Assignment: Memo on Diversity at Sun City Boards

Scenario

In your readings on Culture and Diversity, you learned to define culture in a business and the impact of a diverse workforce on business success.  Let’s return to Sun City Boards and the CEO Tom Wilson.(You can refresh your memory of Sun City Boards by reading the Why It Matters and Putting It Together sections of the Planning and Mission module.) Recall that Tom founded the company out of his passion for surfing and has hired employees who have also expressed their surfing interest. Through the help and advice of his friend, he has been making changes to the business operation, including hiring new people. Sun City Boards now employs 17 people, and Tom plans to hire another 8 to 10 in the near future. Tom’s advisor has told him to consider a more diverse population of people for his next hires. Tom is unaware of and unaccustomed to the concepts of culture and diversity in business. He has no idea what his advisor means and no understanding of how it might impact his business.

Preparation

In this assignment, you will review aspects of culture and diversity for Sun City.  You will look for ways their culture can be evaluated and then summarize your findings and advice in a memo to CEO Tom Wilson. The following steps will help you prepare for your written assignment:

  1. Thoroughly read the Culture and Diversity module.
  2. Carefully consider the artifacts, values, and assumptions that might be observed at an organization like Sun City Boards. Think of how a diverse workforce would impact the Sun City business.

Your Task

  1. Identify specific artifacts you might look for at Sun City to evaluate their diversity, using at least three specific examples or topics covered in the Module 9 reading. For example, since Sun City is in a change mode, you could identify the impact of role modeling on the employees.
  2. Finally, write a three-paragraph (minimum) memo addressed to Sun City CEO Tom Wilson. Explain why diversity is important to his business and how he might go about evaluating the culture and diversity of Sun City Boards. You must support your advice with the three specific examples you identified in the previous step. If you’re not familiar with a Memo style, you can click this link to view a sample memo. (Note: Your memo does not need to contain every section included in the sample memo. Just be sure to include the date, recipient, sender, subject, and at least three paragraphs explaining to Tom Wilson why diversity is important to his business and how to evaluate it.) Be sure to address the CEO properly, and write to him as a concerned executive.In addition to the text, you are encouraged to research culture and diversity using reliable and properly cited Internet resources. You may also draw from your personal work experience with appropriate examples to support your references.

Grading

Your written assignment will be graded using the Written Assignment Rubric. Please review and keep it in mind as you prepare your assignment. Each component is weighted as follows:

10% Organization and Format

Adequate: Writing is coherent and logically organized, using a format suitable for the material presented. Transitions used between ideas and paragraphs create coherence. Overall unity of ideas is supported by the format and organization of the material presented.

40% Content

Adequate: All required questions are addressed with thoughtful consideration reflecting both proper use of content terminology and additional original thought. Some additional concepts are presented from properly cited sources, or originated by the author following logic and reasoning they’ve clearly presented throughout the writing.

40% Development – Critical Thinking

Adequate: Content indicates original thinking, cohesive conclusions, and developed ideas with sufficient and firm evidence. Ideas presented are not merely the opinion of the writer, and clearly address all of the questions or requirements asked with evidence presented to support conclusions drawn.

10% Grammar, Mechanics, Style

Adequate: Writing is free of spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors, allowing the reader to follow ideas clearly. There are no sentence fragments and run-ons. The style of writing, tone, and use of rhetorical devices is presented in a cohesive style that enhances the content of the message.