What role does diversity play in nonprofit management - Research Paper Example

? Role of Diversity in Non-profit Management Role of Diversity Play in Non-profit Management? Introduction The organizational setup in the contemporary times supports the concept and practice of diversity and pluralism in the workplace. The term ‘diversity’ has been in enormous discussions and debates over the years to understand the real essence behind this term. A simple meaning of this term as defined by Jeffries & Amsden (2012) is that a group of people belonging from different ethnic, cultural, religious and social backgrounds to come a common platform and work collectively for achieving a common objective. Several researches have highlighted that the growing impact of globalization in all government, private and non-profit sectors have necessitated the need of incorporating the practice of diversity in the organization and work setup (Jeffries & Amsden, 2012). It is because an organization will be able to develop and maintain better external communication with diverse people and enterprises if it is diverse from the inside also. This is how a healthy and pluralistic working environment is established, both internal and external to the organization. Nielsen & Huang (2009) underline the fact that diversity is not a method for accomplishment but an accomplishment in itself; where people of high aptitude think and construct together without any racial barriers or differences. The concept of diversity is more advocated by the non-profit organizations than other private and governmental bodies due to their nature of work, which is intended to help and flourish every individual without considering their racial attributes (Nielsen & Huang, 2009). Williams (2012) explains that objectives of non-profit organizations can be limited in its accomplishment if the top level managers and executives are all white colours. It is essential of CEOs and owners of such enterprises to understand the power and need of implementing diversity, from the very roots to the top of the organization in order to justify their intent and mission (Williams, 2012). The absence of diversity in an organization can limit it to achieve optimum performance from its employees and inculcate new dimension for crisis management (Philanthropy, 2007). This paper is aim to discus the role of diversity in non-profits management, and how it can be taken as a tool for ensuring prosperity of the organization. The paper will present a theoretical aspect of diversity and its implementation models to illustrate the proper methodology of adopting it within the non-profit organizations. Impact of Diversity: A Theoretical View There have a number of theories dealing with the concept of theory in different dimensions. The Agency theory given by Miller (2002) defines that there always a difference between how organization objectives are perceived by managers and employees. This difference can lead to misunderstanding between the two bodies; the leader or manager and the follower or employees. Miller (2002) further explains that if all top level managers and decision makers are white, then the difference in perception can be further augmented. Hence, in non-profit organizations focus will put on only those needy people who are of the same racial background as those on the power seats (Miller, 2002). The System Theory of Luhman links the concept of diversity with the communication within the organization. He explains that the effectiveness of any organization is greatly influence by the communication setup of the organization. If the internal communication is weak, then there are greater chances of employees and staff of developing a negative image of the organization (Luhmann & Gilgen, 2013). In a world where everyone is highly exposed to media, people have adopted the habit of comparing their organization with what is being shown on media and there is a higher probability of developing a negative image of their organization. When people see favouritism and racial bifurcation on the media, they compare their organization’ practices with what’s been shown on the media and perceive their organization accordingly. A lack of diversity in any institution will make its employees believe that they do not have any chance of promotion or getting noticed and that can effect the internal communication and performance of employees, especially who are working in the low level management departments (Gazley, Chang, & Bingham, 2010). Misinterpretation of Diversity in Corporate Management Austin (2012) in his report made the argument that in many Western countries diversity is assumed to be related to gender alone, and a balance ration of women and men in the workforce and managing department is assumed to be diversity. He exemplifies the fact that in the USA state of California, the funding for women rights and education has declined over the past 20 years. However, the number of female executives and decision makers has increase in this period which creates a dilemmatic situation about this issue. He answers to this own raised the issue that it is because that a major portion of non-profit and private organizations funding are focused to white females and males. Thus, several unprivileged males and females of colour, who are greater in number, remain hidden from the eyes of these organization support programs and funds (Austin, 2012). The more they spend, the more they can expect to get from other non-profit organizations and government. For this reason, many non-profit bodies focus on their quantity of spending rather than the diversity of spending, in order to show that they are fulfilling their objectives, which actually they are not (Austin, 2012). Williams (2012) addresses that it is assumed by several governmental and non-profits organizations that the USA will soon be transformed into a majority of people of colour (non-whites) and whites will come in minority. Hence, at that time the people of colour will enjoy more rights and benefits in the country. However, the unseen truth is that the power contained by the whites is being transferred to the next generation and the trend of suppression of rights of the people of colour continues (Williams, 2012). Role of diversity in Non-profit Management Statistics found by several researches show a significant growth in the non-profit sector over the years in several parts of the world. Anheier (2000) states that, although the non-profit sectors are playing a significant part in the overall economy and stability of the country, but their management is still very much relying on the Copy Cat Principle. Several non-profit organizations have adopted the management strategies of private organizations ignoring the difference in nature of the two sectors. The major difference is the dual management structure of the non-profit sector, where all powers are not vested in board members alone. Unlike in the private organizations where owners and board directors govern all financial and managerial decisions; executive officers have the power of making the financial decision in the non-profits (Anheier, 2000). In addition to this, the most prominent difference between private and non-profit organizations is that the non-profit organizations rely more on government support and voluntarily service. For this reason, a holistic management approach is essential for the non-profit organizations. A holistic management is an approach which ensures that every resource or organization is utilized in the best place where optimum results can be obtained. The framework of the holistic management lies on creating bio and ethnic diversity within the organization. By following this approach, the management would be able to have a better idea of not only the financial matters, but also the politics and cultural disputes in the organization. It was discussed in the report of Austin (2012) that many talented and potential employees working in the private sectors do not consider non-profit organizations to be their job preference. Most of these employees believed that the higher posts in these organizations are saturated with the allied class and white people and their true potential would remain unnoticed. He explains that it is high time for these organizations to change their management outlook in the corporate world or they would not be able to attract people who can work better in low salaries (Austin, 2012). Anheir (2000) reports that there are a total of 10.4 million employees who are working as volunteers in several non-profit organizations serving humanity. Since, they are not working to earn, so they do not have the fear of losing their jobs. Hence, in such a scenario if favouritism is practiced in the organizations than it could result in demotivation of the voluntarily employees and can force them to leave the job. With the ongoing economic crisis and less financial support from the government, turnover of volunteers and other employees can be a major setback for the non-profit organizations (Anheier, 2000). It was identified in several studies that the financial matters and money transactions are not as simple as in the case of private organizational setups. In non-profit bodies there are several considerations of need, merit and culture in landing of the money. In addition to this, most of the non-profit organizations are based on the combined model of tent and palace (Nielsen & Huang, 2009). This elaborates that the organization is neither very orthodox with its marketing or management approach and nor it is very liberal to experiment new ideas by risking organization’s resources and profit. This defines that the core management in non-profits is quite complicated as compared to other small or medium size companies. Hence, the role of diversity is very important to ensure that the right methodology and approach is applied to the right area. This would involve recruitment of employees who have a better understanding of the real problems in society and not those who just desire a job. Hence, not only racial diversity but diversity of religion and education also plays a significant role for achieving the complex management structure in the non-profit organizations (Rice, 2004). Conclusion It can be concluded that with the passage of time the complications in business styles and dealings have been increasing. This is true for the non-profit organizations as well, which have now become a prominent part of both corporate and the social world. Biasness in management and other organizational activities can not only limit the approach of the organization, but also would create a negative image of the organization in employees and other clients. It is essential for non-profit management to optimize the utilization of resources in each department by following the holistic management approach, where each individual has equal rights to think, share, suggest and critique. This is how the management will be able to represent true leadership that can guarantee better management-employee relation and thus better performance of the organization. Reference List Anheier, H. (2000). Managing non-profit organisations: Towards a new approach. London: Centre for Civil Society. Austin, G. (2012). Non Profit: Is the Non-profit Sector Doing Enough for Diversity? Profiles in Diversity Journal , 22-23. Gazley, B., Chang, W., & Bingham, L. (2010). Board Diversity, Stakeholder Representation, and Collaborative Performance in Community Mediation Centers. Bloomington: Public Administration Review. Jeffries, L., & Amsden, T. (2012). Increasing Diversity Of Leadership In Environmental Non-profit Organizations In A Major Brownfield City: Phase 2. Journal of Diversity Management , 7 (1), 27-34. Luhmann, N., & Gilgen, P. (2013). Introduction to Systems Theory . Cambridge : Polity Press. Miller, J. (2002). Managing Board Diversity: The Importance of Differentiating Between Diversity and Representatives. In Perspectives on Nonprofi t Board Diversity. Washington DC: Washington National Center for Nonprofi t Boards. Nielsen, S., & Huang, H. (2009). Diversity, Inclusion, and the Non-profit Sector. New York: Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Philanthropy. (2007, October 26). Achieving Diversity at Non-profit Organizations. Retrieved 31 2013, March, from Philanthropy: http://philanthropy.com/article/Achieving-Diversity-at/63208/ Rice, M. (2004). Organizational Cullture, Social Equity and Diversity: Teaching Public Administration Education in the postmodern Era. Journal of Public Affairs Education , 10, 143-154. Williams, A. (2012). Beyond Social Responsibility: Building the case for diversity in the non-profit sector. 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