The MBADiversity Organization::Blog

The C.O.C Method- How to Identify Innovative Companies

Whether you are an entry level employee or at the executive level exploring opportunities through a search firm, the simplest way to identify innovative companies that embrace dynamic diversity is through The C.O.C. Method.

Change can come from the bottom up, or by trickling down.

The C.O.C. Method Pyramid

• Culture: Determining your personal fit is first achieved by identifying the company’s culture. Is it conservative or progressive? Traditional corporate hierarchy or flat-model? Do they have work/life programs and community service initiatives? What about a triple bottom line approach to business?

• Opportunities: Are there training programs in place to aid in your professional development? What about affinity and culture programs to find internal mentors and network outside of office hours? Are there rotational programs and/or advancement roadmaps?

• C-suites: Take a look up top, at the C-suites. If they are diverse, there is a strong chance that your efforts up the ladder will not be in vain. Also, take note of the top level’s approach towards product/service development.

This model was designed in 2007 by MBADiversity’s Founder, Ms. Keisha Dawn Entzminger. The published paper can be downloaded here: microsoft-word-the-coc-method.

Dynamic Diversity- Implementation through Authenticity and Leveling

A dynamic approach to diversity balances pragmatism with idealism. Dynamism should be cadential within a school or corporation’s recruitment and retention strategy. It is achieved through an authentic underlying culture- not through rhetoric. Although popular culture books currently embrace authenticity (including Bill George’s Authentic Leadership and Jack Welch’s Straight from the Gut), candor has been taught for years in our higher educational programs, particularly through Judith Innes and David Booher case studies.

The significant population and purchasing influence of women and people of color (POC) represents revenue. If companies are looking for incremental growth and access to new markets, there should be a diverse set of executive decision-makers. However, the focus should be on quality diversity recruitment and retention, not just diversity for its own sake.

For example, MBADiversity implements a quality filtering model coined “The 3 C’s”: Capability, Collaboration and Character. We are creating a new generation of MBAs that will fill the authentic leadership positions Millennials demand in the 21^st century. Though the numbers fluctuate, Generation X and Y combined are about 114 million people who will expect diverse faces in the C-suites and will wonder why a company is not hip to progression yet in the 21^st century. They want to work for transparent leaders that relate to them, and innovative companies that focus on the triple bottom line. They are part of the “purpose-driven” age and expect companies to evolve from the soul-less corporate regime where their parents retired.

This is why blogging, Facebook, and other social platforms have become effective supplemental recruiting tools for some companies. Recruiters must show they are willing to level with Millennials and passionately articulate why their company is innovative. Companies that lag behind relinquish first-pick status at the talent pool.

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Ms. Keisha Dawn Entzminger is the Founder and Executive Director of The MBADiversity Organization (MBADiversity.org). She is also the Founder of The Graduate Preparatory Program (GradPrep.org), the national program and faith-based fellowship for graduate study. It is the first national graduate preparatory program in America. Ms. Entzminger’s full bio can be read here.

The Talent Pool Speaks

The attendees at MBADiversity’s 2^nd National Symposium in 2006 participated in the organization’s first in-house survey. Of those who responded, 80% were prospective MBAs. The majority, 87%, agreed that the institutional representative present at the event was moderately or very important in their impression of the school or corporation. When recruiting women and people of color (POC) specifically, the best recruiters are not necessarily those that look like the attendees, but those that can relate to the attendees. We have noticed that an engaging, confident white male has made a favorable impression whereas a stoic person of color (POC) may not, thus discrediting any notion that “if you put a black person or female out to represent us, we should draw more diversity”.

Fig 2. MBADiversity 2006 National Symposium Survey. Answers to Question #4:

Shaping the Social Business Model: Future Directions

	Very Important	Moderately Important	Neutral	Somewhat Important	Not Important	N/A	Rating Average
Multicultural and Personable Admissions Committee (not just one Diversity rep reviewing underrepresented applicants)	54.2%	33.3%	4.2%	0.0%	4.2%	4.2%	1.61
Multicultural and Personable Faculty and Administration	54.2%	37.5%	0.0%	0.0%	4.2%	4.2%	1.57
Integrative curriculum complete with real-world case studies	70.8%	16.7%	8.3%	0.0%	0.0%	4.2%	1.35
Multicultural and Personable Students and Alumni	58.3%	29.2%	4.2%	0.0%	4.2%	4.2%	1.57
Financial and scholarship assistance (application fee waivers, tuition scholarships, prospective travel stipend)	70.8%	20.8%	4.2%	0.0%	0.0%	4.2%	1.30
Less focus on GMAT, more focus on overall application (e.g. character/ethics, work experience, interpersonal skills)	45.8%	12.5%	16.7%	12.5%	8.3%	4.2%	2.22
Mentor Matching upon matriculation (this is a “mirroring” technique. Entering students are assigned a current student match and an alumni match with similar career interests and/or background)	62.5%	25.0%	0.0%	8.3%	0.0%	4.2%	1.52

MBADiversity collaborates to help innovate business schools recruitment and retention strategies across tiers and will conduct similar surveys to aid corporations.