Management Theory and Environmental Forces Term Project: - Essay Example

Research into this topic is motivated by the need to provide global managers with tips for managing diverse workforces, assuring such managers that they are not the only ones facing such a challenge (and hence are not necessarily incompetent), and help managers tailor best practices in managing diverse workforces according to their organizational cultures, missions, and visions. It is expected that the findings of this research will be available to most global managers or managers who aspire to go global someday.

Once the recommendations of the study are adopted, it is anticipated that managers’ ability to address other challenges, such as productivity, will improve. This will then enable their organizations to have a competitive advantage. Okoro, E. A. and Washington, M. C. (Spring, 2012). “Workforce Diversity and Organizational Communication: Analysis of Human Capital Performance and Productivity.” Journal of Diversity Management, 7(1), pp. 57-62. Okoro and Washington (2012) explain that one of the main challenges for global managers of managing a diverse workforce in the 21st century is communication.

According to the authors, globalization naturally results in an ethnically and racially diverse workforce. This poses the question of how to establish and maintain harmony among workers. The solution is to have open and effective communication channels that lead to ongoing feedback systems, cultural harmony, and an appreciation of one other in spite of cultural differences. According to Likert’s management theory, the manager needs to employ a consultative management approach that allows consultation with the employees so as to avoid stereotyping or cultural bias.

These same concerns are also shown by Henri Fayol, who states that one role of the manager is to maintain the esprit de corps (a manager should always look to harmonize his or her team). The article’s conclusion is that, following the