Global operations management - multiculturalism and diversity management - Essay Example

There are back office, front office, retail and wholesale operations as part of the operations management. Customer service is another area focussed by the operations managers. Customer service determines the success and failures of a business. It is aimed at building active relationships with the customers. Because of the highly globalized business environment at present, operations managers of modern era forced to interact with diverse customers and hence the success of operations managements at present depends on how well the operations managers are able to manage the multiculturalism and diversity in business.

This paper briefly analyses the current operations management issues with respect to multiculturalism and diversity management. Some of the issues the host foreign country could face as a result of the expansion  The major issue in internationalising a business is the issues with respect to diversity and multiculturalism. No two individuals are alike; same way no two countries are alike. Countries may differ socially, economically, politically, legally and culturally. All these aspects have a big say in operations management and hence success of international business depends on how well a country deal with these issues. . ternational business (Victor, 2009) Communication is one of the vital segments of every business activities and language barriers often spoil effective communications.

Communication may occur between the organization and its customers and the knowledge of a common language is necessary for effective communication. The business environment in different countries is different because of the economical, political, legal and social differences. For example, America and China are two entirely different countries politically, economically and socially and hence while doing business with China, America should consider the issues related to diversity and multiculturalism seriously.

Social organizations in America and China are entirely different because of the cultural differences. In America, religion is a big entity whereas in China, it may not be the same. It is not necessary that two parties in a communication process may have similar knowledge or level of information (Contexting) in the topic of negotiation, especially when they happen to be of two different cultures. In other words, Americans and Chinese may have different levels of contexting and the knowledge of these differences is essential while conducting business negotiations.

Authority and leadership styles are other areas in which America and China may differ. Americans are more dominating types compared to Chinese people. “The view of authority in a given society affects communication in the business environment significantly as it shapes the view of how a message will be received based on the relative status or rank of the message's sender to its receiver” (Victor, 2009). Non verbal communication, and the understanding the importance of time etc are also different in different countries which should be