo we strive to create a diverse and inclusive work environment that encourages every associate to bring his or her whole self to work - not just because it’s the right thing to do, but also because diversity in the workplace unleashes creativity and the power of innovation. “Having people with different backgrounds and experiences gives us marketplace insights that enable us to serve our consumers, retail customers and communities. Diversity and inclusion are essential to PepsiCo’s growth and are a strategic priority for our business,”(Staff Writer, 2008, p. 1). It is clear with the leadership of their CEO Indra Nooyi Pepsico/Frito Lay is going to lead the charge of “Diversity and Inclusion” within the workplace and the marketplace throughout America.
When thinking about diversity in America it is apparent that the Latino population in America is likely going to have the greatest impact because of the growth of the Latino population over the next few decades. This impact of the Latino population in America is evident.



When viewing the chart supplied, the Latino population is going to double in approximately four decades. When a group is going to have such an important impact in America it is important that we understand what their goals are, what is their American Dream? One of the best ways to determine the dreams of any immigrant group is to take a closer look at their literature. The literature of the Latino based immigrant is very consistent with that of other immigrants in America. The Latino version of the American Dream is one of providing a better life for ones family through hard work and a belief in democracy and capitalism. The Latino American Dream includes religious freedom and a good education for their children in the hope that their children can exceed their own accomplishments. The Latino American Dream is captured in the book “House on Mango Street” because it shows the evolution of the Latino family in America. The story illustrates how immigrants first try and find a way to provide a home for their family, a home they can own. The story then shows us how the children often want more than their parents can provide and soon enough the one bedroom home on Mango Street is not good enough. Another good example of Latino literature that describes their American dream can be found in the story “The English Lesson” written by Nicholasa Mohr. It is about the son of an immigrant that is trying to learn to speak English in order to help provide a better life for his family. The main character of this story is William he has recently moved here from Puerto Rico in search of his American Dream. “I am working here now living with my mother and family in Lower East Side of New York City, William spoke rapidly. I study Basic English por que … because my ambition is to learn to speak and read English very good. To get a better job. Y-y tambien, to help my mother y familia. He shrugged Y do better that’s all” (Rico & Mano, 2001, p. 450). Once again this illustrates the American Dream of the Latino’s to find a better life for their family in America the land of freedom and opportunity.