of the president, up from 24 percent in 1993. Additionally, Avon Mexico currently has one of the countrys few women vice presidents (Advancing Women, 1997, on-line).A recent Towers Perrin survey found that 74 percent of corporations say they have a diversity program or are planning to start one. Why? Because its the right thing to do? Because it fosters creativity? Because of the threat of lawsuits? Because its marketsavvy, and is being demonstrated to improve the corporate bottom line (Mueller, 1998, p. 7)? Many companies have confronted the issue of diversity in subtle, and structural ways. Economically, workplace diversity is a tonic for the bottom line. A key here is that as the number of women and minorities in the work force grow, so will their influence as consumers. Companies with diverse work forces stand a better chance of tapping into those markets. Morally, regardless of its impact on the bottom line, a diverse work force may be seen as a moral imperative: in a stable society all segments of the population have a stake in the societys prosperity and equal access to its benefits. Innovation envisions diversity as a process and a resource rather than a problem, and it defines the goal no longer as assimilating but, instead, optimizing differences (Mueller, 1998, p. 11-13). With the emergence of the global economy, it is argued that we need to go beyond affirmative action to affirming diversity. Instead of finding slots for women and minorities, and helping them adjust to the dominant white male style, organizations need to acknowledge and embrace a range of styles. Rather than suppression differences between people, companies will need to learn to value differences. Workforce diversity refers to the reality of a workforce consisting of a broad mix of workers from widely differing backgrounds, genders, ages, values, and the list goes on. These groups have different needs, which must be accommodated within organ...
