Making the Business Case

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Making the Business Case

• Charles A. Riley II, PhD
• author of
• Disability and Business (UPNE)

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We Magazine1996-2001
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(No Transcript)
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WeMedia1999-2001
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International Center for Corporate Accountability

• The mission of ICCA is to urge multinational
  corporations to create and subscribe to voluntary
  standards that would guide their conduct in
  overseas operations regarding issues such as
  wages and working conditions, protection of human
  rights (including disability), and sustainable
  development.

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Disability and Business Best Practices and
Strategies for Inclusion www.upne.com
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What Corporate Leaders Fear

• What has kept corporations from recognizing the
  opportunity that disability offers?
• Lack of information. When strategists are asked
  to try something different, there is comfort in
  numbers.
• Basic SWOT analysis precedes a top-down buy-in
• The carrot is now more effective than the stick
  (ADA)

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Trend Spotting

• For connoisseurs of business trends, disability
  is in the bulls eye of three major movements
• The knowledge workers rise inflated by the
  computer age
• The demand-driven consumer rights revolution that
  took power from producers
• The boomer generation with all its clout

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The Trading Zone

• Must be in the workplace and marketplace
• From HR to PR, marketing, tech, legal, design,
  management and customer service, from customer to
  ceo, all are at the table
• A place of visibility for the disability
  community and the nondisabled business partner
• A place for handshakes, not handouts

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Theres More at the Door (HR)IBM, Merrill,
Microsoft, COSD

• Hire from the community to which you hope to sell
• Send out your best managers with disabilities to
  attract candidates
• Link recruiting to strategic planning in sales
  and operations
• Go to the focused sources for candidates,
  including organizations like COSD and colleges
  noted for disability
• Don't be shy about using in-house affinity groups
  and product development as recruiting bait
• Interns and mentoring are proven measures
• Make sure accommodations are in place before
  launching a disability effort

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Right Behind You I See the Millions
(Marketing)Mattel, Avis, Universal

• Communicate your commitment in labels,
  advertising, packaging, press campaigns, Web
  sites
• Graft a disability affinity group onto other
  existing diversity groups
• Create a customer advisory board or task force
  composed to provide guidance, insights, expertise
  
• Explore the crossover demand of multiple
  applications
• Know the customers needs and comfort level
• Enlist the expertise of the disability
  grass-roots nonprofits (not service providers)
  and the support of top brass
• Avoid patronizing or insulting language and
  images
• Ensure alternative formats, such as Braille and
  large-print, for promotional materials

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From You I Get the Story (Public
Relations)Kinkos, Motorola

• Edit your copy for media kits and presentations
  to ensure people-first language
• Top the release or press materials with the
  disability angle for the specialty press
• Position the articles in metro, news and
  business, not in health or lifestyle
• Have a lineup ready of trusted in-house sources
  with disabilities who can represent the company
• Pitch the people or products, not the disability
• Make the copy clear and consistent on disability
  and accessibility, from manuals through media
  kits and presentations
• Avoid using philanthropy to deflect
  discrimination accusations in the case of hit
  pieces
• Build a disability history or story platform to
  show the legacy within the company and community.

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How Do You Think He Does It?(Design and
Architecture)Steelcase, Adaptive Environments

• Let user-experts guide you to both problems and
  solutions
• Audit the workplace for design shortcomings based
  on a range of disabilities
• Tinker with technology. Not all solutions come
  off the shelf.
• Solicit customer and visitor suggestions
• Automate everything possible with
  voice-activation and smart technology

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The Camp With A Difference(Management)Suntrust
, Cingular

• Promote the growth of affinity groups dedicated
  to disability culture
• Build teams based on complementary rather than
  homogenous strengths
• Apply a 360-degree perspective to leadership
  skills
• Use constant communications to sync disability
  and corporate cultures
• Include the recommendations of disability task
  forces in company strategy and policy
• Play the long-shot now and then on matching
  disability and job requirements

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The Top 50 U.S. Disability-ForwardCompanies
Consulting with experts in the disability
field, the author ranked these companies
according to their performance in three areas
1) aggressively recruiting, training, and
promoting people with disabilities 2) investing
in assistive technology and accessible
workplaces 3) recognizing the power of
customers with disabilities
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• 1. IBM
• A Big Blue-sized marketing effort in assistive
  technology is matched by a decadesold
• tradition of weaving disability and corporate
  cultures through recruiting (diversity
• chief Ted Childs aggressively accents disability)
  and accommodation.
• 2. Microsoft
• Chairman Bill Gates supports national
  initiatives, including the USBLG, while his
• HR managers under Mylene Padolina effectively
  recruit students with disabilities
• (as early as high school) as interns and new
  hires. The in-house affinity groups and
• brilliant accessible technology team make it the
  dream office for accessibility.
• 3. SunTrust
• This major banks disability policy has reached
  an advanced level of cultural integration,
• including employee and customer awareness, even
  as its call centers and
• products attract strong numbers of recruits and
  new clients.
• 4. Cingular Wireless
• The in-house winner for its savvy niche marketing
  and outstanding HR policies,
• this telecom giant invests its dynamic affinity
  groups with the strategic power to integrate

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• 5. Bank of America
• A strong advocate and supporter of the Business
  Leadership Network, the bank is
• also notable for its full-blown ad campaign for
  customers with disabilities.
• 6. Booz Allen Hamilton
• The consulting firm is a perennial award winner
  for campus recruitment, college
• internships, and a record of promoting from
  within. Its Disabilities Task Force and
• Disabilities Program Manager are used by the NBDC
  as a best practices model.
• 7. Procter Gamble
• Under chief diversity officer Deb Dagit, the
  masters of marketing boast an outstanding
• recruiting record and benefits program, making
  them a prize employer for
• managers with disabilities.
• 8. JPMorgan Chase
• With the acquisition of Bank One, which has
  enjoyed a hugely successful marketing
• effort of its redesigned and highly accessible
  facilities, the fast-growing investment

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• 9. Merck
• The pharmaceutical giant uses sponsorships and
  participation in advocacy efforts to
• build an image in the disability community,
  establishing a solid symmetry in its outreach to
  consumers and recruits.
• 10. Wells Fargo
• A pioneer in accommodation, the bank is also way
  out front in marketing, with the
• first accessible ATM (now up to 4,800
  state-of-the-art machines with assistive
  technology) and an award-winning accessible Web
  site.
• 11. Motorola
• A major presence in college recruiting and
  advocacy, the leading maker of cool cell phones
  recognized early in the game the advantages of
  multiple applications of accessible and usable
  technology in product design.
• 12. Nordstrom
• The retailer captured its place in disability
  business history through its high-visibility
• advertising campaigns have used cause marketing
  since 1987. More recently, it
• has made strides on the HR and management
  fronts.

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• 13. Manpower
• The worlds biggest employer, a past winner of
  New Freedom Initiative Award, keeps
• thousands of workers with disabilities on its
  rolls, with benefits.
• 14. UPS
• Worldwide shipper wields its purchasing power as
  an influential force through its
• Supplier Diversity Program as well as its hiring
  might through such programs as
• the Marriott Foundations Bridges, state
  vocational services, and non-profit agencies
• (particularly serving deaf workers).
• 15. Merrill Lynch
• Thanks to the dynamic in-house advocate Chris
  Fossel, the affinity group and recruiting
• efforts post significant hiring numbers in
  combination with targeted retail efforts, a
  record of success particularly in the Deaf
  community.
• 16. Lockheed Martin
• The massive defense contractor is a powerhouse
  in diversity, emphasizing disability
• in its HR training and garnering perennial
  awards and high marks from Careers and the
  disABLED magazine.
• 17. Federated Department Stores
• The rookie of the year in 2006 for its employee
  training and comprehensive marketing
• efforts is ensuring that its Macys sales force
  is up to speed on disability culture.

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• 18. General Electric
• As a design innovator of accessible consumer
  home products, including a highly profitable
  kitchen, GE is also a leader in reaching the
  disability market, especially after taking the
  extra step to make its Web portal completely
  accessible.
• 19. Wal-Mart
• The new addition of Deidre Davis to the
  executive ranks as their first director of ADA
  services is considered a major move by advocates,
  gaining community points for a company that has
  already scored high for hiring people with
  developmental disabilities as well as seniors
  (225,000 of them).
• 20. Sears
• A solid track record at Sears on accommodation
  and HR joins a highly regarded disability
  marketing effort, established over a decade ago,
  at Kmart to make one of the most balanced
  examples among retailers of disability awareness.
• 21. Charles Schwab
• Disability awareness starts at the topthe
  founder and chairman, whose name is on the door,
  has dyslexia.

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• 22. Medtronic
• The world leader in medical technology is a
  growing presence in the Business Leadership
  Network, thanks to Karen Quammem, which named it
  Employer of the Year for 2005 in part for its
  cultural affinity network.
• 23. TJX
• The nations top clothes retailer is the source
  of hundreds of jobs for workers with disabilities
  through the nationwide Resource Partnership and
  uses its strong supplier diversity policy to
  wield wider influence.
• 24. Blue Cross
• This massive healthcare network is a classic
  example of the medical industry hiring from its
  core market. It hosted the 2003 COSD conference.
• 25. General Motors
• The carmaker is miles ahead of domestic rivals
  on accessible design, customer service (including
  TTY for OnStar) and marketing to drivers with
  disabilities.
• 26. United Technologies
• Not surprisingly, a major supplier of disability
  products, including Otis elevators, is also a
  major employer.

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• 27. Black and Decker
• This important holdover from the old industrial
  economy is an outstanding example
• of accommodation in an era when too many jobs for
  people with disabilities are
• in the service sector.
• 28. Starbucks
• Conspicuously eager to be perceived as a
  corporate good citizen, the coffee chain
  literally
• lowered the bar for wheelchair users on both
  sides, working and sipping, making
• it a recent but caffeinated entrant into the
  recruiting and marketing games.
• 29. Pitney-Bowes
• A copier with multiple access features was a
  major coup in universal design enabled
• by disability-forward strategists who spotted a
  great niche.
• 30. Johnson Johnson
• The all-round diversity champion does not leave
  disability out of the mix with its Return
• to Wellness integrated disability management
  program that supports employees
• returning to work on flex-time.
• 31. Marriott
• The hotelier is a pioneer through its foundation
  program called Bridges (from
• school to work), now in its 17th year, a major
  force in supported employment that
• has racked up over 7,800 placements with 1,500
  employers. Caveat Considered by

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• 33. 3M
• A top-ranking technology company with an
  outstanding example of an in-house employee
• resource group (the DisabilityAdvisory Network)
  and a model HR and benefits
• policy (Total Disability Management program) that
  is especially strong in the
• area of developmental disabilities.
• 34. American Express
• A major employer of people with disabilities,
  they just appointed EVP Kevin L. Cox,
• noted disability expert, to a high-ranking
  strategic HR spot.
• 35. Northwest Airlines
• This is a turn-around tale The one-time target
  of travelers complaints has launched
• recruiting, workplace accommodation, advocacy,
  and marketing efforts with their
• innovative Customer Advisory Board that redeem
  old offenses.
• 36. ConAgra
• The food giant has nurtured disability awareness
  as a cultural component of its
• award-winning Valuing Diversity Initiative.
• 37. Qualcomm
• The Department of Labor recently recognized the
  telecom supplier as a leader in the
• employment of veterans with disabilities.

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• 39. MacDonalds
• With its huge presence in supported employment
  and philanthropy, which some
• say is old school, the burger chain creates
  thousands of jobs annually.
• 40. Honeywell
• This founding member of the (now defunct) Able to
  Work consortium has a great
• track record on turning its assistive tech
  innovations into employee perks.
• 41. Mattel
• The toymaker made history with Share-a-Smile
  Becky, Barbies wheelchair-using
• friend, and remains disability-forward in its
  marketing and philanthropy.
• 42. Chrysler
• The automakers annual design awards promote
  accessibility, a standout feature of
• its own models (such as the PT Cruiser, one of
  the best cars for wheelchair users).
• 43. Universal Studios Home Entertainment
• The studio garnered rave reviews on progress for
  disability in the media with the simultaneous
  release of Ray in DVD and enhanced DVS format.
• 44. Hewlett-Packard
• For years a dominant player in recruiting people
  with disabilities, as well as accessible
• technology, HP is a past winner of the New
  Freedom Initiative Award.
• 45. Avis

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• 46. ExxonMobil
• The gas giant is a strong supporter of advocacy
  and recruiting groups, including COSD, as well as
  nonprofit service organizations.
• 47. Caterpillar
• The huge equipment manufacturer is an assistive
  technology leader and towering philanthropic
  force for its support of the Special Olympics.
• 48. Colgate-Palmolive
• A steady supporter of Just One Break and other
  employment initiatives, Colgate also plays a
  strong marketing role as an advertiser in
  disability publications.
• 49. Ford
• An automaker that is going all-out to be
  regarded as a good corporate citizen, Ford puts
  user-experts to work designing cars that offer
  mobility to consumers with disabilities. A recent
  conference on the issue was titled Not Just
  Talk.
• 50. MGM
• Recognizing the tremendous market among people
  with disabilities for casinos and resorts, this
  entertainment company is pouring resources into
  accessibility.

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On Second Thought

• 41) Google
• Strong disability presence throughout voluminous
  mission statement on corporate social
  responsibility, backed by significant hiring and
  solid if not perfect effort on accessible Web
  design