Hi all -
Below are some excerpts from a front page article in yesterday's Los Angeles
times. Thought it might provide some quotable quotes for trainers and change
agents dealing with diversity issues. Regards.
Michael Greer --
mgreer6062@aol.com
(310) 822-3216 [Los Angeles]
Author of _The Project Manager's Partner_ (HRD Press), _ID Project
Management_(Ed. Tech. Pub.) and other PM Resources -- For free handouts, etc.
see:
http://members.aol.com/GreersPM/mg-home.htm
------------------------ [Excerpts from Article]----------------
From _Diversity Driven by the Dollar_, by Peter Y. Hong, Los Angeles Times
Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times, Tuesday, May 26, 1998
Visit Longo Toyota during the Saturday rush and you can hear the sound of
money being made in today's Southern California. At three tables, salesmen Ray
Cai, Nelson Temores and Butch Gabutina are closing deals with customers -- in
Mandarin, Spanish, and Tagalog. While they haggle, a receptionist sounds a
plea, in English, over the loudspeaker: "Korean-speaking salesman to the
floor, please." David Ahn, who's on the phone with a customer, hears the
announcement and wraps up the call -- in Korean -- to greet the client waiting
at the reception desk.
The El Monte care dealership has adeptly ridden the current immigration wave,
deploying 60 sales people who speak more than 20 languages, from Arabic to
Vietnamese. The strategy has helped Longo become the top-grossing car
dealership in the state, and possibly the country, with about $350 million in
annual revenues, said Chuck Bohon, editor of Ward's Dealer Business... Other
car dealers target the region's growing base of immigrant and minority
customers, but no dealer has done so on Longo's scale. In addition to the
rank and file staff, two-thirds of Longo Toyota's managers are minorities, a
record unmatched by many large corporations with aggressive affirmative
programs. Many of the supervisors are also immigrants...
California's largest car dealership might well be a good place to see what
[this approach] might mean for America... The dealership has no affirmative
action program. Its staff simply evolved to serve it's customers, 80% of whom
are Asian Americans and Latinos...By taking the lead in diversifying his
staff, [Longo's president] capitalized on demographic shifts in Longo's
market.