Diversity Implementation

Implementing Diversity in Chopsticks International

In the early 1990s, John S. Smith, a British national came across an idea of opening his own chain of oriental fast food restaurants. With the growing rumors of unethical dealings in several restaurants that specialized in oriental cuisine, Mr. Smith assumed it is only right for there to be unified chain of spots that offered quickly served oriental meals that could be an alternative to the mom and pop shops with thinly supervised standards. Targeting mostly youth at first, Mr. Smith established his first two Chop Shops, as they would become called, in his home town of Liverpool. He chose to name his company Chopsticks International as it would enable him to use extensive plays on words in developing certain aspects of the organisation. For example, beside the Chop Shops, which would have subtle themes pointing to the association of the name with car theft, he coined the slogan “Chop!Chop!” which was representative of the fast time food would be served. After receiving and order, each cashier was to repeat the list of items ordered and follow it with “Chop!Chop!”. His establishments became very popular among youth, and he was often credited with “bringing back” the phrase used by cashiers at Chop Shops into the popular culture. With growing popularity came the growing demand and thoughts of expanding the brand in terms of products and new restaurants. Aside from opening new Chop Shops, the company started producing and selling its own series of products such as company customised chopsticks and company endorsed spices and ingridients. With the Chopsticks International expansion into new markets also came certain issues.

After the company opened its first few restaurants in mainland Europe and garnered more popularity, opinions were raised, mainly from the Asian communities, that Mr. Smith is guilty of benefiting from foreign culture without providing any benefits to those of far-eastern heritage. This was somewhat true and reflected by Chopsticks International staff at both executive and franchise levels, as there were close to none Asians holding positions within the company. With the sudden expansion John Smith saw the possibility of incorporating more Asians into his business by way of implementing a diversity policy. To avoid accusations, whether real or made up, that the company is endorsing racism or affirmative action towards Asians and other ethnic groups a policy was drawn up.

The document stated that Chopsticks International values people of all groups who are willing to contribute to the company's success. Another point made was that disenfranchisement of any group of people bars the company from a free flow of ideas, lack of which would not enhance growth of Mr. Smith's enterprise. The company also supports diversity and inclusiveness within the workforce. The Chopsticks International management also aims at valuing differences becoming an integral part of the company's corporate culture. The company also opposes any signs or actions that aim at slowing or stopping initiatives which work in favor of increasing diversity in the workspace. For a company in the fast food sector which employs over one thousand employees in Great Britain and mainland Europe it is essential to maintain a certain image if it were to expand farther into new markets. With these ideas in mind Mr. Smith established a diversity task force within his organisation to implement and evaluate a diversity policy.

The first objective the task force aimed at completing was attracting a more diverse crowd to the company by way of short commercials encouraging people of diverse backgrounds to become a part of the Chopsticks International experience. In those television spots aired between program most popular among the 19-25 demographic the company would be depicted as a friendly working environment where one could develop his or hers skills. With the expected inflow of a more diverse work force, the company also had to counter the possibility of prejudice against new potential workers. In order to avoid any problems within the organisation, the task force drew up a plan of diversity awareness to be implemented.

The first step in spreading diversity awareness to be taken are sessions on cultural awerness. Current employees would be suggested by the management (keeping in mind who is making the suggestion) to attend employee seminars conducted by sociologists concerning cohabitance by members of various