Cultural Diversity in the Workplace - Essay Example

How important is it for managers today to have a good understanding of cultural diversity in the workplace? Table of Contents Introduction 3 Literature review 3 Primary research 6 Findings of the primary research 8 Secondary research 13 Conclusion 16 Reference 17 Appendix 19 Introduction The term ‘global village’ is often used as a metaphor to describe the contemporary world where business operations have blurred the boundaries of nations. The companies have extended their tentacles to different corners of the world and are therefore called as ‘multinational’. Companies are trying to enter new developing markets for diversifying the business and for attracting potential customers from the remotest part of the globe. Globalisation has resulted in a paradigm shift in the organisational culture which necessarily demands a broader perspective on the part of the management. Organisations are now obliged to address the diversified needs of not only the international customer base but also of its diversified workforce. This project attempts to divulge the significance of understanding the role of cultural diversity by the managers of these multinational concerns. A literature review will be conducted to understand the concept of cultural diversity in a comprehensive manner. The literature related to management skill will be review from the view point of different theories and finding. The influence of diversified workforce on organisational culture will also be discussed. The main motto of literature review will be to develop a knowledge base on the basis of which the research will be conducted. Later on, both primary as well as secondary research will be conducted to verify the research question. The data collected from them will be analysed and finally the finding will be summarised to derive the conclusion of the research. Literature review Diversity is defined in dictionary as “the fact or quality of being diverse; difference. A point or respect in which things differ. Variety” (Hoffman & Summers, 2000, p.178). When a company diversifies its business, it enters different countries and soon it loses the geographical identity to acquire the tag of international or a global organisation. For example, companies like Nike, McDonald and HSBC etc operates in different parts of the world and possess a highly diversified workforce. The term diversified workforce indicates employees that comprise people belonging to different age, gender, culture, ethical values, religion and race (Asante, et al., 2008, p.216). A diversified workforce has people with different needs and requirements, which the organisations are required to cater. The employees’ beliefs, their value system, individual interests and needs are highly influenced by the culture to which they belong. These factors also affect the culture of the organisation in many ways (Rijamampianina 1999, p.16). Therefore, higher is the diversity among the human resource of a company; greater is the collision between the needs and the personal goals of the people. The responsibility of the management is therefore to develop a serene environment by reducing the collision of ethics and value system followed by people belonging to different culture. Different researches have attempted to find out the advantages as well as the disadvantages associated with a diversified workforce. Few of them have been discussed below: Improved knowledge-sharing and enhanced creativity: In a diversified workforce, people get the opportunity to share their past experiences and exchange ideas. This assist in the sharing of knowledge among different people which in turn motivates them to be more creative and innovative. Availability of more talent: Diversity of workforce ensures access to people with a vast array of talents and capabilities. Since multinational companies hire managers from different cultures they also reap the benefits of having a large pool of employees. The varied experiences of these employees provide them with an enhanced knowledge base. Better market image as an employer: The Company that can successfully handle its diversified human resource is often addressed as ‘the employer of choice’. Such companies have a strong market image among the employees and it become easier for these companies to attract and retain highly talented employees. High employees’ satisfaction: A well managed workforce not only benefits the organisational culture, but also improves the productivity of the company. Such employees feel more motivated and they share psychological bond with the organisation. (Daft & Lane, 2009, p.348). Economic factors: When a company starts its operation in a new market, the management prefer to hire local peoples for the root level activities. However this does not hold true for positions in the higher management. The main reason of hiring local people is to reduce the labour cost along with the cost of production. Apart for that, employment of local people benefits the region in which it is based (National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Opportunities to Address Clinical Research Workforce Diversity Needs for 2010, et al., 2006, p.10). However, the concept of diversified workplace is not without its share of shortcomings. Cultural conflict is one of the most palpable problems in a diversified workforce. Often the employees feel that the HR policies are biased towards a certain section of the community. In other cases the employees fails to adjust with the organisational culture because they feel the management is least bothered about their cultural and ethical values (Watson, 2003, p.133). After considering the pros and cons of diversified workforces, the role of management seems to be of paramount importance. Undoubtedly, a well managed diversified workforce is a vital asset for the organisation but on other hand an unsatisfied workforce can be a major cause of concern as it results in poor productivity and negative market image of the company. Therefore, the management of the organisation should take all possible steps to understand the requirement of the workforce and this is only possible if the managers and the employees have a healthy communication with each other. Primary research For determining the degree of importance that the managers give to the element called cultural diversity existing in their workforce, a survey was conducted. There are several methods through which the survey can be conducted. In this project, a questionnaire was used to collect information regarding the degree of importance that managers give to cultural diversity existing in the organisation. A questionnaire was thus developed that comprised of 10 open ended question which was distributed among 10 respondents working at different managerial position in different in the organisation. For ethical reasons, the details of the respondents as well as that of the organisation where they are employed will be kept confidential. Since the employees working at the managerial position have a tight schedule, a printed copy of the questionnaire was send to them. To keep the process simple and free from any kind of bias, it was decided that Likert five point scales will be used. The respondents were asked to tick on any of the five options: highly disagree, disagree, indifferent, agree and highly agree. The questions asked in the questionnaire are as follows: 1. Do you feel the management needs to pay more attention towards their management style while managing diversified workforce? 2. Do you think that the requirement of diversified force is somewhat different from a homogeneous workforce? 3. Do you feel that diversified workforce disturbs the prevailing organisational culture? 4. Will you agree to the fact that the HR department is mainly responsible for managing the cultural diversity of the workforce? 5. Will you agree that all the managers in an organisation are equally responsible for managing the cultural diversity prevailing in an organisation? 6. Do the managers participate in different training programs meant for developing the skill of managing cultural diversity within the workforce? 7. Do you feel that such cultural diversity has a positive impact on the organisational culture? 8. Do you agree to the fact that if the manager is insensitive to cultural diversity existing in the organisation, it might hamper the motivational level of the workforce? 9. Do you feel that in order to minimise the problems associated with cultural diversity, organisations should avoid hiring people from different cultures? 10. Do you accept the fact that managers as well as the employees should work hand in hand to manage the cultural diversity of the organisation? Findings of the primary research 1. Around 50% of the participants marked highly agreed and 20% agreed that management should pay special attention towards cultural diversity existing in the organisation. Around 20% were not very sure about this fact. Among all the participants just 10% disagreed to it. 2. 40% of the participants highly agreed that the requirements of a diversified workforce differs from that of a homogeneous workforce where almost all the employees belong to same culture and follow the same ethical and value system. 30% of the respondents expressed that they agree whereas 10% were in a state of confusion. Just 20% of the managers believe that there is not much difference between requirements of diversified as well as homogeneous workforce. 3. After considering the responses provided by the participants it appears that majority of them are against this fact. 30% of the respondents firmly disagreed to the fact that cultural diversity in the workforce disturbs the organisational culture. Among rest of the respondents, 20% agreed and remaining 10% highly agreed to this fact. It seems that employees with bitter experience in the past consider cultural diversity as a negative factor. 4. HR department is the one that is responsible for managing the workforce in the organisation. Its responsibility varies from recruiting, selecting, developing HR policies, developing training programmes and even managing grievances. When the participants were asked whether the HR department is solely responsible for managing cultural diversity in the organisation, around 70% expressed disagreement and among them majority (40%) highly disagreed to it. 10% of the participants were indifferent and only 20% agreed to this fact. 5. In the contemporary management system, all the departments share the responsibility of retaining a healthy organisational culture. When the respondents were asked the same question, 50% of them highly agreed and among the rest of the participants 40% expressed their agreement. 10% of the respondents accepted that they are indifferent, but none of the participants disagreed. 6. Globalisation has made it mandatory for companies to hire employees who belong to different culture. The respondents were asked whether the managers should be trained for handling such diversity existing in the organisational culture. After analysing the responses provided by the participants it was found that 20% highly agreed to it and 30% just agreed to this fact. Among the rest, 30% were indifferent regarding the training and 20% believes there is no such requirement, so they expressed their disagreement. 7. When the participants of the survey were asked whether the cultural diversity existing in the organisation creates any positive impact on the organisational culture, a mixed response was obtained. 50% of the respondents accepted that cultural diversity makes a positive effect and among them 20% highly agreed to this. On the other hand 30% of the participants denied this fact and 10% expressed high disagreement. There were few participants (20%) who were indifferent to this fact. 8. A productive human resource is one of the biggest assets for the company; hence the companies try their level best to motivate the employees. When the participants were asked whether insensitivity towards cultural diversity hampers productivity of the workforce. In response to this 30% highly agreed and 40% agreed to this fact. Among the rest, 20% were indifferent and just 10% disagreed. 9. Managing a culturally diversified workforce requires special attention of the management, non conformance to which can result in adverse consequences. The respondents were asked whether reducing cultural diversity will in turn reduce the problem faced by the managers. In response to this question, as high as 40% of the respondents disagreed and among the rest 30% expressed their disagreement. Around 10% were indifferent and 20% agreed. 10. Both the management as well as the employees influence the organisational culture, hence they should also act hand in hand to manage the existing problems. To determine the view point of the managers taking part in the survey, they were asked to respond to it. 30% of the respondent highly agreed and the other 40% also expressed their agreement to this concept. As few as 10% disagreed and rest 20% were indifferent to it. Secondary research Increasing cultural diversity in different multinational companies has made it imperative for the company to direct their management to be more sensitive towards cultural diversity while managing the workforce. A research conducted in US has revealed that demographic profile is showing a constant change in culture and buying habits of the people. There has been an increased involvement of emerging market communities. This has increased the cultural diversity within organisation. Companies are reviving their recruitment, training and promotional strategies to cope up with the changing internal environment. Figure 1: Ratio of Whites to People of Colour in Successive Age Groups (Source: Robinson, et al., 2003, p.2) The above given graph reflects the heterogeneous demographic condition in US where ratio of people from different regions and cultures is increasing with time. In US, the companies have acknowledged the fast change that is taking place in their organisational culture due to cultural diversity. This has lead to introduction of the concept of benchmark. This concept is basically used to develop innovative strategies in the workplaces. In this process the company attempts to collect data regarding the cultural diversity in their company, after which the company determines the manner in which the management will handle this diversity. The top management then compares these strategies with the best practices followed by the market leaders and analyse the modification required to be introduced (Arnold, 1993). In many developed countries like US and UK, the numbers of diversity training schools are growing day by day. Even the companies are encouraging their employees to get enrolled in these courses (Lewis-Clark State College Core Planning Team, n.d.). However, such training programmes increase the operational cost of the company, and therefore at present the top management has asked their managers to be sensitive towards diversity factors and to develop strategies for managing cultural diversity (Beaver, 1995). Conclusion Increasing globalisation has affected the cultural diversity of the workforce. To analyse the importance of conscientious managers and their response towards cultural diversity, a survey was conducted. The results of this primary research indicate that managers are becoming more aware of the cultural diversity existing in the organisation, and consequently they are introducing the required changes in the leadership style. These managers are also acting hand in hand with the HR department to develop policies that can provide the required flexibility to the employees belonging to different cultures. Later on, secondary research was conducted to verify the manner in which different organisations are modifying their strategies to manage the cultural diversity. Studies revealed that the top management of most companies are motivating the managers to understand the requirement of different people belonging to different culture and to assist them in adjusting with the prevailing organisational culture. Reference Arnold, V. A. January 01, 1993. The growing use of benchmarking in managing cultural diversity. [Online]. Available at: http://www.allbusiness.com/business-planning/business-development-strategic-alliances/398737-1.html [Accessed on August 14, 2010]. Asante, M. K., Miike, Y. & Yin, J. 2008. The global intercultural communication reader. Routledge. Beaver, W. July 01, 2010. Lets stop diversity training and start managing for diversity. Industrial Management. [Online]. Available at: http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/laws-government-regulations-employment/526512-1.html [Accessed on August 14, 2010]. Daft, R. L. & Lane, P. 2009. Management. Cengage Learning. Hoffman & Summers. 2000. Managing colleges and universities: issues for leadership. Greenwood Publishing Group. Lewis-Clark State College Core Planning Team. No date. LCSC Diversity Agenda - Embrace Diversity. [Online]. Available at: http://www.lcsc.edu/culturaldiversity/ [Accessed on August 14, 2010]. National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Opportunities to Address Clinical Research Workforce Diversity Needs for 2010, Jong-on Hahm, Alex Ommaya, National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Women and Science in Engineering Policy and Global Affairs. 2006. Opportunities to address clinical research workforce diversity needs for 2010. National Academies Press. Robinson, M., Pfeffer, C. & Buccigrossi, J. 2003. Business Case for Diversity with Inclusion. [Pdf]. Available at: http://workforcediversitynetwork.com/docs/business_case_3.pdf [Accessed on August 14, 2010]. Rijamampianina, R. 1999. Developing Core Competence Through Multicultural Learning. Universal-Publishers. Watson, I. 2003. Fragmented futures: new challenges in working life. Federation Press. Appendix Responses of the participants in survey Read More