Analyzing the Benefits of Cultural Diversity in Organizations Name Institution Instructor Course

Date Submitted Managing Cultural Diversity in Organizations Chapter 1: Introduction Human resource management is one of the core functions of business managers. Organizational productivity is influenced by the degree of effectiveness with which employees are managed and directed to perform their duties. One major challenge that human resource managers face in this regard is promoting harmony and coexistence in multicultural workplace environments. Since the beginning of the 18th century Industrial Revolution in Europe, business companies have had to deal with a growing number of people from different cultural backgrounds. This demographic transformation of the workplace was a result of advancements in the transport industry. The invention of the steam engine, and later on, the airplane, facilitated fast movement of goods and people across international boundaries. Over time, companies expanded their business activities beyond their local markets, giving rise to multinational corporations. Satair U.S.A is a multinational corporation with branches in several countries around the world. The company specializes in aircraft maintenance and the distribution of aircraft spare parts. As a multinational company, Satair employs people from different cultural backgrounds in its plants around the world. Consequently, the company’s labor force is characterized by a rich cultural diversity. In this regard, the company’s workforce composition and human resource management will provide a relevant case study for exploring best practices in managing cultural diversity in organizations. Literature Review Friday and Shawnta (2003) carried out a study on corporate strategies used to enhance cultural diversity in organizations. The authors observed that corporations have the challenge of undertaking planned approaches to attain maximum gains in the long term functioning of the organization. They analyzed corporate practices, and found out that though many organizations have embraced cultural diversity, there still lacks clear objectives and a viable plan for utilizing the potential benefits of diversity among employees. For this reason, many culturally diverse organizations have not yet attained maximum returns from their employees. Agrawal (2012) performed a qualitative, interview-based study to test his assertion that diversity is necessary for an organisation to succeed in the modern globalised world, and that companies with diversity are going to perform more effectively over time. The researcher's use of a qualitative approach was appropriate given that it is the standard practice when analyzing the effectiveness of policies and programmes to alter behavior. While Agrawal's questionnaires identified a number of management challenges and other issues that come with greater diversity, managers also agreed that a diversified team led to success more effectively than a homogenous team. This was the rationale behind the decision of 64% of managers in manufacturing and 60% of managers in service sectors having specific policies designed to facilitate the recruitment of diverse employees. When organizations function under employee-friendly conditions, employees become loyal workers who can effectively play an active role in the making of a competitive organization. The most essential aspect in any organization is harmony. Cultural diversity is responsible for creating a harmonious environment, which enhances efficiency and productivity in organizations (Warren et al. 1993). Cultural diversity consists of the differences in culture among the people in the society that includes organization, dressing, religion and traditions. Following an extensive study, Gordon (2005) found out that cultural diversity in the work place plays a principal role in effective performance of any organization. The aspects of culture such as traditions, norms, and values influences the way people thinks, behave, interacts and makes judgments. Consequently, this affects the perception on daily schedules and meeting deadlines in a workplace. For cultural diversity to be effective there must be cultural competency. This is the ability to get across with other people’s culture effectively. Cultural competency depends on the awareness of self-cultural global view, knowledge on other cultural practices and tolerance towards the differences in culture and skills. This ability is essential since it affects the workers’ performance and productivity (Katherine et al. 1995). Every ethnicity has special attributes, which if blended in an organization brings significant returns to the organization. For cultural diversity to be effective in a work place there are some essentials put into consideration; first, time factor. Members of different cultures view time differently, such as managing the time balance between work and social behavior, as well as between work and family life. Other differences when it comes to perceptions about time include deadlines since some cultural groups place different values on the importance of meeting deadlines, and this limits the significance of cultural diversity in a workplace (Katherine et al. 1995). A second consideration is communication. Accurate and immediate transmission of information is essential for effective teamwork and performance especially on troubled projects, which require prompt corrections. The Asian culture is just one group that does not like giving grievous news, while other cultural groups may augment the bad news. Team building is another essential factor to consider in managing cultural diversity. Many corporations in the United States embrace individualism, a norm that is being phased out by the increased competition globally (Osborn, 2005). Teamwork is a problematic issue due to the existing differences among people from different cultures. Cultural competence is essential here to enable cross-cultural interaction to enhance team building for beneficial advantage in the workplace. Different times and dates for different ethnic groups may at times conflict, a factor that interferes with the organizational schedule. This results to the difference in holidays and this greatly affects the performance in a work place. Breaks such as holidays should be harmonized to coincide with different holiday periods for people from different ethnic groups. For instance, people from Muslim communities will consider a holiday during the holy month of Ramadan instead of focusing on the Christmas holiday. Ely, Thomas, (2013) developed various conditions through which cultural diversity facilitates or detracts functionality at the work place. The people’s perspectives within the workplace determined human response to tensions of diversity. The current era provides universal working conditions that have made it necessary to understanding the working conditions, a factor that necessitates integration with the workplace. Good integration is an effective process since it enhances productivity within the workplace. Gallup management Group (2008) developed a study in which they asserted that engaging employees actively in business creates a reduced turnover. In essence, such active engagement contributed to as low as 51% average turnover. Recently, business trends of globalization and increasing ethnic diversity have triggered a shift in the minds of managers within major companies. For organizational effectiveness, therefore, diversity is a crucial aspect that management figures need to provide their attention. This article provides ways that cultural diversity affects competition within any business framework, such that out of competition, many organizations have attained a business advantage. Issues of racial discrimination have been highly prevalent such that every time people from different races mingle, their intentions are to show each other’s capabilities (David, Pollitt, 2009). Many are striving to end the stereotypical attributes in the minds of many people across the globe. One of the countries that have embraced effective human resource management is Singapore. The current economic growth in the country is attributed to the cultural integration and diversity. Many organizations within the country have embraced a work filled with people of all gender, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds. Age is immaterial in the determination of employee placement since the most significant consideration is skill rather than the social standards. Incorporation of all generations for instance has encouraged the most energetic brains to engage communally within the workplace (Spector, & Spector, 2004). Notably, for the young generation, ethnic orientation has minimal impact on the perceptions from different colleagues since many people emanate from different ethnicities and orientation especially through marriage. Taylor Cox is one of the researchers who have placed a lot of attention to diversity, and aspects that could be employed in optimization of the work force within a typical workplace. In cases where cultural diversity at a workplace is enhanced, it is very easy to address all sorts of challenges within the organization. Taylor categorically studied and analyzed the dynamics of diversity within the workplace in which he asserted that for optimization purposes and a significant degree of professionalism, diversity was inevitable (Cox, 1994). Poaching on employees is a common phenomenon, which makes it difficult for companies to protect their best employees. Enhancement of a feasible cultural engagement within the organization makes it difficult for some employees to abandon their initial workplace since their attachment is more professional than personal. Diversity also ensures that there is a significant approach in providing a balanced workforce, where removal of one employee does not compromise key operations in the organization. Workplace diversity entails the similarities and differences brought by people to an organization. This is through the creation of the workplace environment and culture by interaction of people from different cultures effectively. Cultural diversity in the workplace enhances the growth and prosperity of the country’s skills whereby it includes everyone (Katherine C. et al. 1995). It also enhances economy whereby good employees are thus lowering costs through developing more skills and attracting new employees. Developing cultural competence involves awareness to enhance the understanding of one’s reactions, which improves working relationships. Attitude is whereby it makes people examine themselves and their origins. This discourages judgments and focus on facts thus creating effective working relationships. Training should be enhanced in order to facilitate skill development. Through awareness, attitude, and knowledge, both the leaders and employees are able to engage into cultural competence in their workplace (Mayhew, 1985). Gordon (2005) completed a study in which he concluded that cultural diversity requires team building whereby people interact with people from other communities. Time can also help in managing cultural diversity because different cultures view time differently. Perceiving time differently leads to misunderstanding especially to deadlines that are stipulated by the authority. Communication is also an essential factor to effective work especially when in trouble because they relate to bad news differently. Managing diversity can be done through recruitment as people and organizations represent the community. Appreciating and accepting commonalities are essential to effective working relationships. This can also be done through mentoring and empowering individuals on the virtues of good relations with each other. Following leadership behavior is essential whereby discussions are encouraged among people in the organization on the meaning of diversity. Workers are able to appreciate and utilize the unique insights and backgrounds of others by honoring cultural diversity. This results in avoiding discriminations and disrespectful behavior creating a workplace with trust and tolerance. Notably, cultural diversity enhances appreciation among each other since different people have their own strengths and uniqueness.
By virtue of promoting cultural diversity in the workplace, a company stands the best chance to acquire and enlarge market. This also enables identifying and developing new products and new markets, which are not available to culturally homogeneous enterprises. These kinds of businesses that respect cultural diversity are always in a better position to compete for highly skilled and highly sought-after talent. Workplace cultural diversity helps in solving conflict, which inevitably occurs in the workplaces (Hollis, 2004). This minimizes complaints that would otherwise escalate to matters such as litigation, which reduces production and quality. Concisely cultural diversity is of most importance in the workplace because of wide benefits to the company and the employees’ welfare. Current workplaces are growing so fast hence an increasingly growing diverse group of people. Managers should have actual understanding of diversity to manage such workplaces. Diversity in a company means that the company acknowledges, accept, and value the different diverse groups within the company. An organization comprises of different groups of people with different attributes such as age, culture, religion, and ethical backgrounds. All these groups should be effectively managed to enhance efficient operations and management. Developing diversity initiatives in an organization has some challenges that should be overcome. The best approach to limit these challenges is to use a firm and develop organizational diversity policies. Different organizations have different policies regarding diversity (Tierney, 2007). These policies may not eliminate the challenges that come with diversity but at least try to standardize all. According to Greenberg (2005), communication problems are prevalent in organizations where there is a combination of people from many ethnic backgrounds. Integration process is always tedious, a factor that compromises togetherness especially where teamwork is crucial. Different ethnic communities speak different languages. This brings about division at the workplace since related groups tend to work together and favor each other. Most companies tend to tackle this issue by improvising a standard language like English. People who belong to the same ethnic background tend have an inclination to new recruits from their communities. This normally compromises the professionalism within the organization hence the productivity goes down (Greenberg, 2005). Secondly, most people do not like social and cultural changes, and they may refuse any attempts to change even if it will improve the company’s image and revenues. For example, a new manager can bring these changes, but since the employees tend to resist any changes, they make it extremely hard to manage the organization. People also have different viewpoints when it comes to the best approach to use in developing and implementing new ideas. (Greenberg, 2005). Another pertinent issue that distracts cultural growth and integration is sexual orientation. Management should develop clear guidelines regarding different sexual groups such as gay and lesbians. This is problematic since implementing such policy will compromise religious beliefs and personal misconception. Most religions do not recognize same sex relationships, but some countries have gone ahead to legalize it. Sex also plays an important role in recruitment. For instance, Engineering companies tend to hire men than women because of the workloads involved. This can be improved by giving women light jobs like human resource management (Laroche, 2003). Laroche, (2003) continued alluding that age and disability as pertinent issue in organizational management. Companies should consider hiring employees who fit in that industry. For example, young people tend to have more energy, work for long hours, fresh in mind and usually very creative. For better performance and success, experience is essential; hence older people who have been in the industry for long are the most appropriate targets. This implies that a better result can be achieved by using a diverse team in terms of age. Disability is not inability but most. Proposed Research Design Research design is the plan that an intended study will follow. It outlines the different components of the study that will be addressed to find a possible solution to the identified problem. Marczyk et al (2010) defines the research design as “the general procedural plan that a research study follows to find answers to the questions raised about a given phenomenon.” The research design is important in research because it helps in clarifying the type of evidence the researcher needs to answer the questions raised by the research topic.
The proposed study will cover the following areas in their respective order: ➢ Introduction ➢ Reviewing the existing literature ➢ Defining problem statement ➢ Stating the research questions ➢ Stating the purpose statement ➢ Formulating the research hypotheses/assumptions ➢ Defining the theoretical framework ➢ Stating the sampling procedures ➢ Identifying data collection techniques ➢ Approaches to data analysis ➢ Identifying and stating challenges to validity (external and internal validity) ➢ Stating the study’s limitations and ways of addressing them Problem Statement Although cultural diversity presents a huge potential of competitive advantage in organizations, it creates problems when it is not managed effectively. In a research study on corporate practices in human resource management, Earnest et al (2010) found out that although many business organizations have embraced cultural diversity, there still lacks clear objectives and a viable plan for utilizing the potential of a cultural diverse workforce. Consequently, many multinational corporations are yet to attain maximum returns from the cultural diversity of their employees. Of particular concern is the issue of racial discrimination that is prevalent in multicultural job environments. One of the negative effects of racial discrimination is unproductive competition, whereby individuals aim to show off their capabilities (David & Pollitt, 2009). Similarly, ethnic and racial stereotyping has become a persistent problem in situations where cultural diversity is allowed to create differences and negative attitudes toward people of other cultures. This is especially the case in multicultural societies like the U.S. The U.S. provides a unique problem because its culture encourages individual success, which discourages teamwork (Osborn, 2005). The proposed study will explore ways of using cultural diversity to encourage teamwork and promote employee productivity in culturally diverse workplace environments.
Research Questions
Research questions Research Questions Research questions are tentative statements that help the researcher to reflect on the topic under investigation. The research questions pinpoint the specific problems for which the researcher should collect evidence to find a solution. They function as points of reference that guides the researcher by narrowing the scope of the study to the pertinent issues that prompted him/her to begin the research in the first place. Therefore, the questions point to the specific problem area with which the research us concerned. The proposed study will seek to find answers to the following questions: ➢ How can multinational organizations address the problems caused by cultural diversity? ➢ What are the negative effects of racial discrimination and stereotyping in culturally diverse work environments? ➢ How can multinational organizations encourage positive attitudes towards people from different cultures and facilitate amicable coexistence among employees? ➢ What strategies can multinational organizations use to utilize cultural diversity to promote teamwork and improve productivity? Purpose Statement The purpose statement highlights the aim of carrying out the research study. It narrows the scope of the research to the specific data that the researcher will collect. It involves formulating research objectives, which helps the researcher remain focused on the research topic and to avoid collecting irrelevant/out-of-topic evidence. The proposed study will seek to: • Find out ways through which multinational organizations can address problems caused by cultural diversity. • Explore ways through which multinational organizations could encourage positive attitudes towards people from different cultures and facilitate amicable coexistence among employees. • Find out ways of ending racial discrimination and stereotyping in culturally diverse work environments • Find out the strategies that organizations could use to utilize cultural diversity to promote teamwork and improve productivity. Stating Hypotheses Hypotheses are theoretical statements that state the researcher’s anticipated findings. They include intelligent guesses that the researcher makes about the relationship between the dependent and independent variables on the basis of existing knowledge. Formulation of hypotheses involves predicting the results of the study and the conclusions that the researcher can draw based on the research findings. The hypotheses provide a conceptual framework for explaining existing scenarios and predicting new ones. The hypotheses are not necessarily statements of fact, but speculations o what the researcher will find out regarding the variables under study. Accordingly, the proposed study will be informed by the following hypotheses: ➢ Cultural diversity presents problems in managing the human resources of multinational; organizations with employees from different cultural backgrounds. ➢ Poor management of cultural diversity encourages racial discrimination and stereotyping. ➢ Effective human resource management is essential for team building and improving worker productivity. ➢ Effective human resource management requires encouraging positive attitudes among employees of different ethnicities. Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework defines the perspective that guides the research study. It highlights the theory and philosophy that provides the basis for the research. Theory is essential in formulating best practices since it is supported by evidence from scientific research studies. The proposed study is informed by the concepts of human capital theory. The concept of human capital was first coined by Adam Smith in his book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1977). Smith analyzed the role that people’s skills and knowledge played in the economic development of nations. Today, the concept of human capital is applied in economic to describe the potential of human labor as an asset that could be managed to increase productivity. Human capital consists of the abilities, talents, knowledge, skills, and expertise of employees. Cultural diversity in organizations provides a rich blend of talents, skills, knowledge, and expertise. Diversity provides organizations with the opportunity to make use of people of different talents and capabilities. In this regard, the concept of human capital applies to cultural diversity by highlighting the potential of investing in people from different backgrounds. They bring a rich assortment of abilities and skills which, if well managed, could increase productivity. This concept will guide the proposed research by describing the ways in which organizations could transform cultural diversity into a human asset with the potential of increasing productivity. Sampling Techniques Research studies do not use the entire population under study to collect data. Instead, they rely on a section of the population, and the findings are applied to the whole population. In this regard, choosing a sample should be calculated to ensure that the sample is representative of the whole population in terms of shared characteristics. This is necessary to ensure external validity (to achieve results that could be applied not only to the entire population, but also to other similar contexts). So as to attain representativeness, the proposed study will use a stratified sampling technique. In stratified sampling, the researcher divides the target population into subcategories. This approach is appropriate in populations with varying characteristics. Considering that the proposed study concerns managing cultural diversity in organizations, the researcher will collect data from people form different ethnic groups. This is necessary to ensure that the data collected reflects the demographic diversity of multinational corporations. A purely random approach may miss out on workers for certain cultural backgrounds. Approaches to Data Collection As a component of the research design, approaches to data collection refers to the tools that the investigator uses to obtain the information required to answer the research questions. The data collection techniques vary depending on the nature of the required data (e.g. whether qualitative or quantitative). The proposed study will use questionnaires, interviews and observations, because it seeks to collect qualitative information. The focus of the study is to investigate how cultural diversity influences attitudes and perceptions in multinational corporations. Attitudes and perceptions are responsible for racial discrimination and stereotyping, as well as for promoting individualism in organizations. The ultimate aim of the study, therefore, is to explore ways in which multinational corporations could encourage positive attitudes and teamwork among employees from different cultural backgrounds. Questionnaires: the questionnaires will be useful in obtaining the subjects’ views and experiences in working in a culturally diverse environment. This approach will allow the researcher obtain honest responses because the respondents will not be under pressure like in face-to-face interviews. Interviews: Interviews will be useful in obtaining information on how multinational corporations manage their human resources. The researcher will interview managers in the human resource management to determine whether the management strategies are effective for a culturally diverse workplace environment. Observations: Observations involve watching the subjects in their natural environment. This is a useful tool because it allows the researcher to collect unbiased data since the subjects are not aware that they are under observation. Specifically, the researcher will observe how employees from different cultural backgrounds relate while performing their duties. Challenges to Validity Validity is defined as “the degree to which a test in a research study accurately measures what it is intended to measure” (Connaway & Powell, 2010, p. 62). Validity is very crucial in research because it guarantees the accuracy of the research findings and conclusions. It also ensures the accuracy of generalizing the results to the entire population and other populations with similar characteristics. . Internal Validity Internal validity is the extent to which the independent variable influences the observed effect Connaway & Powell, 2010). Internal validity is assured when only the independent variable causes the observed effect without the influence of external factors. For instance, a study to investigate the causes of road accidents may have over-speeding as the independent variable (cause agent) and high rate of accidents as the dependent (the effect) variable. However, the study lacks internal validity because other factors besides over-speeding like poor roads, unmaintained vehicles, and drunk-driving could increase the rate of road accidents. In the proposed study, cultural diversity is the independent factors while employee productivity is the independent variable. The research’s validity will be challenged by factors like the skills of employees, employee incentives, and complexity of job functions, which could influence the level of productivity. The researcher will counter this weakness by designing the research questions and interviews to collect data that reflects the extent to which working in a culturally diverse environment and its implications like racial discrimination and stereotyping are factors in the level of employee productivity. Data Analysis Data analysis involves the evaluation of the results to draw conclusions that answer the research questions. The results of the study will be analyzed using qualitative methods because the data to be collected is non-numerical. Qualitative analysis is explanatory in nature as it seeks to explain the relationship between variables (Willig & Rogers, 2008, p. 250). The researcher assumes an important role in interpreting the results in light of the hypotheses formulated prior to the research. In the proposed study, the researcher will interpret responses to questionnaires and interviews, as well as the observations made, to determine the degree of influence of cultural diversity on employee productivity. Given that qualitative studies are used to evaluate the efficiency of programs or policies in changing behavior (Willig & Rogers, 2008), the research findings will be used to draw conclusions on the role that cultural diversity plays in multinational organizations, and explore ways in which human resource management in such organizations could be tailored to encourage positive attitudes among employees from different cultural backgrounds and promote teamwork as a way of increasing productivity. Limitations of the Study ➢ Qualitative studies are limited by the challenges associated with the collection and interpretation of non-numerical data. Accordingly, the research study will be impended by the following limitations: ➢ Reliance on the respondents’ verbal and written responses may weaken the study’s validity in terms of the accuracy of their answers. ➢ Subjectivity and biasness on the part of the researcher in interpreting the subjects’ responses and behaviors (from the observation) ➢ The use of open-ended questions may elicit different responses to the same issue/question. This may further weaken the validity of the findings and conclusions drawn. Conclusion Cultural diversity is a common feature of the modern workplace environment. Globalization has given rise to multinational corporations, which draw their workforce from a diverse cultural background. The cultural differences of different employees may pose challenges such as racial discrimination and stereotyping. For multinational corporations, these challenges could potentially hinder employee productivity by discouraging teamwork and coexistence. Thus, effective management of cultural diversity is essential to encourage teamwork and increase employee productivity. This is enhanced by capitalizing and maximizing on different skills and sensibilities of employees from different cultural backgrounds. In light of the human capital theory, the proposed research study will investigate ways through which cultural diversity in multinational organizations can be transformed into a human resource asset for enhancing productivity. The research will involve collection of qualitative data through the use of questionnaires, interviews, and observations. The results will be analyzed using qualitative approaches to determine ways in which cultural diversity influences attitudes and perceptions among workers. The conclusions of the research will help formulate policies for best practices in human resource management, which can help organizations capitalize on the diversity of skills, knowledge, competencies, and talents offered by employees from different cultural backgrounds.

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