Case Study Assessment - have i messed up?
Just had a 'case study' assessment at one of the BB's for a summer internship.
My group had to present on the 'people' side of things if the firm (which they already have) set up an office in South Africa. eg. how many local staff, how many brought in from other existing offices, renumeration etc.
Although i lead/co-lead the group and fit the persuasive, diplomatic etc. aspects of this task i'm now almost certain that the actual ideas i came up with the woman marking would not have agreed with. I'm very much business-minded and belived that we should still employ only the best and brightest from the top universities, even if they did all happen to be middle-class whites! i did mention investing in scholarships etc. for black/poor children and bringing them through in the long run, but no real attention to diversity in the short term.
However,
This woman was in the 'diversity' section of HR! She did NOT seem impressed that diversity and tackling the racial tensions had not been high on my list. In fact, i think she took a real dislike to me on a personal level. I was the first person to walk out the door and said thank you as i left, she said nothing. The girl behind me says thank you, she smiles and says your welcome.
Although i was influential, i was defiantely not over-aggressive and was constantly praising others for good ideas. Diversity just isn't an issue to me, i want to trade and my primary focus is, and always has been, how to be most efficent and make the most money!
I guess my point is, how important is the content of your answers in these exercises? or are they looking more for the leadership etc aspects?
Dang I guess this is just bad luck. But well the woman is just one person, I'm sure the other judges in the panel would push for you (assuming your presentation was good)
Outside of the case, I think that you should take this as an opportunity for you to reflect on the necessity of diversity in the workplace. It is through diversity that new ideas are bred and there has never been a detriment to diversity. Going forward, I challenge you to take this matter seriously, not because there is someone grading you on caring about the subject but because it will continue to shape you as a well-rounded individual in the business field who is sensitive to this social discrepancy.
Diversity comes from a persons life experiences - not colour/sex/religion. A black lesbian private school girl will bring much less diversity of thought into banking than a white council-estate male. Diversity is in personality, not genetics.
What you are saying is correct about diversity of experience jourdenne. It is, no doubt, important to come with uniqueness to the table so that others can draw from it. However, when one "[believes] that we should still employ only the best and brightest from the top universities, even if they did all happen to be middle-class whites!" (OP), there is an undeniable problem that only a certain group of people would be considered for the opportunity to showcase their talent. I think it is important to keep in mind that by casting a wider next in the arenas of color/sex/religion we are drawing from EVEN MORE of the diverse experience that you speak of--it all connects.
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