Essay: Examining Exemplary Leaders in Managing Diversity and Inclusion

This essay examines the importance of leadership in managing diversity and inclusion within organizations, using Carlos Ghosn, former CEO of Nissan Motor Company, as a case study. The essay begins by providing background information on Ghosn and then explores the former status of diversity within Nissan, highlighting the initial lack of diversity management. It then analyzes Ghosn's approach to diversity and inclusion, emphasizing his focus on gender and cultural diversity. The essay further discusses the positive outcomes of his diversity management strategies, including increased recruitment from various nationalities, equal opportunities for women, and a more inclusive work environment. The conclusion summarizes how Ghosn transformed Nissan through his leadership, promoting employment opportunities for a diverse workforce and fostering a culture of teamwork, ultimately leading to improved organizational performance and a positive brand image. The essay references the course materials and learning outcomes related to diversity and inclusion.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Leader’s background..................................................................................................................3
Former status of diversity in the organisation............................................................................3
Leader’s approach to diversity and inclusion.............................................................................4
Leader’s diversity management outcomes.................................................................................4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................5

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Unit IV Essay
Examining exemplary leaders in managing diversity
Introduction
The essay is prepared to discuss about the importance of leadership and its impact on
the management of diversity and inclusion within the organisation. The essay will also
present an introduction of the previous CEO of Nissan Motor Company named Carlos Ghosn,
who stepped up from the company few months back. The current status of the company in
terms of diversity management and also the approaches undertaken by the leader to promote
diversity and inclusion will also be included in the essay for ensuring how the organisationj
has been benefited and attained success (Donnelly, 2015).
Leader’s background
Carlos Ghosn was born in the year of 1954 and has been a Brazilian born French
businessman who has been the CEO of Michelin North America as well as Renault and
finally was the chairman and CEO of Nissan Motor company. He has been a trendsetter in the
automobile industry and made Nissan enormously successful, which can still be felt after his
departure from the company. Carlos Ghosn believed that the success of alliance between the
Nissan Motor Company and Renault has been the management of cultural diversity (Mor
Barak 2015). He preferred to have a diversified workplace and due to these not only the
French and Japanese employees were recruited and selected, but also the other candidates
from all over the world were selected as part of the workplace of the company.
Former status of diversity in the organisation
Previously, Nissan Motor Company mostly prioritised on recruiting individuals with
Japanese and French origins and thus the ratio of these individuals to the individuals
belonging from other nationalities has also been quite higher. There was lack of diversity

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management at the company much before Carlos Ghosn was appointed as the CEO and
Chairman of the organisation. Diversity always used to play a vital role for the organization,
as with the diverse workforce, not only different sets of skills and knowledge of different
employees are acquired, but also the varied ideas, opinions and responses, further could add
to the maximisation of potential of theirs and ensure smooth business functioning (Daya,
2014).
Leader’s approach to diversity and inclusion
The leader’s approach to diversity and inclusion helped the company to maintain
equal numbers of employees just like the Japanese and French employees and at the same
time, acquire unity and maximise the potential within the automobile industry largely. Having
employees from different backgrounds, nationalities have helped in acquiring their strengths,
skills and expertise in their own region, furthermore, allowed contribution to the overall
performance of the organisation largely (Cottrill et al., 2014). Carlos Ghosn, approach to
leadership mainly focused on gender diversity, which has always been his focus of
leadership, which also supported creating equal opportunities and scopes for women
employees and even allow them to apply for managerial positions in Nissan Motor Company.
The focus on cultural diversity integrated with the gender diversity philosophy also helped
Nissan to gain advantage over the rivals in business, which also reflected the diverse
customer base from all over the world (Noe et al., 2017). Due to this, Nissan also fared much
well than other companies and the crisis situations were also handled by the company much
more comprehensively.
Leader’s diversity management outcomes
The diversity management approaches and philosophies benefited the company
largely and it allowed to recruit individuals from all over the world. The women workers also

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were provided with equal scopes and opportunities and even offered with managerial roles
and responsibilities to keep the business functional all throughout. Due to this, the company
drew support from various regions all over the world and also Carlos Ghosn was considered
as a transformative leader, who transformed the entire automobile industry as well as the
company itself. The outcomes also include setting of a diverse working environment and a
culture where teamwork and coordination are promoted along with people working together
as an unit (Winters, 2014). The vast sets of skills and knowledge further contributed to the
overall organisational performance and led to the company’s positive brand image, reputation
and identity, which could also be regarded as a major aspect of leadership and its impact on
the management of diversity and inclusion.
Conclusion
The essay was prepared for discussing about how Carlos Ghosn promoted his
leadership concepts and managed diversity and inclusion. The existing condition of the
organisation was not much good in terms of diversity and inclusion, which was soon changed
with Carlos Ghosn’s introduction as a leader. He made sure to transform the business by
engaging in various activities and even promoted diversity approaches by allowing for
employment opportunities for more people from all over the world other than just Japanese
and French individuals. Moreover, the leader also made sure to include women workers and
created equal opportunities for them, which ensured successful diversity management and
inclusion at the organisation.

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References
Cottrill, K., Denise Lopez, P., & C. Hoffman, C. (2014). How authentic leadership and
inclusion benefit organizations. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International
Journal, 33(3), 275-292.
Daya, P. (2014). Diversity and inclusion in an emerging market context. Equality, Diversity
and Inclusion: An International Journal, 33(3), 293-308.
Donnelly, R. (2015). Tensions and challenges in the management of diversity and inclusion
in IT services multinationals in India. Human Resource Management, 54(2), 199-215.
Mor Barak, M. E. (2015). Inclusion is the key to diversity management, but what is
inclusion?. Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance,
39(2), 83-88.
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource
management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Education.
Winters, M. F. (2014). From diversity to inclusion: An inclusion equation. Diversity at work:
The practice of inclusion, 205-228.