Diversity management is not just about promoting women in the workplace but about facilitating corporate reform and raising profitability in rapidly changing global markets, speakers at a Tokyo forum on diversity and inclusion said last week.
They advised that diversity and inclusion initiatives must be fully incorporated into management strategy and implemented in a practical manner, especially in Japanese organizations, where "a clay layer" of male executives and managers dominate the decision-making process.
Some 200 mostly female Japanese and American corporate executives, human resources managers, educators and leaders of nonprofit organizations attended the forum. The event was cohosted by the Los Angeles-based NPO Global Organization for Leadership and Diversity (GOLD) and its Japanese sister group, Global Enhancement of Women's Executive Leadership (GEWEL).