IP Alpino - final

Windesheim and Seneca Virtual Intercultural Project Assignment #1: diversity in a multi-national corporation Due on November 7. 2023 (15%) This activity is a Group Assignment. On November 7. 2023 you and your group members are to present your findings to a facilitator. All group members are to participate in accomplishing the assignment and presenting the findings. The presention will be recorded for archive purposes and in case of any disputes regarding assessment. With participating in this project you give permission for the recording and archiving of the recording. Casestudy Alpino 1. Introduction Alpino is world leader in designing and manufacturing headsets to be used with laptops and computers. Founded in India in 1998 it quickly expanded by exporting different types of head sets through channels that offered these to call centers and game enthusiasts. As revenues and profit continued to grow in the targeted direction the company stepped up its game by opening webshops and warehouses in Indonesia, Canada and the Netherlands. 2. Structure and staf As of February of 2022 the company is made up of the folllowing: Mumbai, India : headquarters, one flagstore, a webshop, warehouse and a factory Toronto, Canada – three warehouses, a webshop Amsterdam, the Netherlands – one warehouse, a webshop Jakarta, Indonesia – one warehouse, a webshop The warehouses handle the orders of the webshops and take care of shipping and goods returned by customers. The company is structured as a typical pyramid; wide at the bottom and small at the top. Each warehouse has a general manager who ensures day-to-day management of the employees. A general manager is in charge of 15 to 17 team coordinators that manage the employees of the warehouse. The general manager is to report to the Worldwide Warehouse Director (based in India). Both WWW-Director and the Factory Directory are members of the management team. Apart from those mentioned, the management team is staffed by a Purchase & Logistics director, Finance director, HR director and CEO. With the expansion in 2022, Alpino is now employer to around 42,000 employees.

3. Diversity With Alpino’s recent expansion the Alpino management team feel that they are much more in the limelight now then when Alpino’s operation was restricted to India. To be considered a reputable company is important to share with the world what Alpino stands for and steer employees’ behavior in the desired direction. In order to show what Alpino is about and what kind of behavior is expected clear policies must be drawn and communicated on all relevant subjects. Currently, one subject particularly has become urgent to communicate about. That subject is diversity. Public pressure is building to hear Alpino’s stand following an article in the Harvard Business Review which mentioned several companies, including Alpino, that remain silent on their stand. Head of HR has identified three specific themes Alpino needs to consider in their stand on diversity: nationality, LGBTQ+Q+ and religion. With its locations in various countries Alpino employees represent a number of nationalities. Unfortunately, the management team and managers of each location remain homogenetic in their composition: in India all management positions are filled by people from India etc. The management team welcomes a policy that in the future will result in a mixture of nationalities on all management levels. Additionally, Alpino’s management team is in favor of measures to support LGBTQ+Q+ employees but have no idea what the company could do to help. Being a large company Alpino must have thousands of employees identifying as part of this community, but generally they are not visible. Therefore there are no issues relating to LGBTQ+Q+ employees that need urgent attention but it is assumed some members of this group might run in to problems without management being aware. Regarding religion the management team already had heard of issues as some Moslim employees wanted to celebrate Eid al-Fitr after the yearly fast but were not allowed the two days off they requested due to limited capacity at the specific location. An other issue related to some employees not accepting a female manager at one of the warehouses. After the local HR manager intervening it became clear that Christian employees objected based on their religious believes. A local newspaper turned it into an article that fortunatelly did not cause much of a stir but next time an similar issue could get out of hand.

6. How to approach this assignment a. Discuss in your group the topics of nationality, LGBTQ+Q+, religion related to the countries you come from. Relevant questions would be: Is religion something you can openly practise? Does it matter what religion you have? Do companies facilitate practising religion? Which religion(s) and how do they facilitate? Do companies have policies on these topics? Why is that? What is a problem according to them? Can you be openly gay/lesbian/transgender? b. Discuss what kind of policies/measures you are familiar with regarding these topics. These can be government issued or related to specific companies. Make a list. c. Discuss what you, as a team, know about the countries Alpino is located (India, Canada, the Netherlands and Indonesia) related to the topics (nationality, LGBTQ+Q+, religion). Make a list. Are there aspects you don’t know much about? If so, assign it as a task to a team member or pair. d. Make a follow up appointment with your team before [date of presentation]. e. Assign tasks to be carried out prior to meeting: find articles and best practices on the topics. f. Meet again. Share the outcomes of the tasks assigned. Decide per country x topic on Alpino’s policy. If needed, reread the Alpino case to ensure the final outcome aligns with Alpino’s request. g. Assign who is going to take the lead in making a PowerPoint in support of the team results. h. Share the presentation with teammembers. Discuss during a meeting or via email, who will present what. 7. Assessment The group’s work is assessed by the facilitator and is based on the presentation and discussion. You pass the assesment when: - you participated in the first online meeting (Oct 3.) and the online meeting in which you present your findings as a group (Nov. 7.). - the presentation includes all the requirements as described under (5). - you are able to answer questions on your work. For a higher grade than a pass: please check the assessment grid for more details on the assessment.

Assessment grid Alpino case 1: Nationality (max 5 points) Total points awarded: 2. LGBTQ+ (max 5 points) Total points awarded: 3. Religion (max 5 points) Total points awarded Points per topic are to be awarded based on the grid below. 1 2 3 4 5 Topic I: nationality (15 points) Topic II: LGBTQ+ (15 points) Topic III: religion (15 points) Two or three aspects as described under “3” are not included and/or measures are not relevant for the topic at hand. One or more aspects violate local legislation, local values and/or norms [and/or] no evidence of an effort to ensure this. One aspect as described under “3” is not included and/or measures are not relevant for the topic at hand. Measures are not specific. The presentation includes: - what Alpino does to facilitate LGBTQ+, nationality and religion. - measures suggested are more than one- to-one responses to the details of the case study. - the end situation (goal) Alpino strives for regarding nationality, LGBTQ+ and religion. - the content shows sufficient understanding of the diversity aspect at hand and does not violate local legislation, local values and/or norms. - measures match the diversity aspect at hand and are sufficiently specific. Content of #3 plus: -suggested measures tackled several aspects of the matter at hand. - partly substantiated content [and/or] - somewhat vague description of end situation per request [and/or] - partly convincing reason for the policy. Content of #4 plus: - measures suggested are more than one- to-one responses to the details of the case study. - measures suggested on nationality align with measures on LGBTQ+Q+ and religion. - Well substantiated content. - Well thought through measures. - Profound understanding of the diversity aspect at hand. - Strong alignment between measures suggested, understanding of the diversity aspect at hand and Alpino. Presentation (15 points) - Some mistakes in slides (or equivalent) regarding spelling, grammar etc. - Some mistakes regarding spelling etc. [and/or] - Structure is present but not - All group members participate in the presentation. - No mistakes regarding spelling Content of # 3 grid plus: - The presentation is convincing, [and/or] Content of # 3 grid plus: - Group members collaborate well. - Presentation has a good ‘flow’ to it.