25 SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities – CDW

Group Reflection

Our group interviewed Brandon Ruffin who works at CDW. Our group created certain questions that we wanted answered to get a firm background about the company. We wanted to ask Brandon what CDW is and what is his role in the company. We wanted to know what CDW is exactly and what it was created for. We also wanted to get to know Brandon personally, as well as his background, his point of view on the business, and his place in the company. Another question we had was about some recent innovations that the company created and has it impacted or solved one of its sustainability goals. We as a group wanted to dig deep into what innovation the company has been recently working on and how it has impacted their main goals they have. We wanted to know a little bit about a certain innovation that they have and if it follows the purpose of the company they have built. The question was about CDW’s purpose in helping the customer achieve their goals and providing them with technological advice and products. Then we asked how the idea of the innovation came about for the company and what impact it has made on the business itself. We wanted to know what this innovation did for the company and how it has positively impacted the company. We as the group wanted to dig deeper into this specific innovation, so we asked another question about the short, and long-term effects it had on the business and society. Lastly, we asked Brandon about his daily job like what his favorite and worst parts of the job, and what his daily routine looks like. These questions were asked during the interview process which helped us as a group get a deeper understanding of the business we are working with, as well as the Brandon Ruffin.

After the interview we as a group found it very impactful toward our work for this project. We found many things that were either impressive, surprising, or very interesting. It was very interesting when Brandon first talked about his background with CDW and how he got there. CDW was originally a computer discount warehouse in the 1980s to a technology solutions and services provider. Now CDW goes beyond selling computers; they provide full-scale technology solutions, including configuring and setting up computers for customers. We also found that CDW is partnering with major tech companies like Dell, HP, and Cisco to provide solutions and services. We were very impressed that CDW operates globally with coworkers in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, South Africa, India, etc. CDW sells to a diverse range of customers, including K-12 education, higher education, government entities (both state and federal), businesses of all sizes, and healthcare institutions. We found that CDW addresses various SDGs, including good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, and reduced inequalities. It was very interesting when Brandon talked about CDW collaborating with Ecotone Analytics to create an evidence-based framework and data-driven logic model to determine specific issues related to digital equity that CDW would support. He also talked about the three main areas of focus in CDW’s digital equity model are providing access to technology, supporting education, and building the workforce, with a focus on making the tech industry more reflective of diversity. It was also very interesting, and impressive when Brandon talked about specific innovations that the company created and how it has impacted the company or even the society. How it’s related to the company’s purpose, CDW you’ll hear them say their mantra which we make technology work so that people can do great things. In conclusion, we found some great information from this interview that to us as a group was either impressive, surprising, or interesting.

As a group, we identified few gaps in our current knowledge. From our understanding of the interview, CDW has made an initiative and have been very intentional on making sure that the devices sector has been handled whereby they have made provision and donations for those without access of the devices. Also on digital literacy, it’s clearly seen that they have really worked to impact on digital literacy to enhance digital equity in the technology space by working with organizations such as Girls who Code and Girls in Tech. The only gap identified is on the sector of internet access. What happens to the less privileged who are given donations? How do they access their internet services? Does CDW provide for them? Also on the provision of grants. How do they go about giving endowment or rather what qualifies different communities and countries to getting the endowment and does it differ depending on the magnitude of the situation?

There was one area of the story that we were taken back by the fact that CDW has initiatives on providing technology literacy. Those donated to, in case of illiteracy when it comes to the technology sector, CDW makes sure they have taught them and how to operate on it. The fact that they had faced a language barrier while working with Laurie Children’s Hospital and they quickly maneuvered and curbed the problem by providing the hospital’s team under new digital equity program, iPads to their interpretive services team so that they could use the program to translate as they could be right at the bedside with the iPads that CDW provided.
It was inspirational to hear all the business practices that CDW is involved in. Speaking to Brandon helped us understand their expertise in technology domains. Our initial expectations before conducting the interview were low in comparison to how CDW handles their initiatives. They contribute to the economy and emphasize the usefulness of knowledge and specifically digital concepts that can help foster a growing community. CDW understands that businesses have varying needs. They provide scalable solutions that can be a challenge. However, they work through this by adapting to the changing demands of a business.
We learned that to be a sustainable and thriving business you must be able to adapt to the economy. The business model that CDW must have helps implement these changes that allows flexibility in adjusting their technology infrastructure as needed. Especially when working and providing services to big technology companies like Dell and Hp the point is to keep up with the latest technology.

Exploring the AIM2Flourish story gave all of us some things to think about, especially regarding what different businesses do to give back to their community. With CDW, we got to see how they would continuously give back to their local communities as they would try to work towards some of the global goals. With the CDW story in mind, this AIM2Flourish experience will affect the way we think in the future towards businesses. Mainly, on top of what a business provides as a service or product, what else they provide for their communities, and how they look to give back. While interviewing, Brandon mentioned how many consumers look to do business with a company that wants to do more than just make money and this is something that will change the way we look at different brands. The exercise allowed for us to see some insight behind the scenes of many decisions that go on with a business when it comes to the extra work they put in and it will certainly be a factor in evaluating companies whether that is as a customer or even a potential business partner. CDW inspired us by showing how they’re able to take their connections with technology partners and use this to provide people with access and education to technology. We feel that in the future we will act to try to incorporate even the smallest steps to work toward a Sustainable Development Goal.

Speaking from the perspective of all management courses our group can agree that by setting up weekly meetings and by creating a group chat it helped supplement team dynamics and performances in several ways. Such as leading and communicating between one another. Whether that is being a producer in providing a helpful hand when a task was unaccomplished or creating connections between one another in finding similar topics to speak on. We were also able to often reflect on what drives a business to implement CSR into their framework and how certain activities can support the demands of stakeholders. This was especially helpful when we were brainstorming interview questions and creating the Aim2Flourish story.
Working with a team of five individuals in all parts of the world came with its challenges, however, we found many ways to organize our group. Each week, after conducting our meeting we would broadly discuss the assignment at hand and the vision in which we would like to go. From there, we would create a shared document where everyone was responsible for a particular section and allow ourselves a few days to complete assigned tasks. We would meet again if necessary to review and combine our work before submission, however, for smaller assignments one of us would volunteer to combine the work and submit it. We found this was the most efficient way for us to work together especially with the various time zones. Something we found very beneficial was to brainstorm after our interview and talking about key takeaways. This really helped with making our analysis feel more cohesive.