Diversity, Voice and Listening in Organizations: Case Studies in Brazilian and Spanish Companies - PowerPoint Presentation Example

POWER POINT PHD DEFENSE This is the oral presentation. You will read the prompts before or after a slide, depending on where the prompt is. Those light lighted in yellow are what you will find on the slide. SLIDE 1: Cover Prompt: This is a presentation of a thesis written on the topic, “DIVERSITY, VOICE AND LISTENING IN ORGANIZATIONS: CASE STUDIES IN BRAZILIAN AND SPANISH COMPANIES.”. The paper was written and is being presented by Carolina Volpato. Thank you in advance for your attention. SLIDE 2: Problem Background Prompt: This slide begins the first chapter of the thesis, which is the introduction chapter READ OUT: Problem background As far as diversity among companies is concerned, what makes the case of Brazil very peculiar is that apart from the fact that there are several foreign companies that have foreign nationals working with them. Brazil also happens to be a country that serves as a labor destination for several people across the world seeking greener pastures (quoteAllegretto & Arthur, 2001). Prompt: In the next slide, we find out the actual problem created based on this background SLIDE 3: Research problem READ OUT: Research problem Prompt: the main problem created from the background given earlier is that…….. Whereas some companies have taken advantage of diversity within their organizations to experience growth, others have managed diversity poorly and so gone into administration. The core problem therefore has to do with lack of proper management of diversity in become competitive. SLIDE 4: Purpose of the study READ OUT: Purpose of the study Based on the problem identified above, the researcher conducted this study with the purpose of investigating the issue of diversity among companies in Brazil, and finding out how diversity is managed in Spanish and Brazilian companies situated in Brazil. SLIDE 5: Research question READ OUT: Research question Prompt: For the researcher to say focused on the purpose of the study, a question was posed. This question is: What are the forms of diversity in Spanish and Brazilian companies and how are these different forms of diversity managed? Prompt: from this main question, a number of questions were also asked. These include: 1. What are the forms of diversity that exist in Brazilian and Spanish companies located in Brazil? 2. In what different ways do Brazilian and Spanish deal with diversity within their organizations and what are the weaknesses and strengths of these management approaches? 3. How does culture disconnect emanating from poor management of diversity impacts on employee performance in the companies? 4. In what ways have companies used voice and listening models as part of their leadership styles to manage diversity? SLIDE 6: Hypothesis READ OUT: Hypothesis Prompt: the collection of data will be performed around some key academic assumptions. These form the hypothesis of the study. They are: H0: Voice and listening systems can help companies overcome culture disconnect created as a result of diversity. H1: Voice and listening systems cannot help companies overcome culture disconnect created as a result of diversity. Prompt: The whole idea of data collection will be seeking to either prove or disprove the hypotheses given above. SLIDE 7: Importance of the Study READ OUT: Importance of the study The findings and recommendations based on the study will become a useful framework on how any company at all that has diversity within its rank can manage them. This study is going to be an important academic product, which can be used for developing further studies in the area of diversity management within companies. Prompt: From the slides that follow, we shall be reviewing literature on key themes that fall under the study. SLIDE 8: Diversity and its types in companies Prompt: This slide and those that follow represent the literature review, which is the second chapter of the study. READ OUT: Diversity and its types in companies Woodman, Sawyer & Griffin (2013) explained diversity to be the existence of differences among employees, which defines different ways in which each of them operates and acts Some major forms of diversity include Race Gender Disability Age Prompt: Whiles diversity can have several advantages such as promoting cross-functional roles, when it is not managed well it leads to a lot of negative effects. Next we shall review some of the outcomes when diversity is managed poorly. SLIDE 9: Effect of poor management of diversity READOUT: Effect of poor management of diversity In a study by Walck (2005), it was noted that once the right approaches to the handling of diversity is not taken it results in a situation known as culture disconnect. Crowder et al. (2012) defined culture disconnect as a situation where employees refuse to act and go about their roles in a manner that is in line with the organizational culture of the companies they work in. Prompt: The need to avoid such negative effect of diversity was the rationale for which this study was started. Our next slide will therefore give us more ideas on the need not to allow the effects of culture disconnect to happen. SLIDE 10: Impact of culture disconnect on employee performance READ OUT: Impact of culture disconnect on employee performance The presence of culture disconnect has been noted to have its own effect on employee performance. Some of these include Absence of efficiency in work delivery (Hughes et al., 2012) Absence of consultation, checks and balances (Netto & Sohal, 2009) Increased employee conflict (Maurer, Weiss & Barbeite , 2013). Prompt 1: According to Barinaga (2010), a the work output of employees is said to be efficient when employees are able to produce so much within a very short period of time and by the use of the most minimum resources available (Hughes et al. (2012). Where there is disconnect and every employee is pursuing their individual cultures and differences, the need to coordinate efforts to ensure such efficiency becomes hindered. Prompt 2: For employees to work and achieve the most optimal results, it is expected they will frequently consult with others within their rank and exchange ideas, knowledge, skill and competence (Taylor & Hansen, 2005). However, when diversity is not well managed and each person sees themselves as working in isolation, such dynamic exchange of ideas and competences through consultation becomes absent. Prompt 3: In a related study, Maurer, Weiss & Barbeite (2013) also stressed that wherever there is culture disconnect, chances with employee conflicts is very high. Meanwhile, employee conflicts affect employee performance because much time is spent among employees engaging in unhealthy competition when they could put their efforts together to promote growth. SLIDE 11: Voice and listening as an intervention to culture disconnect READ OUT: Voice and listening as an intervention to culture disconnect Prompt: this slide takes us through ways to use voice and listening to manage diversity well. According to Brownell (2013), effect listening is practiced as an intervention at the workplace when managers and leaders have a very good understanding of listening theory. Here, it was said that there are four different forms of listening are applied: Passive listening Pretend listening Selective listening Active listening Prompt 1: Passive listening has been said to be relevant when there is noise or distractions in the background. By practicing passive listening, the leader takes a stand not to listen to such distractions and noise. Prompt 2: Pretend listening has been noted to be very good for employees who would constantly be seeking the attention of the leader even when there should not be the need for such attention (Rayner & Keashly, 2005). Prompt 3: A leader may apply biased, projective or selective listening to ensure that only people that require maximum attention are listened to. Prompt 4: n active listening, the leader is expected to understand feelings, gather facts, and feel for the person speaking (Spector & Fox, 2005). SLIDE 12: Gaps in existing literature READ OUT: Gaps in existing literature Prompt: There are some gaps in the literature that has been presented above, which makes it necessary for the researcher’s methodology to be used in filling those gaps A major gap that was found had to do with the relationship between the types or forms of diversity management and growth within the organization. This means that there was no clear literature as to what the benefits would be in terms of organizational growth when diversity is managed well. Prompt: From the slides that follow, the methodology used by the researcher is presented SLIDE 13: Research Design READ OUT: Research design The current study was performed as a qualitative research design. Qualitative research was conducted because the researcher wanted to know the why and how behind decisions that are made by people within an identified setting (quoteHakim, 2010). SLIDE 14: Selection of participants READ OUT: Selection of participants Prompt: This slide describes two categories of people who are the population and the sample. The population is the larger group from which the sample was selected. From the business registry of the city used in the study, it was noted that there were as many as 975 registered Brazilian companies and 43 registered Spanish companies. The idea of the researcher was to have only 24 respondents in the sample size. HRMs of the first 12 Brazilian and first 12 Spanish companies that agreed to be part of the study were automatically included in the sample. SLIDE 15: Instrumentation READ OUT: Instrumentation Prompt: The tool that is used in the collection of responses or data from the respondents is known as the research instrument (Kasim, Alexander and Hudson, 2010). All activities that go into the preparation and presentation of the research instrument come under the instrumentation. The tool that is used in the collection of responses or data from the respondents is known as the research instrument (Kasim, Alexander and Hudson, 2010). For this study, the research instrument used was an interview guide. SLIDE 16: Methodological assumptions READ OUT: Methodological assumptions Prompt: there were key assumptions made before the qualitative case study was used. It was assumed that based on the Hofstede cultural dimension theory; there are always two lines of people or countries that can be found – those on the high side, and those on the low side. It was also assumed that in a typical organization or company, all the types of diversities that have been talked about will be found. SLIDE 17: Procedures READ OUT: Procedures Case study was used. As part of the case study, the researcher was offered the opportunity of focusing primarily on the identified settings without worrying about the larger Brazilian labor front. By so doing, it was possible to get as in-depth and thorough with the analysis of the case as possible. SLIDE 18: Data processing and analysis READ OUT: Data processing and analysis The presentation and analysis of the data will also be done in a qualitative manner. This means that the researcher shall not make use of any mathematical indices and formulae such as percentages, graphs and means. SLIDE 19: Reliability, validity and biases READ OUT: Reliability, validity and biases Prompt: The following measures were put in place to promote the reliability, validity and bias issues in the study: Validity of instrument was assured by trying out the instrument on a test population. Reliability was also ensured by expanding the sample size to cover as many companies as possible so that the findings of the study could be generalized. Biases were avoided by playing a neutral role by the researcher in the data collection process. SLIDE 20: Thank you. Read More