The Challenge of Managing Cultural Diversity - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal Employee care- The challenge of managing Cultural Diversity Executive Summary The global nature of economies and liberalisation policies are allowing movement of people across the boundaries from one region to another or one country to another. This has made it almost mandatory to take note of the diverse nature of their workforce and put in place effective strategies to manage the diversity. If cultural and value proposition can be broadly termed as the main classifiers giving rise to diversity, there are a number of secondary level factors at the work place giving rise to diversity. Some such factors are race, religion, gender, age, belief, disability, personality, working-style, nationalities etc. Therefore to be able to take the optimum contribution of the workforce, companies will have to take care of their sentiments and requirements in such a manner that the workforce feels satisfied while working in the company and while interacting amongst each other. Multinational companies in particular have come to realise the importance of taking good care of their employees in such a manner that the diversity tends to become strength for the company. This study is therefore an effort to analyse how the diversity at the work place affects the working environment and how the companies can take better care of the workers by addressing the diversity concerns. During the study the policies of some of the companies will be studied to find out how they take care of their employees and manage the workforce. An effort would also be made to see how providing equal opportunities to the workforce helps these companies in strengthening the core competencies of the organization and what are types of challenges these companies have faced in the process. In such cases, the viewpoints of the employees too will be taken to see how well they are enjoying the diversity prevailing within the organisation and whether it is helping them in doing their bit towards the goals and objectives of the company. Introduction In the era of globalization, thanks to widespread proliferation of IT and networking the world has become a global village in real sense. Pamela Tudor1 undertook a study on some of the reputed corporate houses to find out how the issue of diversity was handled by these companies. The researcher narrates interesting experiences of some of the companies like Texaco, Coca Cola, and Morgan Stanley. It is stated that initially these companies probably thought diversity was just a "good idea" too, until they got hit with lawsuits and much negative publicity. Millions of settlement dollars later, these companies saw the business case for managing diversity well and as a reaction have implemented many strategic diversity initiatives. Pamela Tudor therefore underlines the principle that in order to work with people from diverse backgrounds and be successful in the globalisation era, the prerequisite is effective management of diversity in the organisation. In recent years, China has emerged on the horizon as one of the fastest developing countries. Lower production costs are one main reason for its popularity as a major manufacturing hub. Many international companies, particularly from the western world have shifted their manufacturing facilities to China in order to take advantage of the cheaper labour costs. When MNCs prefer to take advantage of multi-location facilities, lower costs of production, and expertise from the world over, diversity is bound to be there at the workplace. While many of the managers and specialists are being sent to China from western nations, a number of Chinese and other people from South Asia are also being recruited at these manufacturing facilities. Taking good care of the employees therefore requires that the diversity should be managed effectively at these companies. Therefore, it will be interesting to study how the diversity is being managed by some reputed companies while taking care of employee's welfare. Preliminary Literature Review The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in UK has come out with a calendar for 2009 which has all the details of main holidays and celebrations of all major religions in UK. Besides being a regular calendar with bank holidays, such details have been included in the calendar to ensure that important meetings and events are not planned on these dates and the employees can enjoy their festivities. This is an indication towards the importance being attached to diversity management. Organisations like CIPD call upon the corporate world to manage the diversity by recognizing, appreciating, valuing, encouraging and utilizing the unique talents and contributions of individuals from across a wider spectrum of society. But circumstances sometimes create peculiar conditions which brings to the fore the inherent weaknesses prevalent in our society. There are rules and regulations which provide broad guidelines for keeping a delicate balance in dealing with such matters so that mutual harmony is maintained amongst the workforce. The world is a rich and diverse place, full of interesting cultures and people who should be treated with respect. Skirmishes arising out of 'discriminatory' behaviour often result in tensions amongst colleagues. Though there are federal laws in place, but it is the human character and nature which has to do the implementation part. Avoiding the occurrence of such incidents is one big challenge for the companies. Incidents of racist attacks in the recent past on migrant workers, particularly after the 9/11 in US are a challenge for the corporate world as well as for the government. Statistics of the ministry of justice in Britain indicated that the country saw 41,000 racially or religiously aggravated offences during 2005-06, up by about 12 percent from the previous year (Cracknell and Schofield, 2007). These figures are a grim reminder of the challenge that lies for the corporate world towards effective diversity management and need for breeding the temperament amongst fellow colleagues. A report released by the US census bureau (2004) on the subject 'US Interim Projections by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin 2000-2050' indicates that the US population will see a major demographic shift in its population by the year 2050. The report indicates that while the population of other races was 31.6 percent in the year 2000, it will be 36.2 percent by 2010 which is bound to rise gradually to the level of 52.3 by the year 20502. A number of analysts have contended that effective management of an increasingly diverse workforce is one of the key challenges for the 21st century (Hostager and Meuse, 2008). The diversity involves not only the different races and religion, but the diversity on the basis of gender is also being a cause of concern amongst the analysts. US Bureau of Labour Statistics came out with a report that in the year 2005 stating that women comprises of 37 percent of managerial workforce, but their representation on the board seats in Fortune 500 companies is less than 15 percent (Hillman and Cannella, 2007). Though, the diversity aspect has gained more prominence after the onset of liberalisation policies, yet there's historical evidence to suggest that the issue of diversity is being discussed and debated for quite a while now. Some analysts suggest that managing diversity finds its origins in the USA where it was projected in the early eighties that whites males would form a minority amongst the American labour force by the end of 20th century (Maxwell et al, 2001). These projections may not have materialised as projected, but the extent of diversity has certainly gone up during these years. An echo of the reports from US can be found in the ground reality in UK. A report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) indicated that amongst the working population3, "Only 12 per cent of white men are in professional occupations, as opposed to 21 per cent of Chinese and Indian men." There have been comparisons of the diversity management issue with the equal opportunities provision. But Maxwell et al (2001) suggest that the diversity aspect is different in at least two aspects; First, the emphasis on a positive perspective of differences among staff in contrast to the negative perspective of disadvantaged, discriminated against staff in equal opportunities. Second, the inclusion of diversity factors beyond those covered in law. Citing the studies carried out by a number of researchers, Hostager and Meuse (2008) contend that if the diversity is not managed effective at the workplace, it may result in a number of negative-effects related to undesirable personal and interpersonal outcomes like; Decreased job satisfaction Decreased commitment to the organization Heightened interpersonal conflict Increased competition for pay, promotions and other organizational rewards, resulting in heightened rivalry between diverse groups within the firm Increased social divisiveness, resulting in low social cohesion, a more difficult team process, and decreased group performance Considering these factors, the underlying philosophy of managing diversity tends to imply that an organization can gain massive competitive advantage, resulting in enhanced performance with the help of a satisfied human capital. It rests on the premise that the organization will be able to serve increasingly diverse customers, meet increasingly complex business and management problems by actively seeking and managing a diverse workforce (Stephenson and Lewis, 1996). The emphasis on treating diversity as a strategic management issue instead of just an HR issue gains momentum from the fact that if an organisation is not able to inculcate a value proposition amongst their workforce then it may reflect on its overall economic and competitive success (Wilson and Iles, 1999). The business case for managing diversity therefore offers a way to operate equal opportunities as a strategic issue, a core value linked to organizational competitiveness (Dickens 1994). Gardenswartz and Rowe (1998) contend that effective management of diversity offers with it a number of benefits in the form of fullest utilisation of the skills and potential of all employees; better access to changing market place as the company's brand value attracts more respect; healthy return on the investment in human capital. Harnessing the differences have proved to be critical for creating a productive environment in which everybody feels valued, their talents are fully utilized and organizational goals are met. There are now international bodies and organisations monitoring the manner in which the employee's welfare is being taken up by the companies. And in case some variations are found then the media reports start searching for skeletons, which results in damaging the reputation of the company. DiversityInc, a reputed magazine now in its ninth year of publication has been following the diversity management issues very closely. In its latest report the magazine reported that it received a total of 401 applications for its 'Top 50 companies for diversity' competition4. The competition is undertaken to assess the manner in which companies having more than 1000 employees have been respecting and treating diversity over the years. The four key parameters for measurement during this competition include; CEO Commitment, Human Capital, Supplier Diversity and Corporate and Organizational Communications. It is worthwhile here to mention that the topmost slots in the competition are acquired by companies like Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, Ernst & Young, Marriott International etc. in that order. This shows how keen these reputed companies are for telling the world about the diversity management aspect. Coca-Cola, a reputed brand around the world, for example takes pride in diverse workforce spread around the world and places diversity management at the core of sustainability. Company states5, "By building an inclusive workplace environment, The Coca-Cola Company seeks to leverage its worldwide team, which is rich in diverse people, talent and ideas." Though the company has slid down the list being prepared by DiversityInc over the last couple of years, yet it continues to underline its commitment to its people that the working environment will continue to accept them all with open arms. Company says6, "We continue strengthening our workplace environment, ensuring a safe environment where a diverse workforce is engaged, fulfilled, and fairly compensated and rewarded for their performance." The company has been consistent in developing group culture because it has to deal will diversity in all spheres of business, be it the R&D facilities located at different places, the marketing division, the supplies, the production or the distribution chain. An effective management of this diversity and group culture help the company in planning and scheduling of its resources in such a manner that the company is able to make optimum use of its resources. Research Questions and Objectives The main intention of the study is to develop a better understanding of the concepts of human resources management in general and how the employee's welfare measures have undergone changes over the years with focus on managing the diversity more effectively. During the process an effort would be made to study some such companies and to figure out the reasons which have resulted into failure of some companies in adhering to the evolving guidelines on the issue. Some of the companies have also made the diversity issue a key component for sustenance. It will be interesting to see how such an approach have helped these companies over the years. The study will try to seek answers to the following key objectives; To analyze the levels of competition and management scenario in some of the key business sectors like the banking industry, the telecom industry, the services industry etc. and what kind of diversity is prevailing in those segments What types of circumstances make the companies to go for steps like effective management of diversity How employing diverse people make the companies more adaptable to the emerging situations What types of challenges the companies have faced in implementing the diversity management issues Prerequisite to a decent work culture is about respecting individuals and treating everyone, customers and colleagues, with dignity. How the diversity management principles have been able to adopt a balancing approach towards motivating the workforce in general. In general diversity reaches far beyond compliance with legislation and equal opportunities initiatives. Which are the different aspects of diversity making it obligatory on the part of the companies to adopt requisite diversity management principles How happy or content the employees feel after their companies adopt measures like 'diversity management' To find out some of the exemplary and important initiatives taken up by some reputed companies Methodology Research approaches and methods radically influence research content and, consequently, the policies designed in response to that content. If carried out in an objective manner, research not only helps the researcher in knowing about many unknown aspects, but it often provides a benchmark for future researches as well. Industry too takes a cue from such studies in their policy papers etc. Research philosophy is a belief about the way in which data about a phenomenon should be gathered, analyzed and used. This dissertation is more of a qualitative case study focusing on an analysis of some of the important initiatives taken up by the corporate world in diversity management, related HR policies, employee's morale etc. To carry out such a study in general we resort to two main approaches; Deductive reasoning, which works from the more general to the more specific subjects. Sometimes this is informally called a "top-down" approach. In such approach we take up the 'theory' and then try to apply it to the hypotheses that we intend to test. For example we might go into the rule book for HR management, equal opportunity law, anti-discriminatory provisions etc. and then see the applicability of such rules on the company's shortlisted for the study. Gradually we narrow down to the testing of data and observations for their applicability to the theory/ theories to arrive at a confirmation of its applicability or not. But a more practical approach is the Inductive approach, which begins with collecting data, specific observations, which then leads to broader generalization and theories. In such case, we start gathering data about the diversity aspects in the companies being analysed, follow their functioning in the recent past, figure out the problem or difference areas and then see the commonality of such failures in more than one company. Or, on the other hand see the commonality in some of the success stories since the diversity management issue is being taken up on priority basis. Such an approach in called as "bottom up" approach. The patterns thus detected are formulated into tentative hypotheses and we can therefore arrive at some general conclusion about our subject. In this study we will be using more of an inductive approach, but at places, we'll try to make a balanced mix of both these approaches so that we get to analyze the organizations as well as established theories. A brief questionnaire would also be prepared to see the effectiveness of such measures. The questionnaire could be distributed to some of the employees, managers, and to some independent opinion makers to assess their point of views on the effective functioning of the diversity management issue. The questionnaire could include scaling questions with ratings from 1-5 or multiple choice questions with multiple options being provided to the respondent. Research Plan Some of the main steps involved for this study are; We'll study the development of the globalisation phenomenon and the transition towards customer centric economy, in which companies were forced to become more conscious about their reputation in the marketplace and thus do all things positive. Analyze the functioning and implementation of some of the diversity management policies, with an emphasis towards the types of diversity prevailing in these companies. Gather data related to the legal provisions and how some of the reputed companies have been caught on wrong foot in taking good care of their employees based on the prevailing diversity. Put together all the elements and analyze the relevant data. In the process we'll also refer to the analysis done by some of the leading world bodies, institutions and organizations. The subjects or sample populations for both the survey and key informant interviews are those who have stake in the effective functioning of the company, and the economy. It includes the management, the customers, the employees, the suppliers, the distributors and of course the respective governments. Since the sample population belongs to mutually exclusive subgroups or strata, stratified random sampling technique will be employed to get the sample size. An effort would also be made to identify companies from a variety of sectors like IT, Banking, Telecom, Retail etc. The general population of this study will comprise of employees from companies, and managers who have been entrusted with the task of taking care of those employees The number of respondents for the questionnaire could be around 50-100 in all and will be selected randomly. The sampling interview questionnaire shall be prepared with two basic parts; Part A of the questionnaire will contain the demographic characteristics of the respondents and this will serve as the profile of the respondents. This will include their gender, age, employment, and affiliations profile. Part B will determine the behaviour and attitudes of the respondents as to how they perceive the issue of diversity management and functioning of the company towards the issue. For example, in Part-A, we can ask questions like; 1. Name, Age and Sex profile of the respondent (Note: Some respondents might not be willing to tell their name, they are at a liberty to do so, but the age and sex are a must to arrive at meaningful conclusion). In Part-B, we can ask questions like; 1. How long are you working for the company a. 1-5 yrs b. 5-10 yrs c. More than 10 yrs 2. How many hours do you work (per week) a. 35-40 hrs b. 40-45 hrs c. More than 45 hrs Ethical Considerations Whilst this study required participation of human subjects, consent and confidentiality will be a significant issue. This study would communicate its aim and purpose to the participants through the covering letter accompanying the questionnaires. The covering letter will also list the contact information of the researchers and other details. By providing this relevant information, the research participants will be made aware about the study prior to completing or sharing any information. Acquiring informed consent is vital to a researcher. Such a consent document serves as protection both for participants and for the researchers involved. Limitations and Constraints Considering the nature of the subject of the dissertation, more time and resources would be required to carry out an in-depth study of the subject. Data collection happens to be a very time consuming process and moreover, sample respondents might be hostile in answering the questionnaires especially when the objectives of the study were not clearly defined to them. In the course of the collection of the data required by this study, the time constraints might make it difficult to follow through other possible investigations which may lead to a more in depth analysis. The analysis and interpretation also might prove to be time-consuming in itself, because some of the information though requested, might not be forthcoming on account of the sensitive nature of the information. References: 1. CIPD (2008). Diversity-an overview. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Available online at http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/dvsequl/general/divover.htmIsSrchRes=1 (May 8, 2009) 2. CIPD (2009). 'Diversity calendar 2009 produced in partnership with Diversiton'. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Available online at http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/dvsequl/diversity_calendar_2009.htmIsSrchRes=1 (May 8, 2009) 3. Coca-Cola (2009). The Coca-Cola Company. Available online at http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/ourcompany/index.html (May 9, 2009) 4. Cracknell, David and Schofield, Alan (2007). Racist attacks up 12 per cent in a year. The Sunday Times. Available online at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2753846.ece (May 5, 2009) 5. DiversityInc (2009). DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity List. Available online at http://www.diversityinc.com/public/5416.cfm (Ma 8, 2009) 6. Gardenswartz, L., Rowe, A. (1998), "'Why diversity matters", HR Focus, Vol. July pp.s1-s3. 7. Hillman, Amy J. and Albert A. Cannella Jr (2007). Organizational Predictors of Women on Corporate Boards. Academy of Management Journal. Vol. 50, No. 4, 941-952. 8. Hostager, Todd J. and Meuse, Kenneth P. De (2008). The Effects of a Diversity Learning Experience on Positive and Negative Diversity Perceptions. Journal of Business psychology. 23:127-139. 9. Maxwell, Gillian A.; Sharon Blair and Marilyn McDougall (2001). 'Edging towards Managing Diversity in practice'. Employee Relations, 23, 5. Pp 468-482. 10. Stephenson, K. and Lewis, D. (1996). 'Managing Workforce diversity, macro and micro level HR implications of network analyses'. International Journal of Manpower 17 (4). 11. Tudor, Pamela (n.d.). 'Adding Value with Diversity: What Business Leaders Need to Know.' Available online at http://www.aimd.org/files/PamelaTudor.pdf (May 7, 2009) 12. US Census Bureau (2004). U.S. Interim Projections by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 2000-2050. Available online at http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/usinterimproj/ (May 8, 2009) 13. Wilson, E.M., Iles, P.A. (1999), "Managing diversity - an employment and service delivery challenge", The International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 12 No.1. Read More