Diversity Management vs. Affirmative Action: SMART Goals
This paper addresses two related topics in human resource management. First, it distinguishes diversity management from affirmative action, explaining that while both recognize workplace diversity, diversity management is behavioral and aims at cultural inclusion, whereas affirmative action is numerically focused on increasing representation of marginalized groups. Second, the paper outlines an organizational-level goal of increasing net profit margin and develops three SMART strategies to achieve it: reducing employee working hours to cut costs, introducing a referral reward program to boost sales, and training all employees in personal selling to expand revenue through social networks.
- Diversity Management vs. Affirmative Action: Conceptual distinction between inclusion and representation
- Organizational-Level Profitability Goal: Net profit margin as strategic organizational goal
- Strategy 1: Reducing Employee Working Hours: SMART plan to cut wage costs and boost profits
- Strategy 2: Referral Reward and Incentive Program: Customer referral program to increase sales revenue
- Strategy 3: Personal Selling Training for All Employees: Employee training to generate sales through social networks
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- Clearly contrasts two commonly confused HR concepts — diversity management and affirmative action — by identifying the specific dimension on which each operates (behavioral vs. numerical).
- Applies the SMART framework consistently across three distinct strategies, giving each strategy concrete, measurable targets and defined evaluation timelines.
- Connects each strategy back to the overarching organizational goal (net profit margin), maintaining logical coherence throughout.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied goal-setting using the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). Each strategy is broken into its five components, showing how abstract organizational objectives can be translated into actionable, evaluable plans — a core competency in strategic human resource management coursework.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a conceptual comparison of diversity management and affirmative action supported by a single scholarly source. It then shifts to practical application, stating a single organizational goal and developing three SMART strategies in parallel structure. Each strategy section follows the same S-M-A-R-T breakdown, making the paper easy to follow and directly comparable across strategies.
Diversity Management vs. Affirmative Action
Both diversity management and affirmative action recognize the growing diversity in the workplace. However, the two differ in their manner of administration and the goals they seek to realize. Diversity management refers to the actions and policies that an organization takes to ensure the inclusivity of all employees within the organization's structure and culture (Sharma, 2016). Diversity management is therefore behavioral in nature and seeks to change organizational culture in order to enhance the inclusion of employees from different backgrounds, allowing everyone to perform at their best (Sharma, 2016).
Conversely, affirmative action programs are implemented to increase the representation of certain marginalized groups within an organization (Sharma, 2016). Therefore, affirmative action is based on numbers and focuses on increasing representation, while diversity management is behavioral and aims at enhancing inclusivity in the workplace (Sharma, 2016).
Organizational-Level Profitability Goal
The organizational-level goal this paper addresses is increasing overall profitability as measured by the net profit margin. The net profit margin assesses overall profitability by examining how much profit the company retains after paying all of its expenses.
Organizational-level goal: To increase overall profitability as indicated by retained net profits.
Strategy 1: Reducing Employee Working Hours
This strategy aims to cut costs by reducing working hours for employees whose full-time presence is not essential.
References
Fleetwood, S., & Hesketh, A. (2010). Explaining the Performance of Human Resource Management. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Sharma, A. (2016). Managing diversity and equality in the workplace. Cogent Business and Management, 3(1), 1–14.
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.