Thread: MISSING IN MANAGEMENT Few Hispanics across the board

Sept. 16, 2006, 8:35PM
MISSING IN MANAGEMENT
Few Hispanics across the board
Population has grown, but it's not represented in corporate America

By EDGARDO E. COLÓN and DR. ADOLFO SANTOS

AS we are all aware, the Harris County region has had a significant demographic transformation in population, with the Hispanic population growing from 22.7 percent in 1990 to 33.0 percent in the year 2000. In fact, according to recent figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau, there are almost 1.4 million Hispanics in Harris County, or 37.3 percent of the total population. Today, Hispanics are almost 40 percent of the population of Houston, and are expected to approach 50 percent in the next 10 years.

Yet, there is a serious lack of Hispanic representation on corporate boards and in senior management positions of the top publicly traded corporations in Houston. This summer, the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce commissioned a study to determine the level of Hispanic participation at those levels and the results are frightening: Out of 2,403 corporate board members and senior managers, only 46 are Hispanic. In other words, less than 2 percent of the corporate leadership in the city is Hispanic.

For many of these companies, Hispanics are among their biggest customers. For others, Hispanics make up a significant percentage of their workforce; and yet, Hispanics are not welcomed at the level where decisions are made. Our city reflects a similar disturbing national trend. Recent studies show that Hispanics hold only 1.8 percent of board seats and 1.1 percent of executive offices in Fortune 1,000 companies.

There are many practical reasons for corporate America to include Hispanics on their boards (beyond commitment to serving this sector of the community). According to the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau, the median age of the Hispanic community in the United States is 25.9. The median age for the entire U.S. population was 35.3 years of age. The purchasing power of Hispanics is currently $700 billion, and is expected to increase to $1 trillion by 2010 as the population matures. This phenomenal purchasing power, coupled with Hispanics' recognized commitment to brand loyalty, makes the Hispanic market very attractive to corporate America.

Understanding this market will be crucial to the economic growth of many companies. Hispanic board members can leverage their insight and knowledge of the U.S. Hispanic market and apply their marketing and business development expertise to offer new products and/or expand existing ones in the Hispanic community and beyond. In addition, by including Hispanics on their boards, companies could build important relationships that will affect the future success of the business. Understanding the local culture of the community will be critical to winning Hispanic customers.

Moreover, improving Hispanic representation on corporate boards and as senior managers is important because improved representation will help generate a Hispanic leadership that will be firmly committed to free markets, economic growth and corporate success. If Hispanics are incorporated into the leadership of corporate America, Hispanics will develop a better commitment to corporations as part of the American fabric. Hispanics will appreciate corporations that value them not simply as consumers, but as decision-makers.

The absence of Hispanic participation on corporate boards or in positions of senior management is not due to a lack of talent, skills or business acumen. The corporate community not only has an extraordinary pool of entrepreneurs from which to recruit corporate board members, but also has academics, medical professionals and former policy-makers from which to recruit. The Hispanic talent pool exists.

The Hispanic community has made significant contributions to the city's economy, introducing whole new markets from which we all benefit. These contributions can be found in most sectors of the economy, with some of the greatest contributions in the construction, transportation, wholesale and retail sectors of the economy.

The U.S. Census Bureau has noted that the number of Hispanic-owned businesses nationally has grown at triple the national average between 1997 and 2002, generating nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars in annual revenue. Recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that Harris County has one of the highest concentrations of Hispanic-owned businesses of any county in the United States, at 61,934 businesses, ranking Harris County third in the nation in the number of such businesses.

Making the absence of Hispanics on corporate boards even more troublesome is the fact that there are significantly more non-Hispanic individuals who serve on more than one local corporate board or senior management positions than there are Hispanics serving in those capacities. While there are a mere 46 Hispanics serving in positions of corporate leadership, there are 89 non-Hispanic individuals who serve on more than one board or position of senior management. These 89 individuals serve on 198 different corporate leadership positions. Some of these 89 individuals serve on as many as five different leadership positions. Thirteen of these individuals are serving in three or more leadership positions.

And yet, in Houston, there are only 20 Hispanic individuals who serve on corporate boards, and 19 who serve as senior managers, with only seven of these individuals serving as both senior managers and board members.

Given the success of NAFTA and the great potential of CAFTA-DR and other multilateral trade agreements, relationships between the Latin American economies, Spain and the U.S. markets, it makes good business sense for Houston-based companies to reach out to the Hispanic community at the board and senior management levels. The Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce challenges our business community to include Hispanics in positions of leadership, if we are serious about economic development and promoting our region as the key destination for business entrepreneurs in Spain and Latin America. If corporate America takes on this challenge, Houston will have a true reason to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

Colón is an attorney and is the chairman of the Board of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (HHCC). Santos is chair of the Department of Social Sciences and associate professor of political science at the University of Houston-Downtown. The HHCC Study can be reviewed at www.houstonhispanicchamber.com.

Miami is full of Hispanics as well and unless they own a large company, there are not many in high level positions. We see them mostly in politics and law. Many of those Hispanic lawyers practice immigration law.

complain complain complain...................I'll bet they will start forcing companies to hire them even though they may not be qualified.

A huge number are here illegally. There's not too many that make it through high school let alone college. Seems the ones that do, like was mentioned above....go into law or politics and they seem geared to helping ONLY their people. They are involved in TV, radio, and all sorts of venues......it's just geared toward hispanics. I wonder how many whites, blacks and asians are on "their" boards?

It would be interesting to see what the stats are for different races and ethnicity. There are many very intelligent and educated people from various races. I had 2 professors that were from India and they really knew what they were teaching and had lots of experience in the field. They really taught me a lot and both made you use your brain instaed of giving you a free ride. The sheriff in Dade County is African American (he replaced a Hispanic) and there are other high ranking African American Officers.

Who are they suggesting we put in these positions?

People like Villargairosa, Bustamante, Dr.Armando Navarro, Sam Zamarripa, Linda Chavez, Jose Angel Gutierrez, Art Torres or Janet Murguía to name a few. How about members of LaRaza, MALDEF or MEChA?

How well do these Hispanics manage their own countries? Lets' see, Mexico is a filth ridden, poverty and illiteracy stricken hellhole. El Salvador is a gang banger run, slum ridden rathole. Colombia is a drug infested, militant controlled craphole. Let's not forget places like Los Angeles, Maywood, San Diego, etc. And on and on and on. And these poeple want to manage things here?

Boy I can hardly wait, maybe in a few years of their control, we can all get jobs selling chicklets on the street, or maybe get a job at the local pinata factory. Or maybe we might get lucky and become business owners, with our own zebra painted donkeys on the corner.

if we are serious about economic development and promoting our region as the key destination for business entrepreneurs in Spain and Latin America.

What about it Texan's? Are you seriously wanting to be a destination for Spain and Latin America?

Reptile09 is right on. Some of the people are just as bad as the politicians in the country they left. In Miami Dade County they have proved it. A Hispanic lawyer made friendw with the higher Hispanic politicians in the county including the mayor. He got contracts to build low income housing projects including some for seniors. He build housing all right ..... a multimillion dollar home for himself and bought houses which he had remodelled and sold. Not one low income housing unit was built by him. This was uncovered by the Miami Herald and he ended up turning himself in to police and was arrested. The sad part is when an African American politician committed a crime involving building, it made the news daily for over a week. The man ended up committing suicide. The Hispanic only got 2 days of media attention.
The school board in Dade County consists of mostly Cubans. A parent complained about a book on Cuba because it did not talk about the Castro regime. The school board voted and the book was banned. Another older student complained to the ACLU and they ordered the book be put back into the library. The school board is now going to court against the ACLU which may cost the taxpayers close to $250,000. This angers me as first of all school board money should not be spent on people's political agendas and the fact that this story was on FOX news and the relative spoke Spanish and a translator was used.
And people want them in higher positions.