Business Administration & Management: Discrimination in Silicon Valley May 2015

1. 
   Would you change purchase decisions based on corporate discrimination information?
   
2. 
   Do you think discrimination is widespread in America?
   
3. 
   Do you think most Americans understand the amount of discrimination which still exists today? Read the below study before answering:
   

http://www.chicagobooth.edu/capideas/spring03/racialbias.html

Group work:

1. 
   Why might discrimination be overlooked in startup or rapidly expanding corporations? (Think of Facebook’s early days…was equal opportunity discussed as a competitive weapon?)
   

By 2014, many stakeholders of Silicon Valley firms increased pressure on managements to include diversity in their corporate goals. Here is a review of the responses from many leading technology companies: http://www.siliconvalley.com/workplace-diversity

2. 
   Read the statement from Facebook’s Head of Diversity: http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/06/building-a-more-diverse-facebook/
   

1. 
   If diversity is so critical, why does Facebook look like they do?
   
2. 
   How can a company measure its diversity?
   
3. 
   Is it fair to have measurable diversity goals? Explain your answer.
   
4. 
   How does a company achieve diversity goals?
   
5. 
   What is unconscious bias?
   
6. 
   Do you think FB will become more diverse? How much more and when?
   

3. 
   As class, view video from Apple’s report, then review http://www.apple.com/diversity/.
   

1. 
   Which firm appears to be closer to desired diversity goals?
   
2. 
   Is increasing diversity a responsibility of senior management (i.e. Tim Cook or Mark Zuckerberg)?
   
3. 
   Does it translate directly to innovation and productivity, HR goals, or is it important only to satisfy political actors who might otherwise hurt sales?
   
4. 
   Which stakeholder ultimately decides the resources allocated to diversity goals?