Managing Cultural Diversity In Work Place - Essay Example

Managing Cultural Diversity in Work Place Submitted by:____________________ ___________________________ _______________________ Introduction Cultural diversity at workplace is increasing internationally day by day. According to the International Migration report of 2002 by UNESCO, the migration rate has almost doubled as compared to what it was in the 1970’s. According to the report one in every ten individuals found in developed regions of the world is a migrant (UNESCO, 2003). This high rate of international migrations implies a high level of cultural diversity at work place. Managing issues raised due to cultural diversity at work place is no doubt very challenging, but I believe that it is not impossible. Cultural diversity in work place is difficult to handle, but is manageable. This essay will address the main hurdles in effective management under culturally diverse circumstances and solutions to such problems. Cultural Diversity Cultural diversity refers to multiculturalism or interaction of individuals from different cultures at one platform. This phenomenon occurs as a result of international migration. People from several diverse cultures and nations migrate to other places usually developed areas for work. This makes management difficult. According to UNESCO (2003) some 175 million people live away from their birth places and this rate was reported to be 200 million by the World Bank in 2009. When individuals from various diverse cultures accumulate in a single organization, the management is faced by following common issues: Prejudice Prejudice may be present in the mind of local individuals against the migrants and vice versa. This is due to cultural differences and it can pose issues for the management at workplace. Discrimination Prejudice due to cultural diversity often leads to discrimination. Even the management might unconsciously discriminate on cultural basis among the individuals. Racism Where there is cultural diversity, people from different races are provided with several opportunities to interact. An interaction at such a level is sometimes ridden with racial issues that are again quite challenging to manage. Ethnicity In workplaces with culturally diverse environment, there are often issues raised by ethnic groups or due to ethnic groups. Cultural Shock In culturally diverse workplaces, sometimes individuals from a contrasting culture fail to absorb or even understand the organizational culture. This is referred to as a cultural shock. Cultural shock leads to negative feelings of helplessness and isolation, usually leading to poor performance at work by the individual. Cross-Cultural communication challenges Communication barriers among the co workers due to their diverse cultures also pose a problem in such scenarios and if left un dealt with, can pose serious limitations in the organization’s overall performance. The main issues relating to cultural diversity that might pose a problem for management have been highlighted above. These issues suggest that management of cultural diversity is a difficult task. Now I will discuss how these issues can be dealt with making it possible to manage such a culturally diverse workplace. Cultural Diversity Management at Work Place Cultural diversity management refers to management of individuals and situations in a culturally diverse organization. Cultural diversity calls for leadership diversity. The manager of a multicultural organization has to ensure that there is no conflict or communication gap due to cultural differences. Cultural diversity can be managed at workplace if certain considerations are undertaken. Firstly, the management should make sure that it is based on equal opportunity for all. Then, the next focus point must be the communicative barriers since these are of utmost importance in organizational growth. The management must ensure that all instructions are made clear to the involved individuals and that there are no ambiguities due to lack of effective communication (Cultural Diversity Programming Lens 2006). Other issues that the management is required to address include: Safeguard of each individual culture’s rights and values linguistic issues, promotion of cultural industries and goods and participation of all cultures (Cultural Diversity programming Lens, 2006). The manager of a culturally diverse organization has additional responsibilities on his shoulders as compared to a mono cultural organizational manager. In a culturally diverse group, more effort has to be put in to establish team spirit and cohesion, equity, respect, negotiations, conflict resolutions and customer service, especially internal. Managing such an organization calls for additional social and cultural awareness. Such managers must keep their eyes open to changes in organizational trends all around the world and must be willing to incorporate these changes in the organizational structure. A culturally diverse organization calls for much more flexibility and adaptability than a mono cultural organization or workplace. In a literature based research, Anaram (2007) suggests that the management must first rationally evaluate the project and then decide whether or not a multicultural staff will prove to be beneficial for carrying it out. According to Blau (1977), cited in Anaram (2007), when there is a small percentage of a minority group in an organization, the majority groups tent to stereotype that group more. However, in a study conducted in 1988, (cited in Anaram, 2007) Davis and colleagues concluded that trend of stereotyping has considerably decreased from 1972 till 1980’s and is still declining with awareness. According to Anaram (2007), five steps must be followed by all organizations for effective management of cultural diversity at work place. The first step in effectively managing cultural diversity at workplace is to recognize the individualities of the cultures involved. Secondly, the cultural diversity in an organization must be planned in order to achieve certain targets for the organization. Thirdly, managers must be accountable to achieve certain decided and announced diversity goals. The fourth step in this respect is to ensure open and frank communication channels, irrespective of the cultural origins that promote new ideas and involve incorporation of these ideas in the system if found valuable. The last step in this regard according to Anaram (2007) is adaptability, flexibility and tolerance in the organizational system relating to cultural specific diet, holidays, festivals and events etc. such small considerations actually reflect the respect for all cultural on behalf of the organization and help in better accommodation of all individuals leading to higher work productivity (Anaram, 2007). In a comprehensive study which attempts to understand the impact of cultural diversity on organizations and the role of management in this regard, Moon (1997) has highlighted main hurdles faced by culturally diverse organizations and has made management specific suggestions to overcome these hurdles. Moon (1997) believes that stereotyping, prejudice and ethnocentrism are the main three factors in cultural diversity that have the ability to charge the individuals emotionally and thus lead to conflict which is unhealthy for the organization in turn. Moon (1997) suggests that tools like empowering, mentoring and training must be utilized by managements to avoid such scenarios. Management of a culturally diverse group needs to be critical about the automatically conceived ideas attached to certain cultures and effect such conceptions have on the management. The management needs to recognize the pre established judgements it holds about certain groups and must change them in light of reality. Only then according to Moon (1997) will a management be able to bring behavioural modification leading to a healthier and prosperous organization. Ethics apply to all cultures. Therefore, if a manager is faced with a culturally diverse management situation, he or she should definitely cling to ethics. Ethical considerations must be foremost in the decision making process and effective management will be automatically ensured. According to Business Publications (2010), diversity in workplace is rapidly increasing all over the world. Stressing the need of effective management regarding cultural diversity at work, the author of an article in Business Publications (2010) argue that in this highly competitive world, in the near future, only those organizations which address their cultural diversity will grow. Diversity management is a long term critical process and must identify the components of the system that inhibit of limit the cultural diversity and its promotion in some way or another. Once identified, these components must be removed or modified accordingly to incorporate many cultures within the system. To avoid stereotyping and discrimination at all levels, the management should keep in mind that they are actually not dealing with many cultures, just with diverse needs of people (Business Publications, 2010). Discrimination according to Cross (Cited in Business Publications, 2010), was a norm till a few years back in most of the organizations and it still continuous to be. For an organization to be successful in the coming years in this increasingly culturally diverse environment, this element of discrimination needs to be removed from the organizational structure. Work Force (2000) survey results, cited in Business Publications (2010) highlight the following demographic findings: An increase in the number of immigrants in the work force An increase in number of working women An increasing trend in workers of putting loyalty to work ahead of loyalty to company. These findings definitely call for urgent modifications in organizational management systems to increase adaptability. Conclusion In light of above discussion and the findings of literature that was reviewed in the course of writing this essay, the conclusions drawn are as follows: Cultural diversity in workplaces is increasing day by day due to high rates of international migration. An effective management in culturally diverse workplaces need to be adaptable and flexible as well as sensitive towards the cultural specific needs of its employees. It is a challenging process to manage culturally diverse organizations effectively but it is not only the need of the present day, but also a beneficial process for the growth and prosperity of an organization. It is possible to manage culturally diverse organizations by keeping some basic, simple things in mind that include: respect for all cultures, participation of all workers, communication barriers, equity, and team cohesion. For effective management in multi cultural organizational scenario, it is necessary to critically evaluate the organizational system against the changing trends in different cultures around the world and to ensure flexibility and adaptability within the system. References Anaram, D.I. (2007). Cultural Diversity: Implications for workplace management. Journal of diversity management. Vol:2, No:4. Retrieved from: http://www.cluteinstitute-onlinejournals.com/PDFs/2007181.pdf on August 22nd, 2010. Business publications. (2010). The challenge of managing diversity in the workplace. B.net Library. Retrieved from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1365/is_n12_v23/ ai_13220969/ on August 22nd, 2010. Cultural Diversity Programming Lens. (2006). UNESCO. Retrieved from: http://www.unescobkk.org/fileadmin/user_upload/culture/Cultural_lens/Cultural_Diversity_Programming_Lens.pdf on August 22nd, 2010. Moon, M.K. (1997). Understanding the impact of cultural diversity on organizations. Retrieved from: http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/acsc/97-0607c.pdf on August 21st, 2010. UNESCO. (2003). What is cultural diversity? Portal UNESCO. Retrieved from: http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.phpURL_ID=13031&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html on August 22nd, 2010 World Bank. (2009). Migration and remittances. World bank news. Retrieved from: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20648762~menuPK:34480~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html on August 22nd, 2010. Read More