Importance of Managing Diversity - Assignment Example

? Managing Diversity Introduction This paper addresses the employee’s relation and work motivation in the theory of job execution inany business setting (Lucas, 2012). The big question that recurs in this paper is what motivation is and how it harnesses in any organization. At the individual level analysis, there are different approaches most of which have conceptual viability but empirically supports practical use. The critical task is to find the diverse sources that enable to produce a coherent view of motivation and the content for mechanisms (Wilson, 2005). This research intends to provide a more integrated perspective considering the difficulties in forming the conceptual links and difficulty in the comparability of constructs of measure and measurement. The common argument is that motivation denotes the best umbrella that includes all members and sub units of any organization and does not pin down a measurable construct. Intrinsic Motivation Intrinsic motivation refers to the motivation that sources from within an individual rather than from any other external sources like rewards, salary increase and or grade improvement. This motivation comes from the pleasure that an individual gets from the task he is pursuing or the sense of satisfaction on completion of a certain given task (Lucas, 2012). An intrinsically motivated person will function willingly because the task he is performing is enjoyable or has passion for it. He works to solve a problem that is challenging and provide a sense of pleasure and task completion too (Bennett, 2004). The dire point of reference is that the intrinsically motivated person does not work because of the reward attached to the task but works g to get enjoyment from the task. However, this does not mean that the intrinsic motivated person does not seek for rewards but it rather means that the external reward is not enough to keep the person motivated. For example in a tamed case, a student may want to get a good grade on a given assignment, however, if the assignment is not interesting, the possibility of a good grade is not sufficient to maintain students motivation in the projects efforts. Psychologists argue that people perform better when they perform a task because they have passion for it rather than when a reward is designated (Tony, 2002). There is a current common question whether or not the extrinsic motivation top a persons has an effect on the intrinsic motivation. Researches have shown that having an extrinsic motivation fir something that would naturally be intrinsically motivated decreases the intrinsic motivation (Wilson, 2005). Researches have shown that, how an individual perceives the rewards determines whether it has effect on the intrinsic motivation. For example, an athlete may feel that the reward may be due to his foreseen incompetency and this significantly lower his intrinsic motivation. Another athlete may be extrinsically rewarded and directly translate to a positive feedback. The common argument is that individuals differ enormously in what makes them happy. There is no reason as to why money or grades for students should not improve their performance what matters are the individual difference and the different motivation ways (Lucas, 2012). All researchers have assumed that rewards simply make the person less interested in the intrinsic joys of an activity. Rewards may generally cause an individual to pursue an individual less because of the effects that come along with the rewarding like performance anxiety. Therefore, the general impression that comes along with extrinsic rewarding is that, rewarding undermines the intrinsic motivation (Bennett, 2004). Too many studies have supposedly proved that intrinsic motivation has serious flaws in logic and too many uncontrolled variables that requires more scientific rigor. Ethnocentrism This is the habit of looking at the world primarily from the dimension of ethnic culture an event, which has proven significant in the social sciences (Lucas, 2012). Ethnocentric has bias on the culture around the world based on a number of reasons like religion, language, culture, and shared history. More often than not, people feel pride of the in the culture in which they have grown in and adopted its values and standard behavior (Wilson, 2005). However, many people view the culture as not only different but also inferior as it influences hoe different people think hence may damage other cultures. The increasing globalization effect is bringing different culture together and trying to overcome their self-centered mentality and compel them to see humanity in a broader and inclusive perspective. Ethnocentrism underlies in the psychological mechanism where some individuals attach lower or higher status and values to a specific culture comparatively (Lucas, 2012). Psychologists have concluded that the ethnocentric person always a higher status to their own culture, therefore they believe it is intrinsically better than the others are. Most people are comfortable with this natural result of observation and prefer to live in company of people with similar values, behaviors, and likes as they do (Wilson, 2005). Currently tribal and familial groups seem to dominate the economic settings. For example, the crime syndicates of Russia, united sates, and the diamond trade. Commonly, it is usual for a person to consider what they believe in as the most appropriate system and natural behavior. Psychologists have shown that a person who grows in a particular culture and absorbs its values and culture reflects the culture a normal. If the person in question is to assume other culture with different values and norms, he will definitely find the new patterns very inappropriate (Grant, 2008). Ethnocentric will always see other cultures as inferior and of a wrong degree. United States is exceptional on matters of ethnocentrism because it has since time immemorial differed qualitatively from other developing nations due to its unique origin and historical evolution. The country holds a special space in the world and therefore it is the hope for humanity. The American exceptionalism does not necessarily signify qualitative superiority rather emphasizes on the uniqueness in terms of history and its role on the globe. Ethnocentric from American support the existence of great difference between United States and other European countries (Grant, 2008). They argue that United States is unique in that it had its founding on republican ideals rather the common heritage as in the case with the countries. Proponents argue that the United States is the only country founded as a republic hence it was motivated from economic and military self-interest. Ethnocentrism in the United States suggests its moral superiority to other nations. In this sense, the America is merely an exclusive in the view of the world in an ethnocentric manner (Wilson, 2005). Generally, ethnocentrism leads to false assumptions about cultural differences. Ethnocentric use their cultures to generalize about others cultures and customs. These generalizations are without a conscious awareness that all cultures are universal yardsticks and may cause one to misjudge other people’s culture. Ethnocentrism can lead to cultural misinterpretation that often distorts the communication between human beings. Mentoring Mentoring is supporting and encouraging persons maximize their full potential and develop skills in order to improve their output in aim of achieving a certain dream. Mentoring is a personal development that empowers the progress in individual’s careers to become popular after realizing a certain potential in one (Daniel, 2006). Mentorship usually works in a partner between two persons who share some experiences. Mentoring can also take an influential talk to the professional development to either public or private sector. The mentoring can be either official or informal. Many mentoring agencies run formal stand-alone mentoring programs to enhance career and interpersonal development. The formal mentor programs have structure, oversight, and clear organizational goals that satisfy different purposes like enabling a new employee settle to a certain program, facilitating creation of the mission critical skills and improve retention of certain employees (Wilson, 2005). Informal mentoring has fewer structures and can occur at anytime in the process of ones career. The informal mentoring can occur when a senior employee sees a certain fault in a junior employee and summons him for a lecture. It may also occur when an employee seeking to secure a senior level befriends an experienced employee for mentorship (Daniel, 2006). It may also occur when a senior employee recommends a specific employee to receive mentorship. Mentorship is a very core feature in the success for any business or an organization requires an economic break through. Any operating business requires mentors to professionally council the executive of any business (Daniel, 2006). In the process of mentorship, the mentor has nothing to lose but the mentee has everything to gain in the real training. The mentor however should give the right direction and help the mentee develop solutions to career issues. The mentor should facilitate the mentee to believe in herself and boost her confidence by providing encouragement and the appropriate guidance. The mended person can explore new ideas with confidence and look closely at opportunities that can direct them to better opportunities in life. The mentor is also expected to formulate a business to venture in a more risky but profitable opportunities with confidence and optimism (Grant, 2008). Conclusion Intrinsic motivation, Ethnocentrism and Mentoring are essential parts in a business structure and setting (Daniel, 2006). The three concepts, if incorporated in a systematic way can translate to the success of a given business. The business should clearly understand the power of intrinsic motivation. A business should clearly understand the nature of the personnel in the organization before committing itself to giving them extrinsic motivation (Wilson, 2005). Any organization should not oversee ethnocentrism in order to achieve combined success. An organization should respect the diverse cultures and combine them intellectually to realize a general success. A business should not set a prejudgment to any cultural argument but rather listen and hold the contradictory views. A business should have a mentor for facilitation in incidents of adventure. References Bennett, M. (2004). Becoming Interculturally Competent. Retrieved from http://www.newonline.org/resource/resmgr/mcw_ppt/becominginterculturallycompe.pdf on 31st may 2012. Daniel, J. (2006). Introduction to Mentoring: A Guide for Mentors and Mentees. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/education/grad/intro-mentoring.pdf on 31st may 2012. Grant, A. (2008). Does Intrinsic Motivation Fuel the Prosocial Fire? Motivational Synergy in Predicting Persistence, Performance, and Productivity. Retrieved from https://mgmt.wharton.upenn.edu/files/?whdmsaction=public:main.file&fileID=3758 on 31st may 2012. Lucas, R. (2012). A Study on the Intrinsic Motivation Factors in Second Language Learning Among Selected Freshman Students. Retrieved from http://www.philippine-esl-journal.com/V4_A1.pdf . on 31st may 2012 Tony, A. (2002). A comparative case study of global marketing and Ethnocentrism. Retrieved from http://cct.georgetown.edu/research/thesisdatabase/AdrienneTony.pdf on 31st may 2012. Wilson, G. (2005). The Effects of External Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation. Retrieved from www.abcbodybuilding.com on 31st may 2012. Read More