Rationale for Increased Diversification at Vanguard West Airlines - Case Study Example

Cultural Influences in the Workplace: Rationale for increased diversification at Vanguard West Airlines al Affiliation) Introduction Globalization and social integration have led to the need for cultural diversity in workplaces. The increase and improvement in migration patterns has also affected the type of cultures found in different workplaces. Since Vanguard West Air is a major airline, there is a need for implementation of strategies leading to cultural diversity within the airline. Vanguard West Air is located in a society that has adopted cultural diversity with its cultures being from different places globally. Current statistics in the organization shows that the Whites take almost 90% of the workforce, whereas the other cultures take the remaining 10%. Cultural diversity is required in the organization not only because of the pending lawsuits but because there are other benefits that accrue to this strategy. According to research, a firms employees should represent the society in which the firm operates. An equal ratio should be used to represent the society in the firm. In the case of the Airline, there is no equal representation of the Los Angeles society. Additionally the American Indians are not represented in the workforce. The new implementation plans for the Airline will be discussed below. They will help Vanguard West Air to achieve its goals and objectives. Implementation program Implementation will begin by creating a workforce that is culturally diversified. This will include hiring workers from different cultures in a pre-planned ratio. It will include the Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and American Indians. Cultures from these nationalities are all found in the Los Angeles society where they have been able to interact and integrate with time. Job descriptions will not target a particular culture as it was done in the past. Job qualifications will be used to vet employees. Potential targets will be from all cultures and should have the right qualifications for the job. This will reduce the percentage of white workers to about half the population of the workers. Employee awareness programs will be launched to help create individual cultural awareness. This will help employees adopt their culture irrespective of their nationality or number in the Airline. In addition, appropriate behaviors and communication skills will be made adopted. The awareness may be created through training sessions to the employees to help them have a peaceful co-existence at the workplace. A culture consists of norms, values, beliefs that are shared by a set group of people (Brislin 2008). These values are different from culture to culture. To overcome these values, there has to be set equal grounds to help in communication. Reflective listening will ensure social interaction. Since the Airline’s official language of communication is English, workers will have to be fluent in the language. The training and coaching sessions will provide information and knowledge to the workers. They are the key factors that contribute to peaceful coexistence among the workers. Workers may have different emotional, physical and religious attributed according to their culture. These factors may affect the orientation, hierarchy attitudes, and achievements by the workers. However, with abundant knowledge on their duties and requirements at the workplace, there will be a successful cross-cultural working environment. The implementation plans will ensure that the employees understand the workplace and lead to perfect employee relationships. They will include both verbal and non-verbal characteristics of the workers. Reasons for the adoption of cross-cultural based workplaces. Demographic statistics show that there has been an increase in the number of nationalities in Los Angeles. The number of Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans travelers has increased immensely in the last decade. These statistics show there is the need to adopt cultural diversity at the workplace since the organization deals with transportation that contributes to social interaction and integration. Globalization has also fueled the rate of cultural diversity. Transport and communication networks have helped the growth of businesses. In the case of Vanguard West Air, its customers are from various states and international capitals. It should represent most of the cultures since it creates a higher possibility of growth due to ideas from the different cultures (French, 2010). Competition from firms that have already adopted the strategy has led to other firms including Vanguard West Air implementing the same strategy for survival purposes in the market. Since the Airline industry is an international industry, there is a need for Vanguard West Air to start its cultural diversity locally before entering the international market. Improved migration patterns have led to immigration of individuals through labor and educational visas. Benefits Cultural diversity has several advantages that lead to the success of the worker and firm at large. Benefits to the worker The individual benefits from the cultural program in the following number of ways. The employees will have increased knowledge due to their interaction with other cultures. This will help them serve customers in an enhanced manner because they will have some knowledge on the customers culture. Difference cultures have various values and taboos. Inter-cultural programs in the workplace will help the employees have more knowledge on the rules and regulations binding a particular culture (French, 2010). Employees will be bound to improved skills and valuable experiences due to their interaction at the workplace. Some cultures may be physically fit while others are emotionally strong. A combination of workers from these two communities will lead to a better and stronger workforce. Attributes from both collectivism and individualism are brought together to come up with an all round up employee. This can be traced back during the economic recession where the capitalists and socialists dominated the market with different ideas. The capitalists included individualism where production is dominated by personal motivation. Goals are obtained through self-reliance and independence. Socialism on the hand includes a collectivism approach in production. These two cultures are found in different parts of the world where capitalism is found in America and socialism in Asia. Cross-cultural strategies in the workplace will lead to employees from both economic blocks leading to a competent workplace. Vanguard West Air will have an added advantage as compared to other airlines since it has more cultures to include in the workforce. Benefits to the company Vanguard West Air will accrue various benefits after implementing the goals and objectives for its cross-cultural strategy. Increased market share: The firm will experience an influx of passengers due to the culturally diversified workforce. The reason behind this theory is that research has proved cultural bonds are stronger. This means that customers will prefer being served by employees from the same culture or race. Cultural interaction will create an added advantage where all cultures in the community will be represented at the Airline. Additionally, Vanguard West Air is a major airline and needs a corporate structure that represents most of the major cultures in the United States and international destinations. Increased profits: Employee diversity and an equal contribution from all the cultures (Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians, Asians, and Whites) will lead to a competent workforce leading to increased ticket sales. In addition, the increased market share will also contribute to the increased profits in the airline. Different ideas but a common goal: According to research, heterogeneous groups tend to be more creative than homogeneous ones. This increases the chances for new ideas that will help the airline achieve its goals and objectives. The different cultures may also provide workers with different personalities which when brought together come up with the required skills. A network of ideas will help in the realizations of company goals and objectives. Healthy competition among the employees: The workers will try to compete among themselves due to the cultural diversity. Each culture will try to emerge the winner in the performance contracts issued to employees. Competition among the employees will lead to improved results leading to the success of the airline. Employee relationships will also be created leading to outsourcing and collection of information. Increased productivity due to synergy: Synergy is a process where there is a combination of different elements to come up with a stronger element. At the workplace, different culture have will be put to test to come up with a general employee culture that leads to a common goal. This will increase the productivity of the airline through increased customer interactions hence increasing the number of customers using the airline. An increase in productivity will lead to increase in profits for the firm. Increased customer and supplier interaction: There will be enhanced interaction between the customers and the workers because there are a variety of languages from the different employee cultures. This will increase the rate at which customers are attended to and prevent any language barrier since the society is fully represented. Customer interaction helps a firm to understand customer tastes and preferences, which is an added advantage to the firm (Jackson 2003). Cost effective: When the airline hires the right workers to represent each community at the right ratio, it is bound to save on hiring costs. These costs come up due to changes made in employee and job descriptions to fit the companys standards. Costs of Increasing the Airline’s Cultural Diversity Communication issues: A communication barrier exists between the employees because not all the employees understand and speak English which is the airline’s preferred language,. However, to overcome this setback, the company will offer training and coaching sessions to employees who do not understand nor speak English. Discrimination and unhealthy competition among the workers: Some employees may have issues relating and interacting with other cultures leading to discrimination in the workplace. There are also cases of majority rule whereby the culture with the most workers dominate the workplace. This affects the management and decision-making processes among the workers. In extreme cases, the discrimination may lead to racism, which is an international problem (Jackson 2003). Cultural barriers: These types of barriers affect the socialization and integration processes among the workers. Some cultures are deeply rooted and members cannot change their values and beliefs. This prevents cross-cultural processes to take place in the planned manner. Training and coaching costs: The employees will undergo training sessions to create awareness of the program and what is expected of them. This will incur the airline extra costs as compared to other airlines that have not adopted cultural diversity. Integration issues: These issues arise when employees come up with cliques or groups based on their cultures. This divides the workplace between cultural lines. Time: Since various cultures view time differently, there is a high possibility for imbalances between family time and work time. This may cause misunderstanding at the workplace since there are no set timetables for each culture. Their calendars may also not match leading to rescheduling of work and flights to fit personal preferences. Conclusion Many companies to keep up with the dynamic world have embraced cultural diversity. When this strategy is implemented in the right manner, it has more benefits than setbacks. As for Vanguard West Air, adopting cultural diversity at the workplace will lead to its growth and success. References Brislin, R. W. (2008). Working with cultural differences: dealing effectively with diversity in the workplace. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. French, R. (2010). Cross-cultural management in work organisations (2nd ed.). London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Jackson, S. E. (2003). Diversity in the workplace: human resources initiatives. New York: Guilford Press. Read More