Abstract

The case discusses how Cynthia Marshall (Marshall), CEO of Dallas Mavericks, an American professional basketball franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), turned around and transformed the business side of the franchise by cultivating and fostering a culture of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DE&I) throughout the organization. In February 2018, Marshall was appointed as the CEO of Mavericks by owner Mark Cuban to resuscitate the disgraced franchise after a critical report in American sports magazine Sports Illustrated exposed two decades of toxic workplace culture rife with gender discrimination, misogyny, sexual harassment, lack of pay parity, and racism in the front office. Marshall, the first black woman CEO in the history of NBA, implemented a 100-day turnaround plan to revamp the franchise’s dysfunctional culture, promote diversity in hiring, and ensure gender and racial parity across the organization. She instilled a set of values for creating a culture of inclusion at Mavericks and developed a values-based comprehensive DE&I agenda. Under her leadership, Mavericks evolved into a more diverse and inclusive organization. Going forward, some challenges before Marshall would be how to sustain the culture of inclusion going forward, deepen the franchise’s commitment to DE&I, and encourage a culture of empathy at the workplace.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the causes of organizational crisis.
• Assess the dysfunctional aspects of Dallas Mavericks’ corporate culture.
• Understand the importance of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) in professional sports leagues.
• Identify the issues and challenges in turning an organization around.
• Explore how managers can sustain diverse and inclusive workplaces.

Keywords

Organizational crisis; Corporate culture; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI); Turnaround; Values-Based Leadership; Change management; Toxic culture; Transformation