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The Inequality Issue (Fall 2017)

In this issue, we look at some of the key issues related to both inequality of outcome (as measured by income or wealth) and inequality of opportunity (as measured by circumstances beyond an individual’s control, such as gender or sexual orientation) and show what today’s leaders can do to address both.

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Feature Articles From this Issue

Feature articles from Rotman Management magazine can be purchased individually as PDF documents. 
Click on any title to proceed to the purchase page at hbr.org.

Because its 2017
CEO spotlight
How to move millions up
Poorer than their parents
Ed Clark
  • (FREE) Thought Leader Interview: Ed Clark
    Interview by Karen Christensen
    The former CEO of TD Bank, Ed Clark, has been widely heralded for leading the Bank’s expansion into the U.S.—where it is now one of the top 10 largest banks—and tripling its market capitalization. In a wide-ranging interview, he describes his efforts to change the Bank’s culture to one of inclusivity, and the mindset required to make that a reality. He also discusses income inequality in Canada and the U.S., his track record of ‘doing the right thing’, and the need for leaders everywhere to be “intolerant of intolerance”.
    Click on the title to read the article or here for a PDF version.
Inclusive growth and development
  • The Challenge of the Century: Inclusive Growth and Development
    by R. Samans, J. Blanke, G. Corrigan, and M. Drzeniek Hanouz
    While income inequalitybetweencountries has declined significantly over the past 20 years, it has grown markedlywithincountries. A combination of technological change, global integration, domestic deregulation and immigration has been driving major changes in labour markets in most advanced countries—resulting in pressure on median wages and widespread insecurity. The authors—from the World Economic Forum—describe their ‘framework for inclusive growth’ and the Inclusive Development Index, which measures countries on three categories of KPIs, including Adjusted Net Savings; Median Household Income; Poverty Rate; and Healthy Life Expectancy.
The new urban crisis.
  • The New Urban Crisis: Putting an End to Winner-Takes-All Urbanism
    by Richard Florida
    For many years, renowned urbanist Richard Florida has married his long-held interest in urban economic development with the insights of urban sociologists on the corrosive effects of concentrated poverty, mapping the deep new divides that isolate the classes and tracing the growth of economic disadvantage in the suburbs. In this excerpt from his latest book, he presents some of his key findings, showing that ‘urbanism for all’ is contingent upon seven principles—including: building more affordable rental housing; investing in infrastructure; and making ‘clustering’ work for us.
Diversitys new frontier
  • Diversity’s New Frontier: Diversity of Thought
    by Anesa Parker, Carmen Medina,and Elizabeth Schill
    Until now, diversity initiatives have focused primarily on fairness for legally-protected populations. But the smartest organizations today are embracing and harnessing a more powerful and nuanced type of diversity: diversity of thought. The authors show that increasing diversity of thought at your organization entails three steps: Hiring differently; managing differently; and advancing differently. They describe how to go about each step to achieve an inclusive culture characterized by diversity of thought.
Leadership Forum
  • Leadership Forum: The Role of the LGBTQ + Ally
    by Ken Fredeen, Sandeep Tatla, Deborah Richardson and Jennifer Tory
    Senior executives from Deloitte, RBC, Manulife and the public sector describe their personal journeys as ‘allies’ for LGBTQ employees. Doing so entails standing up to those who use insensitive language in the workplace, listening to learn what the employee needs in order to thrive, and spreading the word about the benefits of inclusivity. In the end, they show that you cannot call yourself a great leader today unless you practice and promote inclusiveness.
The ideal worker
  • Updating the Image of the Ideal Worker
    by Erin Reid
    The image of the ‘ideal’ worker and its attendant expectation of complete devotion to work has long been believed to be a key driver of workplace gender inequality. Scholars have mostly examined how women — and mothers in particular —navigate expectations that they devote themselves to work. Less attention has been paid to men’s experiences, echoing the tendency to frame work–family conflict as a ‘woman’s problem’. Yet, the author shows that a majority of menandwomen in the workplace experience some conflict regarding the ideal-worker stereotype. Further, many men who are considered to be ‘ideal’ workers are actually simplypassingas such; while many women reveal their true work identity and are punished for it.
Self presentation in labour market
  • ‘Whitening’ and Self-Presentation in the Labour Market
    by Sonia Kang, Katherine DeCelles, Andràs Tilcsik, and Sora Jun
    Modern organizations continue to play a key role in perpetuating economic inequality in society. Despite the proliferation of equal opportunity and diversity initiatives, discrimination on the basis of race remains particularly pervasive in North American labour markets. The authors show that even companies that publicly espouse an inclusive environment continue to discriminate against candidates who appear to be from non-white backgrounds. Worse yet, many non-white job candidates are proactively ‘whitening’ their resumes in order to hide their racial identity.
Myth of classless society
  • The Myth of a Classless Society
    by András Tilcsik
    Social class— defined as one’s relative socio-economic rank in society — is one of the key factors shaping educational and economic trajectories in a powerful way. Whether defined by parental income or education, research shows that social class of origin affects a child’s future educational, occupational and economic attainment, as well as their mental and physical well-being. But until now, research has neglected a vital dimension of economic stratification: employment. The author describes his study, in which seemingly ‘high class’ male applicants for a job received four times as many call-backs as other categories of applicants—despite having identical resumes.
Lessons from movement makers
  • Lessons from Movement Makers: What Social Upheaval Teaches Us About Engagement
    by Charlie Brown
    I
    n the business world, it’s not common practice to look for strategy pointers from Black Lives Matter or the Idle No More movement; but it really should be. The author—who has worked with Microsoft, The Rockefeller Foundation and the Rainforest Alliance—argues that today’s most successful companies have strong networks of highly-engaged people on their side, a strategy that social movements have been perfecting for decades. He describes three principles that enable social movements to foster such a high degree of engagement: shared purpose, clear roles and the right rewards.

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Dan Trefler
Iris Bohnet
Interviews and Ideas

From This Issue Fall 2017

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