What about the big global companies like IBM, what are they doing for diversity? Have students go to Google and look up IBM and diversity. Students will find numerous sites that speak to the diversity efforts of IBM. 

Several questions may be used to start the discussion. You may have students do comparisons between companies cited by such organizations as Catalyst for their diversity efforts with companies such as Wal-Mart, which is fighting a class action suit for general patterns of discrimination in pay and promotions.

(New York Times, Business, Friday June 4, 2010, Steven Greenhouse, “Report Warned Wal-Mart of Risks Before Bias Suit”, p. B.1, B.4, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/business/04lawsuit.html?scp=3&sq=June%204,%202010%20and%20Wal-Mart&st=Search).

Questions:

1. What is the history of diversity at IBM?

2. What did Tom Watson Jr. do to support diversity at IBM?

3. Was it always a company that looked to diversifying its workforce?

4. What evidence is presented on the IBM website that supports its commitment to diversity of all kinds?

5. Are there companies your students can find that appear to not only talk about diversity in their mission statement but also have programs in place demonstrating their commitment to diversity in their organization?