Definition of Multiculturalism - Term Paper Example

Definition of Multiculturalism Introduction Presently, many business organisations have decided to expand their territories into foreign countries, as they seek to capture new markets, obtain cheap labour, acquire raw materials and increase their market share. Technological advancement and cordial diplomatic relationships are two of the numerous factors that have enabled corporations and other smaller business to thrive in foreign countries. This has led to globalisation, which has enabled countries to open their borders and cooperate economically, hence, establishing one global community (McGregor, 2008). Owing to globalisation, many people from different geographical locations and different cultures have to work together; therefore, bringing about the issue of multiculturalism. Multiculturalism has affected many businesses across the world, as they have attempt to change their mode of operation to adopt the subject. Business leaders has realised that it brings competitive advantage to a firm, since people from different cultures are able to share experiences and ideas, thus increasing innovation, enhancing the decision making process and promoting creativity. However, multiculturalism has also brought obstacles such as communication problems and complex relationships among the employees, thus the need for effective strategies to manage the issue (Oerleman & Peeters, 2010). This paper will discuss the issue of multiculturalism, its effect on different companies and the managerial implications that arise with the matter. Multiculturalism in the business settings simply concerns the cultural diversity in a particular workplace. It stems from the interaction of people with different cultural practices and unique social backgrounds, thus fostering unique abilities that give companies a competitive advantage (Baumann, 2011). From the hotel industry to the manufacturing sector, multiculturalism has become a global concept that companies are trying to utilise in an effort to harness the numerous opportunities that come with it (McGregor, 2008). Business leaders are spending significant amounts of time trying to establish the best way to manage multiculturalism in their respective business environments. Multiculturalism has introduced many changes in the business environment, as companies work towards adapting the uniqueness of different cultures to benefit their companies (Kaul, 2011). As companies expand into foreign countries, their mode of operation has been affected by the culture of the particular nation (Kaul, 2011). Take the example of a company like Google. The company has realised the immense business potential in other countries and decided to hire employees from all countries across the globe to assist in translating information and managing different resources. The company has established many subsidiaries that are managed by employees from different countries. These employees contribute to the success of the company by bringing a lot of resourceful information that helps Google to improve its services. They assist the company to come up with new products and services for particular markets. They help the company to understand different ways that it can utilise to improve services in a particular market, thus increasing its market share. For example, Google can use employees from a particular country to come up with a relevant application, which helps to advice the citizens on events that are special to the country (Podsiadlowski et al., 2013). Effects of multiculturalism to a business Multiculturalism contributes to diversity in an organisation. Diversity leads to enhanced creativity, improved decision-making, increased innovation and new and successful marketing strategies to different kinds of consumers. Analysts and scholars have realised that organisational teams that are characterised by uniqueness are more innovative and make better decisions than teams containing similar kinds of people. Multiculturalism enables different organisations to obtain employees with different characteristics. These employees make up the diverse workforce that brings about innovation. Innovation is a key factor that gives an organisation competitive advantage. The higher the innovation, the more the company sets itself apart from its competitors (Rose, 2013). With globalisation, there is increased competition and diversity, which means that companies have to come up with new ideas and procedures of conducting business. This creates opportunities and challenges for the business. The company has to come up with new marketing methods and production procedures that will help it earn competitive advantage. Using the diverse workforce, a company is able to come up with ideas such as marketing strategies that will enable it to penetrate the market. A company that adopts multiculturalism is able to come up with relevant approaches to a certain target market (Greenberg, 2012). Companies can also benefit from multiculturalism by attracting clients or customers from the employees’ cultural background. Studies show that many people like to associate with companies that respect and value their culture. Clients especially from minority groups are more attracted to companies that value their culture. They will choose to conduct business with companies that have created employment for people that they can associate with both culturally and nationally. This helps the companies that adopted multiculturalism to attract more clients, which translates to more business. Furthermore, a company can expand by purchasing the power of minority markets. Take the example of the Coca Cola Company. This company entered into the African market many years ago and it has reaped the benefits by earning a loyal customer base. In recent years, companies like Pepsi have tried to enter the African market without much success due to the influence of the Coca Cola Company. For Coca Cola to be able to penetrate this market, it adopted a diverse marketing team that had knowledge of the target group. This shows that infiltrating such markets can be beneficial to company, considering the profits that the company makes from the African market (Baumann, 2011). Multiculturalism enables teams to solve complex organizational encumbrances. This can be attributed to the fact that culturally diverse teams possess an immense volume of resourceful material that assists them in developing many solutions. Individuals from different cultural backgrounds have different experiences and different knowledge pools concerning certain matters. They also have different methods of solving problems, therefore, possessing numerous problem-solving skills. This means that they tackle problems from different perspectives, which enables them to come up with many solutions that can be combined to form a lasting solution. Their ways of observation, meditation and interpretation of events varies, therefore, providing them with various adoptable solutions to a problem (Greenberg, 2012). On the other hand, multiculturalism also contributes to various challenges. When a company adopts multiculturalism, it should be able to manage the diverse workforce in order to obtain great financial results. In a culturally diverse workplace, employees experience increased interpersonal conflict amongst themselves. This can be attributed to language barrier, different cultural practices and failure to observe company policies and regulations. Some employees may have different opinions on how to handle an issue, which may results to a conflict. If the managers fail to implement a great strategy to manage the workforce, the conflicts can lead to communication breakdown and high employee turnover (Angouri, 2013). Managing multiculturalism In order to reduce the conflicts that arise from multiculturalism, organisations utilise the following techniques. Firstly, they ensure that every employee on their diverse workforce attends training programmes and workshops, which help them to improve interpersonal relationships and communications between themselves. Training programmes are also prepared to assist in growing and boosting advanced thoughts that help the culturally diverse employees to understand their purpose in the organisation (Podsiadlowski et al 2013). Cross-cultural training programmes are used to help the employees gain attainments and knowledge to increase efficiency in their workplaces. These programmes nurture sensitivity, respect and appreciation for all the different cultures. It is a tool that views diversity as a source of opportunities, therefore, a human resource. Managers are required to attend special cross-cultural trainings that help them to understand their workers’ needs and execute make appropriate changes where necessary (Greenberg, 2012). Managers should foster communication with their subordinates. This ensures that there is clear communication of rules and regulations. It also ensures that the employees’ have clear goals and understand their tasks. Language barriers are removed by ensuring that employees are enrolled in relevant language classes. Other organisations hire multilingual individuals who are able to understand and speak the relevant languages (Lewis, 2013). Conclusion The world is continuously changing and with globalisation, there are limitless opportunities in different parts of the world (McGregor, 2008). Multiculturalism is one of the issues that has brought change in the business world. Many business are adopting culturally diverse employees to help with increasing the competitive advantage. Globalisation facilitates the process of linking cultures, which are sources of ideas. Multiculturalism has enabled organisations to adopt creativity, improved decision making ability and innovation. All these originate from multiculturalism, which is a huge pool of outstanding ideas. However, multiculturalism brings challenges such as communication breakdown and conflicts. With proper diversity management tools such as trainings, these challenges can be transformed into opportunity (Baumann, 2011). References Angouri, J. (2013). The multilingual reality of the multinational workplace: language policy and language use. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 34(6), 564-581. Baumann, G. (2011). Multiculturalism: critical concepts in sociology. London [etc.: Routledge. Greenberg, J. (2012, August 5). Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions. Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions. Retrieved April 3, 2014, from http://www.multiculturaladvantage.com/recruit/diversity/Diversity-in-the-Workplace-Benefits-Challenges-Solutions.asp Kaul, V. (2011). Multiculturalism and the challenge of pluralism. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 37(4), 505-516. Lewis, J. (2013, May 6). The Advantages of Multiculturalism in the Workplace. Small Business. Retrieved April 3, 2014, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-multiculturalism-workplace-15239.html McGregor, H. (2008). Globalisation. London: Wayland. Oerlemans, W. G., & Peeters, M. C. (2010). The Multicultural Workplace: Interactive Acculturation and Intergroup Relations. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25(5), 460-478. Podsiadlowski, A., Gröschke, D., Kogler, M., Springer, C., & Zee, K. V. (2013). Managing a culturally diverse workforce: Diversity perspectives in organizations. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 37(2), 159-175. Rose, A. (2013, April 7). Multicultural Effects on the Workplace. Everyday Life. Retrieved April 2, 2014, from http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/multicultural-effects-workplace-6295.html Read More