Northern Trust - Essay Example

Case study of a successful leading cross cultural management organization-Northern Trust How does it relate to cross cultural management as studiedThe article chosen is one on Northern Trust, a leading organization that recruits, retain and provide comprehensive training, mentorship and networking program to professionals of diverse background around the globe to achieve their individual career goals. It recognizes the value of a diverse workforce and commits itself to foster an inclusive culture that leads to growth of ideas and innovation, and ultimately, better products and services for the clients. It makes it to the Diversity Edge Magazine's list of "2009 Best Companies for Diverse Graduates," from its "Best Companies Survey," with reviews from participating college and university career services centers. The criteria surveyed on are: diversity recruiting policies, leadership development initiatives, training programs, opportunity for mentorship and activeness of employee affinity groups. All these points to a successful cross cultural management that we can learn from and worth to case studied into. Cross Cultural Management Issues identified from the Case Study: Successful Racial and Ethnical Diversity Management of Diverse Culture Touching on race and ethnic diversity in the case study, there also are some theories that focus on positive predictions or possible positive outcomes of racial/ethnic diversity. This comes from a "value in diversity" perspective ([Cox, 1993] and [Cox et al., 1991]) which argues that diversity creates value and benefit for team outcomes. Group performance is thought to be enhanced by having broader resources and multiple perspectives (Hoffman, 1959). Particular to race, some studies (McLeod et al., 1996 P.L. McLeod, S. Lobel and T.H. Cox, Ethnic diversity and creativity in small groups, Small Group Research 27 (1996), pp. 248-264. Full Text via CrossRef[McLeod et al., 1996] and [Watson et al., 1993]) have found that ethnically diverse work teams make better decisions than homogeneous teams. The general assumption that underlies these theories is that an increase in racial or ethnic diversity means that a work group will experience possible positive outcomes such as: increased information, enhanced problem solving ability, constructive conflict and debate, increased creativity, higher quality decisions, and increased understanding of different ethnicities/cultures. This is true for our case study as Mark Welch, Director of Global Diversity & Inclusion at Northern Trust says in the article (l.5). Because of the diverse background of each individual and culture, when faced with the same problem in the work group, different solutions emerged from the respective culture. Since each culture is unique and so there will be differences, which results in a bigger pool of ideas generated to achieving a problem. This increases the number of comparisons of ideas between one to another. As a result, combinations and hybrids of solutions will surface giving rise to more information. What will be beneficial is that the ability to solve problems will be enhanced since there is an acquirement of new perspectives to solve the same problem, meaning if certain conditions impedes the implementation of one solution, another solution acquired to the same problem may be more viable. This syndrome is a proof of increased creativity of the individual or of the group. Being in a diverse group, common sense will tell that being sensitive to another's race or ethnicity or hostility will arise. In view of this, to cater to the care of a co-colleague emotions and perspectives very much individualized in a person, and at the same time to disagree maturely based on facts, the way is to bring across constructively conflicts and debates. To achieve so, one will need to seek out the understanding of another's race and ethnicity if an authentic relationship is to be established in the work place. With the increased solutions, there will come about the choice of the best solutions and the motivation to orientate towards higher quality of decisions. Successful Gender Diversity Management of Cultural Diversity One of the implemented key initiatives and programs to promote diversity and inclusion by Northern Trust's Corporate Diversity Council manages the issue of gender diversity in organizations: The Leadership Development Forum that consists of a series of professional development and personal mentoring groups for women develops strategic, global leaders. Lee and Farh, 2004 C. Lee and J. Farh, Joint effects of group efficacy and gender diversity on group cohesion and performance, Applied Psychology: An International Review 53 (1) (2004), pp. 136-154. Full Text via CrossRef | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (5)Lee and Farh (2004) build on Bandura's (1977) social cognitive theory to predict that gender diversity would moderate the relationship between group efficacy and group outcomes. They found that the group efficacy-performance relationship was stronger in mixed gender groups than in same gender groups. This theory fulfils what Northern Trust has achieved. As cited in the article (l.21-39) "Northern Trust is continuously recognized for supporting workplace diversity. Most recently, Northern Trust was named .one of the "Top 50 Companies for Executive Women" by the National Association for Female Executives." Some relevant theoretical perspectives with positive predictions that are realized in Northern Trust are person-organization fit (e.g., Kristof, 1996) which was used to predict applicant attraction to the organization based on Equal Employment Opportunity statements in recruitment brochures (Rau and Hyland, 2003 B.L. Rau and M.M. Hyland, Corporate teamwork and diversity statements in college recruitment brochures: effects on attraction, Journal of Applied Social Psychology 33 (12) (2003), pp. 2465-2492. Full Text via CrossRef | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (5)Rau & Hyland, 2003), Schwartz's (1992) value framework which was used as the basis for a study that showed that positive attitudes towards diverse others increases the likelihood of successful diversity management (Sawyerr, Strauss, & Yan, 2005), and the value-in-diversity framework which posits that diversity is associated with benefits resulting from a variety of perspectives ([Frink et al., 2005], [Richard et al., 2004] and [Singh and Point, 2006]). The theoretical perspectives hold true for Northern Trust as in their attempt to provide for all gender inclusive especially via its Family Assistance Program and Elder and Child Care Programs. Both parents can be assured that none are discriminated but assisted in the care of their young and elderly. This work life balance program gains the confidence of employees of both genders that their welfare is taken care of in the natural aspects of each respective gender. For example, the maternal instinct of caring for the children of a working mother and the duty of the father to provide for the family have their concern addressed via the assistant programs. It is most welcoming to work in the company and be motivated to cooperate with the fellow workers since the organization helps in their family responsibility. Income and family care are a blessing and attraction to retain diverse workers and in common sense will boost the performance of the group and hence company. Not ignoring the negative impact different genders can posed in their differences, ultimately, it is the attitude and assistance to promote this attitude to cooperate and excel with gender diversity of different culture towards the similar organizational goals so as to foster a good working image, a high performance excellence and rightful relationships between colleagues. Successful National Origin Diversity Management of Cultural Diversity A central characteristic of culture is the movement and adjustment of a group of people from one nation to another. Cross-cultural psychologists have relied on certain theories to examine this movement ([Berry, 1980], [Berry, 1985], [Berry, 1990], [Berry, 1997], [Berry et al., 1987], [Berry et al., 1989] and Berry and Sam, 1997 J. Berry and D. Sam, Acculturation and adaptation. In: J. Berry, M. Seagull and C. Kagitcibasi, Editors, Handbook of cross-cultural psychology: Social behavior and applications, Allyn and Bacon, Needham Heights (1997), pp. 291-326.[Berry and Sam, 1997]). According to this body of research, an immigrant (or migrant) group can for one reason reject its own culture and that of the host society which is termed marginalization, or for a second, rejects its own culture and accept that of the host society which is termed as assimilation, or for a third, maintain its own culture and reject that of the host society which is termed separation, or lastly, maintain its own culture and accept that of the host society called integration. Assumptions of the integration approach are that immigrants can assimilate the values, beliefs, and ideologies of both the dominant, mainstream group and their own cultural group, and that such an integration has positive outcomes. This holds true for Northern Trust as it promotes "Employee-run Business Resource Councils, such as the Advancing Professionals Resource Council, Asian Leadership Council and Black Business Resource Council, help employees of diverse backgrounds support one another in their personal and professional growth." (l. 18-20). Such initiatives maintain employees their respective culture since they are run by themselves. The culture and national origin of US who is the host is accepted by the program: "Mentoring Matters, Northern Trust's Global Mentoring Program is a vital tool in promoting the core values of the organization, facilitating the transfer of tacit organizational and experiential knowledge, populating talent pipelines at all levels in the organization and creating increased visibility in succession planning and overall talent management."(l. 23-26). Local culture is bridged across by the core values of the organization as cited. Since the organization is local, then it is from its roots that sprout out the value from local ground which the immigrants can assimilate or accept. This is integration that breeds positive outcomes since they are behaving in their own identity and not putting an act or live in rejection and hostility from day to day by becoming who they are not. At the same time, their lives are enhanced by the local culture which brings interest and appreciation to their lives and in understanding another culture, contribute in exchange their value of their own cultures. Conclusion In conclusion, Northern Trust manages cultural diversity in the aspects of racial cum ethnic diversity, gender diversity and national origin diversity by their valuing of diverse talents and commitment and providence of programs to their career growth. In short, raising their attitude to cooperate and perform with joyful spirits and well taken bodies for successful work and life balance in a diverse organization. Reference Cox, 1993 T. Cox, Cultural diversity in organizations: Theory, research & practice, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco (1993). Cox et al., 1991 T. Cox, S.A. Lobel and P.L. McLeod, Effects of ethnic group cultural differences on cooperative and competitive behavior on a group task, Academy of Management Journal 4 (1991), pp. 827-847. Hoffman, 1959 L. Hoffman, Homogeneity and member personality and its effect on group problem solving, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 58 (1959), pp. 27-32. McLeod et al., 1996 P.L. McLeod, S. Lobel and T.H. Cox, Ethnic diversity and creativity in small groups, Small Group Research 27 (1996), pp. 248-264. Watson et al., 1993 W. Watson, K. Kumar and L. Michaelsen, Cultural diversity's impact on interaction process and performance: comparing homogenous and diverse task groups, Academy of Management Journal 36 (1993), pp. 590-602. Lee and Farh, 2004 C. Lee and J. Farh, Joint effects of group efficacy and gender diversity on group cohesion and performance, Applied Psychology: An International Review 53 (1) (2004), pp. 136-154. Bandura, 1977 A. Bandura, Social learning theory, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (1977). Kristof, 1996 A.L. Kristof, Person-organization fit: an integrative review of its conceptualizations, measurement, and implications, Personnel Psychology 49 (1996), pp. 1-49. Rau and Hyland, 2003 B.L. Rau and M.M. Hyland, Corporate teamwork and diversity statements in college recruitment brochures: effects on attraction, Journal of Applied Social Psychology 33 (12) (2003), pp. 2465-2492. Schwartz, 1992 S.H. Schwartz, Universals in the content and structure of values: theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 25 (1992), pp. 1-65. Sawyerr et al., 2005 O.O. Sawyerr, J. Strauss and J. Yan, Individual value structure and diversity attitudes: the moderating effects of age, gender, race, and religiosity, Journal of Managerial Psychology 20 (6) (2005), pp. 498-521 Frink et al., 2005 D.D. Frink, R.K. Robinson, B. Reithel, M.M. Arthur, M.F. Garca and R.L. Paetzold et al., The relationship between personality and peers' judgments of the appropriateness of accommodations for individuals with disabilities, Journal of Applied Social Psychology 35 (2005), pp. 1418-1439. Richard et al., 2004 O.C. Richard, T. Barnett, S. Dwyer and K. Chadwick, Cultural diversity in management, firm performance, and the moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation dimensions, Academy of Management Journal 47 (2) (2004), pp. 255-266. Singh and Point, 2006 V. Singh and S. Point, (Re)presentations of gender and ethnicity in diversity statements on European company websites, Journal of Business Ethics 68 (2006), pp. 363-379. Berry, 1980 J. Berry, Acculturation as varieties of adaptation. In: A. Padilla, Editor, Acculturation: Theory, models and some new findings, Westview, Boulder (1980), pp. 9-25. Berry, 1985 J. Berry, Psychological adaptation of foreign students in Canada. In: R. Samuda and A. Wolfgang, Editors, Intercultural counseling, Hogreffe, Toronto (1985), pp. 235-248. Berry, 1990 J. Berry, Cultural variations in cognitive style. In: S. Wapner, Editor, Bio-psycho-social factors in cognitive style, Earlbaum, Hillsdale (1990), pp. 289-308. Berry, 1997 J. Berry, Immigration, adaptation, and acculturation, Applied Psychology: An International Review 46 (1997), pp. 5-68. Berry et al., 1987 J. Berry, U. Kim, T. Minde and D. Mok, Comparative studies of acculturative stress, International Migration Review 21 (1987), pp. 491-511. Berry et al., 1989 J. Berry, U. Kim, S. Power, M. Young and M. Bujaki, Acculturation attitudes in plural societies, Applied Psychology 38 (1989), pp. 185-206. Berry and Sam, 1997 J. Berry and D. Sam, Acculturation and adaptation. In: J. Berry, M. Seagull and C. Kagitcibasi, Editors, Handbook of cross-cultural psychology: Social behavior and applications, Allyn and Bacon, Needham Heights (1997), pp. 291-326. Berry and Sam, 1997 J. Berry and D. Sam, Acculturation and adaptation. In: J. Berry, M. Seagull and C. Kagitcibasi, Editors, Handbook of cross-cultural psychology: Social behavior and applications, Allyn and Bacon, Needham Heights (1997), pp. 291-326. Appendices Northern Trust Named a Best Company for Diverse Graduates by Diversity Edge Magazine CHICAGO, May 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northern Trust announced today that it has been named to Diversity Edge Magazine's list of "2009 Best Companies for Diverse Graduates," recognizing the top 20 companies that demonstrate leadership in recruiting, retaining and career advancement programs for diverse professionals. The list will be featured in the magazine's second quarter issue, available at the end of June. "Northern Trust recognizes the immeasurable value of recruiting and hiring a diverse workforce and the importance of providing employees with the tools and resources they need to achieve their individual career goals," said Mark Welch, Director of Global Diversity & Inclusion at Northern Trust. "We are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that supports the ongoing development of our employees by offering comprehensive training, mentorship and networking programs. Through our strong focus on diversity and inclusion we have been able to hire and retain a diverse workforce, with professionals from all backgrounds, leading to a proliferation of ideas and innovation, and ultimately, better products and services for our clients." The top 20 companies were selected based on their responses to the magazine's "Best Companies Survey," along with reviews from participating college and university career services centers. The survey measures diversity recruiting policies, leadership development initiatives, training programs, opportunity for mentorship and activeness of employee affinity groups. Northern Trust's Corporate Diversity Council has implemented several key initiatives and programs to promote diversity and inclusion: Employee-run Business Resource Councils, such as the Advancing Professionals Resource Council, Asian Leadership Council and Black Business Resource Council, help employees of diverse backgrounds support one another in their personal and professional growth. The Leadership Development Forum, a series of professional development and personal mentoring groups for women develops strategic, global leaders. Mentoring Matters, Northern Trust's Global Mentoring Program is a vital tool in promoting the core values of the organization, facilitating the transfer of tacit organizational and experiential knowledge, populating talent pipelines at all levels in the organization and creating increased visibility in succession planning and overall talent management. Work-Life Balance programs such as the Family Assistance Program and Elder and Child Care Programs, allow employees to balance their personal and professional responsibilities. Northern Trust is continuously recognized for supporting workplace diversity. Most recently, Northern Trust was named a LATINA Style 50 Company by LATINA Style Magazine, as well as one of the "Top 50 Companies for Executive Women" by the National Association for Female Executives. About Northern Trust Northern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of investment management, asset and fund administration, fiduciary and banking solutions for corporations, institutions and affluent individuals worldwide. Northern Trust, a financial holding company based in Chicago, has a network of 85 offices in 18 U.S. states and has international offices in 15 locations in North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of March 31, 2009, Northern Trust had assets under custody of US$2.8 trillion, and assets under investment management of US$522.3 billion. Northern Trust, founded in 1889, has earned distinction as an industry leader in combining exceptional service and expertise with innovative products and technology. For more information, visit http://www.northerntrust.com. Website address of News: http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspxACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-15-2009/0005027033&EDATE= Read More