The Competitive Atmosphere of Business - Case Study Example

of dissertation Diversity in organization Executive Summary In the competitive atmosphere of business, diversity is considered to stimulate competitive advantage for the organization by enhancing its corporate image and improving its organizational performance through proper management of group performance within the organization. Proper management within the organization allows it to preserve this diversity by attracting the right human capital and retaining the same. Another important aspect that diversity management focuses on is the issue of social justice. While diversity brings various benefits to the organization, it might also be the cause of concern and affect profit objectives of the firm adversely. Hence proper management of diverse workforce is acutely necessary for the organizations. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 The evolving concept of diversity 4 Multiculturalism 5 Benefits of diversity in workforce for for-profit business organizations 6 Challenges faced by the organization due to diverse workforce 6 Conclusion 7 References 8 Introduction The world is changing rapidly and the concept of diversity has become a truism in current times (Rosado, 2006). Change in the view of the world is more vividly visible since the onset of the twenty-first century. At present diversity has been acknowledged in social and business layers, which include variety in labor force, civil rights of the human being, their property right and living and working conditions of the people. In the different industrialized countries across the globe, instances of demographically diversified labor force are increasing. In many countries gender relations are changing swiftly and the effect of this change is visible in the business sphere. With rapid globalization, the number of emigrant workers is increasing and recent trend shows that immigration is taking place into the developed countries of the world (Dumont, Spielvogel & Widmaier, 2010). The structure of labor population is also changing with the aging population in the developed countries, due to which the labor intensive organizations are facing higher diversity in their workforce. Increased diversification within workgroups or labor force has to be dealt sincerely through efficient diversity management. Such changes cast potentially important impact on group performance within organizations. According to Bleijenbergh, Peters and Poutsma (2010) diversity management in an organization further encourages the organization to attain their strategic goals. It allows inclusion of diverse employee categories and provides scope to the organization to allow individual development of its employees. Diversity management in business supports creation and retention “of equal opportunities” (Bleijenbergh, Peters & Poutsma, 2010, p. 414). In the long term it helps to create a sustainable employment situation and leads to profitable business. The evolving concept of diversity The needs of this century pose the demand for a mass of citizens “that is culturally sensitive and internationally focused, with an orientation toward the future rather than the past” (Rosado, 2006, p. 1). Recent research works reveal that diversity management has come through over the years. There has been a gradual change in the purpose of diversity management from the ‘purpose of exclusion’ to the ‘purpose of inclusion’. In the beginning of the twenty-first century there was no definite established pattern or model for the organizations to follow while dealing with diversity related to physical, biological and social or cultural differences. Any behavior or attitude that belonged to outside of the ‘norm’ prevalent in the particular society were identified as diversity and were dealt with the policy of “exclusion and control” (Rosado, 2006, p. 4). With the passage of time, particularly in the profit oriented corporate firms, organizational policy of dealing with diversity has changed; today in order to realize the maximum potential the attitude of organizations, as well as the society, has changed and has shifted to one that of inclusion. Multiculturalism The new model of ‘multiculturalism’ has evolved which advocates the art of proficient diversity management, and promotes a process in which no single individual is left out. In essence, diversity is a “safeguard against idolatry” (Rosado, 2006, p. 4), in which the idolatry rules of making one group the norm for other existing groups in the society are demolished. By the narrow definition of diversity management, it can be seen as the successor of traditional views of provision of equal opportunities or affirmative action programs that are commonly found in some nations. It emphasizes on consideration of precise social groups, defined by attributes such as sex, age and ethnicity/race, and prefers the interests of the whole social group over individuals (Bleijenbergh, Peters & Poutsma, 2010). However, a business organization cannot claim to be multicultural only by the mere existence of racially and ethnically diverse population in its workforce. In the beginning of the twenty-first century, business organizations faced the push to ‘manage diversity’. This has undergone a change at present and the focus has currently shifted towards ‘living diversity’ (Rosado, 2006). Living diversity has implications in structural changes within the organization. The seven ‘P’ factors in an organization identified by Rosado (2006) that put certain imperatives on the operations and business decisions of the organization are, Perspectives, Policies, Purposes, Programs, Personnel, Practices and Power. In a multicultural organization all these factors are capable of reflecting the dynamicity of Affirmative Action; can value the differences and can act according to the needs of the diverse groups, can integrate their contributions into the overall business objectives and finally can empower all these groups unanimously so as to create a social and cultural balance within the organization (Rosado, 2006). Benefits of diversity in workforce for for-profit business organizations Companies have realized the importance of maintaining diversity in their workforce. It helps organizations to respond speedily and comfortably to the key challenges that occur in the changing international marketplace. Three most apparent benefits have been discussed below: Firstly, diversity opens up channels of innovation and enhances creativity of the employees. A recent report claims that the strategy behind most successful organizations is skillful harnessing of the unique and inimitable contributions of their employees and efficient controlling the synergistic power of their teams to augment the company’s competitiveness. For instance, corporate leaders like IBM establish their research laboratories in different places around the globe in order to develop a fertile ground for harvesting new ideas. Secondly, diversity fosters compliance and resilience. Research shows that it is a necessity for organizations having a diverse workforce to learn the ways to come to an agreement with the internal differences. Hence they are better positioned to adapt to the changing circumstances. They depict the tendency to cultivate and promote open and direct communication, which results in speed and dexterity in their mode of operation. They also often tend to follow an innovative route in solving behavioral issues within the organization or business problems. Increased direct communication reduces gaps among the hierarchy thereby initiating ‘groupthink’. Finally, one of the most pulsating benefits of diversity accruing to business organizations is the scope of capturing new markets. Diversity is present in the marketplace just as it is present within the workplace. Organizations can draw experiences and insights from its diversified workforce and utilize it to quickly make out the latent opportunities lying within varied demographic groups in the market (both domestic and overseas). The characteristics of these market segments cannot be identified with the conventional customer base that the company caters to; the firm is faced with the challenge of acknowledging the differences of these markets, internalizing those differences and creating new product lines or modifying the existing products and services so as to appeal to these target markets (Workforce Institute, 2005). Challenges faced by the organization due to diverse workforce Corporate firms are now increasingly adopting the style of bringing in diversity in their work force. Although the benefits of such a workforce are many, heterogeneous workforce might also create several problems for the profit oriented organization (Alcazar, Fernandez & Gardey, 2013; Marques, 2008). Good performance by the organization would be enabled by a good work environment and healthy organizational culture. Diverse workforce demand greater control over the employee base and also maintenance of better relationship among the higher and lower hierarchical levels in the organization (Ballafkih, 2010). In the absence of such coherent management, the diversity in the workforce might give rise to conflict within the workforce. Mismanagement also increases the chances of disagreement amongst the employees and misunderstanding between the management and the employees. It narrows down the channels of clear internal communication. Important business decisions might be adversely affected owing to miscommunication. It implies that the management costs are increased. Poor employee relations reduce productivity of workers, which in turn increases costs to the company (Anderson & Metcalf, 2003). Hence the company loses a considerable amount of profit. The aim of organizational management body is to effectively manage the diversity in its employee base so as not to forego any portion of its “productivity and competitiveness” (Mattausch, 2008, p.5). Conclusion Recent studies reveal that management of diversity, in a nutshell refers to proper planning and efficient implementation of organizational systems or practices that would lead to resourceful management of the human resources of the organization (Mattausch, 2008). For-profit organizations consider this practice as important aspect of their management system since in this process they find the opportunity to capitalize on the benefits of a diverse workforce and thereby increase their profits. Management of diversity is that on-going process that takes a growth oriented organization towards the achievement of their long term business objectives. It unleashes various talents contained in the diversity of the organization’s employee population and the organization is enriched with the diverse capabilities of these employees. References Alcazar, F. M., Fernandez, P. M. R. & Gardey, G. S. (2013). Workforce diversity in strategic human resource management models: A critical review of the literature and implications for future research. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 20(1), 39-49. Anderson, T. & Metcalf, H. (2003). Diversity: Stacking Up the Evidence: A Review of Knowledge. London: CIPD Publishing. Ballafkih, A. H. (2010). How to cement a diversity policy. Human Resource Management International Digest, 18(7), 3-5. Bleijenbergh, I., Peters, P. & Poutsma, E. (2010). Diversity management beyond the business case. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 29(5), 413-421. Dumont,J., Spielvogel, G. & Widmaier,S. (2010). International Migrants in Developed, Emerging and Developing Countries: An Extended Profile. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/els/mig/46535333.pdf Marques, J. (2008). Workplace diversity: developing a win-win-win strategy. Development and Learning in Organizations, 22(5), 5-8. Mattausch, J. (2008). Diversity Management - Cultural Issues. Munich: GRIN Verlag. Rosado, C. (2006). What Do We Mean By “Managing Diversity”? Retrieved from http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/rosado_managing_diversity.pdf Workforce Institute. (2005). A New Business Imperative: Managing the 21st Century Workforce. Retrieved from http://www.workforceinstitute.org/wp-content/themes/revolution/docs/21st-century-workforce.pdf Read More