3. CASE SUMMARY
FOUNDATION
• Year 2000: USA
• Year 2005: India
ONLINE TRAVEL COMPANY
• Realtime booking
• Hotels, Holiday packages
TRAVEL APP
• Technology forward
• 7.2 Mn downloads
• Won awards
4. DIVERSITY TRIP
• Increase diversity across gender and
geographies
• D&I Council set up in 2012
• Provisons for women, regional festivals, WFH
etc
• Holiday expert channel for stay at home
women
FUTURE GOALS
• Increase diversity
• Campaigns to sensitize
• Increase the number of women
in top management
• Mentoring high potential women
8. Journey towards increasing
Diversity is new!
Firm & Deep rooted Stereotypes and
Beliefs - A Major Challenge
Inclusion an important additive
Senior women leadership - Scarce
Diversity - a selective group (Age,
Region, Religion)
10. Cultural
Transmission Theory
• According to the cultural transmission
theory of prejudice, "the building blocks of
prejudice are contained within the
society’s traditions or culture and are
transmitted to children in a natural way as
they are exposed to those traditions in the
home and community
• Here, stereotype is that women cannot be
leaders or women cannot be in senior
positions in an organization
11. Institutional
Structure Theory
• Structural discrimination is a form of
institutional discrimination against
individuals of a given protected
characteristic such as race or gender
which has the effect of restricting
their opportunities
• In this case, it is unintentional
12. Social Identity Theory
• The central hypothesis is that group
members of an in-group will seek to
find negative aspects of an out-group,
thus enhancing their self-image
• Social Identity Theory asserts the
creation of in-group and out-group
• In this case, it is based on Gender and
the groups would be males and
females
13. Are there any interventions discussed
and are those interventions the correct
choice? Explain using the constructs and
theories discussed in class
Question 3
14. D&I council set up in 2012
Owned by a body of 35 employees that represent various functions and
tenures.
• Inclusive communication platform
• Celebration of diversity
• Improving the gender ratio at the mid-to-senior level
• Providing better facilities at the workplace
15. Interventions
REVISED LAPTOP
POLICY
SAFETY OF WOMEN
EMPLOYEES
• Travel rosters and
customer visits
planned
mindfully
• Partnered with
Smart 24x7 to
introduce an app
that assists users
during
emergency
situations
• Lighter laptops
were rolled out
first for new hires
and women
FLEXIBILITY IN
WORKPLACE ATTIRE
• Freedom to
wear/display
religious motifs
such as tilak,
kada, hijab.
16. • Encouraging employee
participation
• through contests and other on-
ground engagement activities.
• Nukkad nataks (street plays)
performed
Interventions
MATERNITY BENEFITS
• Three months of fully paid leave
plus three months of additional
leaves (with half-pay or work
from home).
• Provision for infrastructure
support for pregnant employees,
such as ergonomic chair, foot
rest, special cab if required.
• In the case of critical positions,
the employee is assured that
she will return to the role once
she re-joins
CELEBRATING RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS
17. • Designed specifically for stay-at-home women
• Offers them the opportunity to take up customer queries, help plan and sell a
holiday, and earn up to a one-third share of the profits on every holiday booking.
• On average, a holiday expert books 4–6 holidays every month, earning between
20,000 and 30,000 a month. Top-selling holiday experts can make up to `65,000 a
month.
• A flexible programme so they can devote as much time as they are comfortable
with. They are driven to succeed, extremely engaged, and motivated.
• Contributing 20–25 per cent of our holiday business. It brings down operational
expenses since we do not have to invest in fixed assets for these employees.
• Launched with 33 people in Delhi in 2012, and followed by phased launches across
metro and non-metro cities in India
WORK FROM HOME
OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN:
HOLIDAY EXPERTS CHANNEL
18. INTERVENTIONS: THE CORRECT CHOICE?
Yes. To a certain extent we feel the interventions would be helpful in improving gender
& regional diversity for the following reasons:
• Commitment and support from Top Leadership
• Educating employees about diverse cultures and religions which would help
tackle unconscious biases and prevent prejudice, discrimination & stereotyping
• Providing flexible work opportunities to women who had given up their corporate
careers mid-stream due to home or family reasons, creating win-win situations
• Inclusive policies which are viewed as industry best practices
Having said that, more initiatives can be undertaken by the company to develop
strong women leaders and improve various other aspects of diversity like
Sexual Orientation and People with disabilities to create a more inclusive workplace.
20. 1. Gender Sensitivity
• Currently the organizations is having 40% women.
• So inclusion of other gender orientations such as
individuals from LGBTQ+ Communit.
⚬ It can be done through open walk-in Interviews
⚬ It can be done through rewarding employees for such
referrals
21. 2. Women in Leadership Roles
• They are looking at - "We believe that mentoring of high
potential women may help to attract women to these
jobs"
• Suggestion will be : Cross Mentoring
• Example: IBM currently pairs top leaders (often male)
with female mentors who have been identified as future
leaders. The mentor/mentee meet regularly, each
learning from the other.
