Developing stereotyped perceptions and falling into the trap of racial discrimination limits the success of Airbnb. While most clients and employees are frustrated by racism, the adverse effects affect Airbnb’s success and bottom line since it will be unable to attract more customers leading to lower profits that in turn interfere with the stability of the firm and lead to the lack of investor confidence. Embracing cultural diversity is important for Airbnb since it cultivates an atmosphere based on trust among its internal and external stakeholders.
Stakeholders for Airbnb include employees, customers, shareholders and the wider community. Employees are important for the organization since they are the ones to assure clients of impartiality in services provided. Shareholders, on the other hand, are interested in the company’s ability to maximize their wealth, hence the need to embrace diversity to improve earnings. Racial actions by Airbnb limit mutual participation by the community in the organization’s affairs. The role of corporate social responsibility in a company’s policy is to ensure equal and fair treatment for all stakeholders to create a conducive atmosphere for business. The current practices at Airbnb mean that its corporate social responsibility is ineffective, and hence, it is vital to carry out a review of the company’s policy to adopt policies that appreciate diversity.
An effective, ethical framework is all Airbnb needs to shift away from its discriminatory practices. The ethical decision-making model follows procedures that generate desirable results currently and in the future. The first step is to identify the problem, which in this case is stereotyped perceptions on the blacks that have culminated into racism. Issues associated with racial discrimination include; loss of trust from customers, disruption of corporate ethics and reduction in earnings are also considered in the next step of the model. Airbnb needs to review its ethical protocols and relate them to relevant laws and regulations that address the need to appreciate diversity. Through consultation with stakeholders such as clients, employees, community and business partners, Airbnb needs to identify suitable courses of action which in their case would be to create an organizational culture that embraces diversity. However, it is important for alternative courses of actions to be identified which include the need to low penalties for the blacks and ensure rentals rates are the same for all clients.
Developing an anti-discrimination policy at Airbnb is necessary for addressing the consequences of racism in the organization. The HR department will then work to ensure employees are trained to appreciate diversity and that recruitment processes give equal opportunity to both blacks and whites. Gaps to address include the need for stakeholders to identify the right channels to report incidences of racism and the encouraging open communication with all stakeholders.
Communication to stakeholders on the need to promote diversity needs to begin with mapping of the audience and identify their reactions to the priority identified. The mapping will help in identifying clients who are most important and hence require the organization to spend more time engaging them. Employees, customers, and business partners are among the most important stakeholders such that effective communication of the policy recommendation will improve the ability of the firm to take care of their interest equally and fairly. Appropriate channels to be chosen include company’s website, personalized letters, e-mailing customers and workshop for employees.
Limitation of the anti-discrimination policy is that there could be resistance from employees who already have stereotypes perception on the blacks. Other stakeholders such as business partners and shareholders may also resist the move by the company since they would want a situation where the whites continue to pay more to maximize the firm’s profits. However, Airbnb has to involve change agents and participative leadership to limit resistance to change. Monitoring and compliance strategies include reviewing comments and suggestions on the company’s website to identify complaints linked to racism. Reduced interpersonal conflicts on the basis of racial belong in the organization will also be a key aspect of assessing compliance.
References
Bobo, L., & Fox, C. (2003). Race, Racism, and Discrimination: Bridging Problems, Methods, and Theory in Social Psychological Research. Social Psychology Quarterly, 319-332. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1519832
Edwards, B., & Addae, R. (2015). Ethical Decision-Making Models in Resolving Ethical Dilemmas in Rural Practice: Implications for Social Work Practice and Education. Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, 88-93.
Nordin, E. (2014). Communicating Organizational Change: Strategies For Communicating Change. New York: The Clute Institute International Academic Conference.
