Introduction
Cultural and diversity management is paramount to the success of modern organizations. The world comprises many regions and people who have varying linguistic abilities, religious affiliations, and races among other aspects. These factors give rise to diversity.
Therefore, it is vital to assess the importance of cultural and diversity management in the accomplishment of both individual and organizational goals. This paper provides insight into cultural and diversity management by analyzing two interviews conducted on individuals from different backgrounds.
Methodology
The interview applies various steps that provide the basis for collecting data on diversity and cultural variations amongst the individuals.
- The interview questions are open-ended to enable the interviewee expound the issues rather than providing direct answers. As a result, the interviewer obtained more information about their experiences in their cultural environments.
- The interviewer moderated the session seeking clarifications where the experience was unclear.
Regional Diversity
My first respondent was a Japanese citizen who reported having worked in the United States for the last nine years.
Interviewer: What have you achieved from the embracement of diversity and multiculturalism in your organization?
Interviewee: The world has become a pool of individuals who come from diverse cultural and racial origins. As a result, they have assorted mindsets on various spheres of living. Working with people from different cultural groupings brings promotes the accomplishment of common goals, motivation, and inter-ethnic acceptance.
These variations have provided me with skills to distinguish between various tastes of life, opinions, perspectives, and unique experiences. Sharing life experiences has variously inspired me on the verge of giving up.
Interviewer: As Japanese, how has been your work experience in the United States?
Interviewee: I have acquired a plethora of experiences that such as life skills, acceptance of cultural diversity, endurance, and racial prejudice among others. The United States is a multi-cultured continent with the highest number of people who come from the other continents. I have learned to incorporate the ideas of other cultures in individual and workplace decision-making processes.
Interviewer: What are the benefits that accrue from this cultural awareness and diversity?
Interviewee: The benefits that accrue from the existence of diversity have significantly expanded my perspectives on various workplace dilemmas related to management. Diversity has improved my creativity and innovation capabilities. In an attempt to maintain diversity, individuals use their uniqueness as an identification tool.
Diversity and cultural inclusion in the work environment have variously helped me to formulate informed decisions. I have ventured into numerous innovations and discoveries. Earlier this year, the science club in our school was involved in a project to campaign for a particular change in our college.
As an active member, I was chosen to spearhead the scientific innovation. The embracement of multiculturalism in institutions also promotes the control and maintenance of morals and appropriate behavior among people. People strive to maintain their culture through moral uprightness and adherence to its provisions.
Analysis
Variations that exist among different people underpin the understanding and appreciation of diversity. The acknowledgment of the behaviors, attitudes, perceptions, and values of other people greatly influences one’s behavior. For instance, learning the culture of other people helps individuals to understand and respect them.
Diversity brings forth the appreciation of varied values that comprise the cultures of other people for the promotion of a peaceful coexistence. This state of events builds an understanding of the race, age, physical, religious, social, political, ethnic, and sexual differences that exist among diverse individuals.
Discussion
The embracement of diversity in different geographical, racial, and cultural areas helps an individual to develop an understanding of various organizational dilemmas that have significant effects the formulation of sound management decisions. Romanenko (2012) affirms that students from various parts of the world can perform better as compared to those from the same locality if diversity is embraced in the learning institutions.
The perceptions of employees and their engagement in the organizational activities are paramount to the accomplishment of diversity initiatives. The interview reveals that organizations should consider the employee involvement as an integral part of their success strategies (Romanenko, 2012).
Learning
The interview provided insight into the appreciation of diversity and multiculturalism. It is clear that various benefits accrue from the implementation of diversity among institutions that comprise different cultural and racial orientations.
The interview also reveals that the failure to embrace cultural and diversity integration in organizations can hinder the accomplishment of various business goals. However, organizational leaders should play a crucial role in ensuring that they appreciate diverse individuals by adopting management strategies that offer equal opportunities, especially in the workplace.
In the light of the interview, a greater assimilation and absorption of cultures will bring about the integration of diverse talents in the organization. This situation promotes the accomplishment of the organizational goals (Andrevski, Richard, Shaw, & Ferrier, 2014).
Cultural Variations and Diversity
The second interview involved a Black American, who worked in a public organization in the United States. Having been in the public domain for a couple of decades, the respondent explicates various experiences that she has gained from the existence of cultural variations and diversity.
Interviewer: How do you perceive the management of the world’s diversity populations in the public organization?
Interviewee: The world has diverse populations that present unique cultures to the global sphere. The blending of different cultural practices in the public organization eases the interactions between people thereby enhancing peaceful coexistence. The appreciation of the various provisions of these cultures in the organization significantly helped in resolving various social mayhems hindered the achievement of targets.
Interviewer: How can cultural diversity promote global integration?
Interviewee: Cultural variations provide an opportunity for experiencing a different taste of life. The appreciation of cultural diversity provides a basis for developing a common ground for understanding the uniqueness of the world’s communities. This set of circumstances underpins the integration of global communities.
Besides, it brings about cultural assimilation and absorption, which provides a framework for the development of modern social institutions.
Interviewer: For that reason, do you think the individual cultures are becoming less vital to us?
Interviewee: With the rising cultural assimilation, people have adopted other cultures. The copying of practices has been associated with the lack of appreciation of individual cultures. Other individuals perceive that some cultures are superior as compared to theirs. Nevertheless, people should learn to appreciate and preserve their cultures to avoid losing their uniqueness.
Analysis
The cultural diversity and distinctness we experienced in the past may be on the verge of extinction because of assimilation. However, the diversity brings together the experiences and perceptions of different people from various parts of the world (Bartikowski & Walsh, 2015).
Diversity surpasses the moral imperatives that are held in most organizations. Indeed, Tierney (2007) affirms that it has become a global necessity that binds diverse civil societies.
Discussion
With cultural and diversity in the world, greater achievements are achieved. For instance, the people benefit from the shared experiences that arise from global integration (Tierney, 2007). People have diverse beliefs about the existence of different cultures across the world.
The uniqueness associated with these variations helps individuals view situations with different perspectives. According to Andrevski et al. (2014), multiculturalism provides the best environment for individual, team, and organizational growth. For instance, cultural diversity promotes the applicability of different approaches to various issues since it underpins the development of robust problem-solving techniques (Kottak, 2011).
Both leaders and employees should play a critical role in the promotion of diversity values. Andrevski et al. (2014) suggests that diversity values should be aligned with the organizational strategies. The interview shows that the benefits reaped from diversity and cultural embracement are important for employee motivation.
Learning
There is a need to preserve cultural diversity in the modern world since it is paramount to the provision of a wide range of talents to organizations. With consultations brought about by this diversity, it is possible to make decisions on various organizational dilemmas that hinder development.
Sharing and exchanging ideas also promotes innovation and creativity. The respondent feels that cultural assimilation is minimizing diversity values that exist amongst different cultures across the globe. Although this statement is true, diversity entails not only the cultural values of a particular community but also other aspects such as experience, skills, social values, and innovative abilities among others.
Reference List
Andrevski, G., Richard, O., Shaw, J., & Ferrier, W. (2014). Racial Diversity and Firm Performance the Mediating Role of Competitive Intensity. Journal of Management, 40(3), 820-844.
Bartikowski, B., & Walsh, G. (2015). Attitude toward cultural diversity: A test of identity Related antecedents and purchasing consequences. Journal of Business Research, 68(3), 526-533.
Kottak, C. (2011). Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating CulturalDiversity. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Romanenko, A. (2012). Cultural Diversity Management in Organizations: The Role of Psychological Variables in Diversity Initiatives. Retrieved from http://othes.univie.ac.at/15821/1/2011-08-17_0647059.pdf
Tierney, S. (2007). Accommodating cultural diversity. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.