INTRODUCTION
The diverse workforce has become a reality today. The impact of cultural diversity varies with the type of environment and firm’s overall strategy. As more and more number of firms move from domestic, multidomestic, multinational strategies to operating as a truly global firm, the significance and impact of cultural diversity increase markedly. Management of cultural differences has become more important for creating advantages and getting competitive edge.
Companies must also consider stakeholders as employees. The viewpoints of stakeholders such as shareholders, suppliers, public agencies, and government regulators should be considered in shaping the culture of performance and approaching the diverse markets. In number of situations employees, customers and other stakeholders in the service environment interact to produce the ultimate service outcome. To solve the problem of unfair, inequitable treatment of diverse people, both as employees and customers, managers must recognize that such treatment is bound with bureaucratic structure, subjectivity and irrationality, inappropriate policies and practices, ineffective implementation of human.
Companies should completely reshape the working culture that make possible the integration of a broad range of viewpoints that leads to a redefinition of how work gets done and how diverse markets are approached and capitalized upon. All employees should be held accountable for their behaviors and human resources results. There are certain arguments for creating a diverse workforce, those are as follows: 1. As the number of women, minorities etc. in the workforce increase, so will their influence as consumers. Hiring women, minorities, disabled, etc. will help the organizations to tap these niche markets. 2. As all the segments of society have stake in the development and prosperity of the society as a whole, the creation of diverse workforce should be seen as a social and moral imperative. 3. Diversity enhances creativity and innovation and produces advantages. 4. Diversity helps organizations for entering the international arena. 5. Diverse teams make it possible to enhance flexibility and rapid response to change.
Diversity also causes certain problems those are as follows: (i) Communication becomes more difficult. Employees from different cultures fail to understand one another. Firms operating in different language areas find difficulty in communicating with the local employees as local employees speak different language. (ii) Diversity increases ambiguity, complexity and confusion. (iii) Diversity also causes problems when managers and employees over generalize organizational policies, strategies, practices and procedures. (iv) Cultural diversity creates difficulties for an organization when it wants to reach on a single agreement. (v) Cultural diversity increases the complexity and problems in developing overall organizational procedures.
A company with a diverse workforce can better serve and compete in diverse markets. Hiring a diverse workforce can be challenging but the greater challenge is to retain the diverse workforce.
Exploring best HR practices helps in identifying the best tools for retaining a diverse workforce. These practices include establishing open communication, supporting ongoing training and mentoring programmes and linking pay to diversity goals. Ultimately, the key to create, develop, and retain diverse workforce is to find a way to make workforce to feel connected to their company
Cultural Diversity and Management
The cultural impact on management is reflected by basic values, attitudes, beliefs and behavior of the people. Culture can affect technology transfer, managerial attitudes, managerial ideology and even government-business relationships. Moreover culture affects how people think and behave.
In some societies important decisions are made by few top managers, while in others, these decisions are diffused throughout the enterprise. American society comes under the first case and Japanese comes under the latter case. American and other Western countries’ cultural norms require individual rewards that are not so in Japanese culture. In some societies, risk-taking is encouraged which is not so in others. People identify themselves very strongly with their company as in Japan against America where people identify themselves with their occupational group.
Some societies encourage cooperation between people. Others encourage competition between people. The managers and employees vary on four primary cultural dimensions: * Individualism/collectivism * Power distance. * Uncertainty avoidance. * Masculinity/femininity (Career success/quality of life).
Managing Cultural Diversity
The five cultural dimensions highlight the important cultural differences in organizations. To manage effectively in a global or a domestic multicultural environment, we need to recognize the differences and learn to use them to our advantage, rather than either attempting to ignore differences or simply allowing differences to cause problems. Rather managers should be taught how to respect the differences at work and how to work with them to maximize the contribution of each employee.
Strategies for managing cultural differences
The extent to which managers and employees recognize cultural diversity and its potential advantages and disadvantages defines an organization’s approach (strategy) to manage cultural diversity. * Ignore Cultural Differences - managers do not recognize cultural differences (diversity) or its impact on the organization. This strategy is very popular in parochial type of organizations.
* Minimize Cultural Differences - managers do recognize cultural diversity but only as a source of problems. In an ethnocentric organization, managers believe that “our way is the best way” to organize and manage.
* Manage Cultural Differences - The organizations which adopt the strategy of managing differences are synergistic organizations. These type of organizations recognize the impacts of cultural diversity that leads to both advantages and disadvantages.
Synergistic Organizations Assume I. that groups within society differ across cultures and that each maintains its cultural distinctness. II. that the similarities and differences are of equal importance. III. that there are many culturally distinct ways to live, to work, and to reach a final goal. IV. that there are many different good ways to reach the final goal. The best way depends on the cultures of the people involved.
Cross-cultural Training
Cross-cultural training stresses on training employees about other cultures and sensitizing them to the discrimination and biases diverse employees feel. Cross-cultural training aims at helping employees live and work comfortably in another culture.
Organizations can use two approaches of training that can play a big role in managing diversity. (i) First approach offers training to diverse groups of employees. People from diverse groups can be trained for an entry-level skill. (ii) Second approach is to provide training to managers and other employees who work with diverse employees.
Many organizations impart practical, real-life training to teach employees how to handle situations those arise due to cultural differences.
Environmental briefings: to provide information about history, geography, climate, schools, government, economy, etc.
Orientation in culture: to familiarize the employees with value systems and culture of the host country.
Cultural assimilator: is a programmed learning technique that is designed to expose employees of one culture to some of the attitudes, customs, etc. of another culture.
Language training: to teach conversational language skills.
Sensitivity training: to develop attitudinal flexibility.
2
Implications for HR Managers
The focus of the workforce diversity issue has changed from equal employment opportunity to effectively managing workforce diversity as an organizational imperative. To be successful in such type of new environment, managers must learn to value and respect cultural styles and ways of behaving those differ from our styles.
Managers must be able to tie the issues of managing cultural differences to the needs of the business and be well versed in business issues, goals and results. Managing workforce diversity should be considered by managers as an opportunity to serve the needs of customers better and to penetrate new markets. By valuing and managing diverse workforce, it is possible to enhance creativity, flexibility, and rapid response to change. Managers, to utilize the potential of diverse workforce, must link diversity to every business function or strategy i.e. recruitment, selection, placement, development, succession planning, performance appraisal and rewards.
To remain competitive, organizations must develop long-term intervention strategies rather than short-term solutions or strategies. Managers have to remove the barriers which prevent the organizations from developing and utilizing fully equitable systems that allow workforce to achieve its full potential.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Cultural Diversity is not only valuable to the company but also very valuable to the individual employee. Individual employees in a…
- 891 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
Cox, T., & Blake, S. (1991). Managing cultural diversity: Implications for organizational competitiveness. Executive, 5(3), 45-56.…
- 1591 Words
- 7 Pages
Best Essays -
One of the objectives that the team discussed was diversity in the workplace. Major corporations have encountered issues concerning diversity in the work place. Our team can directly relate to this subject in the workplace since all of us are diverse minorities in our individual work place. It was discussed in the group that diversity in the workplace is the manager’s responsibility to insure that the workplace is a diverse environment. Managers in most companies are required to hire a diverse staff. Managers have the ability to use race, religion, and tenure as qualities to inspire success and productivity at work. Our team agreed that in the real world not all individuals will set aside their differences to work effectively together, but the process of how management deals with issues concerning diversity is crucial to building and maintaining an efficient workforce.…
- 832 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
Every day the global workforce is growing and for many years there has been big issues within the workplace. One of those big issues being diversity. Every employee has something very unique to bring to the company. The ideal company will have the best team players with great work ethic. In most cases a successful company holds employees that have different views which come in handy for big business decisions. In a growing global workforce, some of these differences cause barriers which can affect the company.…
- 1388 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
The concept of diversity has broadened in scope in the recent past, evolving from the concept of mandated quotas and affirmative action, to the reality of a diverse workforce being capable of providing quantifiable business value. A variety of external factors have influenced the conceptual evolution of diversity within the workplace. For example, globalization of markets has provided the concept of diversity with an opportunity to demonstrate a clear competitive advantage. A native understanding of the cultural values, norms and business practices of a foreign market can give an organization a clear advantage over their competition. Another area where diversity offers advantages is in the area of innovation. It can be argued that "a multi-cultural workforce translates into a richer variety of approaches to work-related problems and processes. Such approaches, in turn, are conducive to innovation that raises business performance" (Rajan & Harris, 2003).…
- 1275 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
It is very important for professionals and managers to be educated on the aspects of a diverse workforce to allow for a blended and productive work environment. There must be some understanding of the effects of culture on human behavior, this understanding is crucial to a successful and productive business.…
- 512 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The diversity of workforce results in bringing together employees from different backgrounds with many differences in terms of values, and beliefs. If the management of an organization fails to manage the cultural differences among the employees well can lead to some challenges in the organization (Phillips, Katherine, 44). The cultural differences affect teamwork among the employees of an organization where employees find it difficult to share ideas and information…
- 1117 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
It is important for managers to be educated on diversity, and have an understanding of the differences in their workforce’s population, because it will improve performance potential and increase employee satisfaction. There are numerous benefits to valuing diversity. With each unique combination of gender, ethnic background, culture, and life experiences, each person brings a different set of strengths, skill sets, and approaches to problems. According to Bell, (2007) , “Valuing diversity can benefit organizations in the areas of cost, resource acquisition, marketing, creativity, problem solving, and system flexibility”. An employee’s satisfaction is much higher when they feel accepted and valued for their unique qualities.…
- 1059 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In this era of economic globalization, many companies are making efforts to achieve workforce diversity, which aims to employ workers from different backgrounds to provide tangible and intangible benefits to the organization. Understanding the advantages of workforce diversity helps an organization to establish with a competitive edge. This can include employing workers with cultural and language skills that can lead to greater reach for the business.…
- 1258 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
In the current business scenario, each Organization is striving hard to have a global presence, cater to different market segments and most importantly increase profits. Today, just as national boundaries are eroding in the “global village,” so are cultural and gender barriers weakening in the global workforce. The concept of workforce Diversity is no longer an abstraction; it is part of everyday life in many countries in the developed world. Driven by a need to compensate for talent shortages—and compete in an…
- 706 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Organizations employing a diverse workforce can supply a greater variety of solutions to problems in service, sourcing, and allocation of resources. Employees from diverse backgrounds bring individual talents and experiences in suggesting ideas that are flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets and customer demands (Greenberg, 2004). This is key in developing new innovations for multicultural market of the business. As the market gets more and more diverse, a diverse…
- 1028 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Companies are discovering the value in cultural diversity. Historically, most companies instituted diversity programs to be in compliance with the law, but they have found that there are some good solid business reasons to do so. Our focus is on helping companies incorporate diversity programs into their strategic plans. These plans should address each of the three major areas that impact their business, being their customers, employees, and suppliers.…
- 531 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Diversity in the workplace is more than trust and respect; it is about the benefits that all will achieve by being united (Bethel, 2016). Truly, the United States of America is the melting pot of the world and its culture is extremely diverse. Ultimately, this diversity has caused cultural sensitivity in most organizations. Whereas, leadership “must be patient, understanding, willing to learn, and flexible” (Manning & Curtis, 2012, p. 279).…
- 604 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In order for companies to fully and aggressively compete in the marketplace, they will need to consider these statistics and work towards attracting, recruiting, developing and retaining a diverse workforce. This will be critical if they are to survive. They will also need to recognize that the market they cater to is becoming more diverse. Diverse groups are a growing percentage of the buying power in the United States. In order to maintain competitive advantage in the sector they serve, organizations will need to truly understand its customers, clients, members and employees and will need to create an…
- 1475 Words
- 6 Pages
Best Essays -
The topic of cross-cultural management is becoming increasingly popular. As more and more organizations expand globally, people from culturally diverse backgrounds have recognized the need to work together effectively by learning to be culturally sensitive. Although it appears that managing virtual teams is more complex than managing traditionally aligned teams, success of virtual teams in software fields would suggest otherwise.…
- 1062 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays