THE MANAGER'S MEMO
TO: Dr. Molly Freeman, Consultant to River Falls Women in Management Group
FROM: D. L. Brown, CEO, River Falls Paper Company
CC: Christine Langlands, Senior Vice President, Operations
RE: Exclusion of Administrative Assistants in Women's Group
It has come to my attention that RF's women in management group refuses to allow RF administrative assistants to attend meetings or become members. In particular, I've recently learned that Christine's administrative assistant is seriously concerned about the exclusivity of this group, especially since RF is currently putting so much emphasis on fostering inclusion. Christine has insisted that admins should attend the group's meetings and is requesting my support.
Christine notes that many secretaries have college degrees and are very interested in furthering their careers at RF. Christine further claims that the past three meetings have covered topics that are of special concern to our admins (mentoring, performance review, and inclusion) and that these women would benefit greatly from this networking experience. Christine has a strong argument to support this claim. I would very much like to be supportive of your charter, which apparently excludes administrative assistants from group membership; however, I find myself in a major dilemma.
How can I profess to be the champion of our inclusion efforts, on the one hand, yet support an exclusive women's group that ignores the needs of administrative assistants, on the other? Unless you provide a sound argument for why the administrative assistants should not be part of your group, I suggest you consider changing your charter. In addition, I would like you to provide an alternative solution to this dilemma, if one exists. Please respond ASAP, as I think this problem could intensify rather quickly.
CASE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Assume that you are the consultant to this women's group. Would you recommend including the administrative assistants in your group? How would you respond to the CEO? the administrative assistant? Christine Lang lands? Is there an alternative to this problem (other than admitting the admins to this group)? Is it possible to justify an exclusive group in an "inclusive" environment?