Introduction
This assignment is a discussion on the topic of managing cultural diversity. It pays special attention to the strategies which can be used by managers to manage a culturally diverse workforce either in a business or a multinational corporation for the benefit of the organisations, especially within the service sector. The discussion also looks at the theories which are relevant to the management of a culturally diverse workforce.
The discussion begins with a general overview of the concepts of globalisation, culture and cultural diversity. It then proceeds to highlight theories relevant to the management of a culturally diverse workforce and the strategies which can be used by managers in the management of the workforce. Lastly is a conclusion which sums up the main points of the discussion.
The study of organisations is made possible by the use of organisational theoretical models or approaches. These theoretical models are mainly used to explain organisations in terms of structure and culture. Organisational culture refers to shared beliefs, values, norms and practices which characterize an organisation.
Organisational structure refers to how the organisation is structured, how power and authority to make decisions are distributed along the structure of the organisation and who takes what directives or instructions from whom and when (Robbins, 1996).
Discussion
The Concept of Globalisation
Globalisation can be defined as the minimisation of the differences between the people of the world and the maximisation of their similarities through interactions, cooperation and communication. During the pre-world war period, the world was characterised by minimal interaction, communication, cross-boulder movements and language homogeneity.
However, after the world war, this situation changed. The changes were mainly triggered by the desire for nations of the world to unite in various spheres of development mainly the economy, education, employment, the environment and governance (Go and Pine, 1995).
The main driving forces for globalisation was however the advancement in information and communication technology, improved transport systems, liberalised trade as well as liberalised immigration policies which have with time transformed the world into a global village.
Globalisation has made it possible for any person to work, study, marry and stay in any part of the world irrespective of his or her culture which entails things like religion, race, colour, social status, nationality, believes, sex, ethnicity and sexual orientation (Go and Pine, 1995).
A good example to illustrate this argument is the United States which is known as home and destiny of almost all cultures of the world. Despite the various cultural backgrounds of many United States citizens, it remains to be a leading super power of the world in virtually all aspects including science and technology, education, governance, economic stability, military capacity to name but a few.
The case of United States best illustrates that globalisation has got prospects of making a country or an organisation move towards prosperity. The main reason why the United States is a preferred destination of many people in the world is because it has liberalised its immigration policies.
There are also abundant education and employment opportunities. It also has polices which do not discriminate people based on their culture in the attainment of education or employment.
Globalisation has made it possible for any person to do business in any country. This has increased the diversity of the workforce in many organisations. The management of such workforce is therefore posing as a challenge to many managers because they are not in a position to understand the culture of each and every employee.
However, the culturally diverse workforce can be transformed to an impetus for organisational success and prosperity especially in the service sector discussed below (Go and Pine, 1995).
The Concept of Culture
Culture has been described as peoples’ way of life (Jenks, 2005.p.132). Different people have different ways of life influenced by social, political, educational and genetic factors as well as the environment in which they live in.
Culture gives people identity by defining what is acceptable or not acceptable within their social setting. Since every person lives in a social setting, it is within this social setting where he or she acquires culture through learning, language and imitation.
Culture of a people defines and gives them a meaning of the world. All people therefore perceive their culture as being superior to all other cultures, a concept referred to as ethnocentrism (Egger, 2008.p.26).
As mentioned above, culture influences the values and norms of a people which vary greatly. It is these variations in values which make expatriate managers have difficulties in fitting into new business and organisational environments. Their managerial skills, strategies and organisational styles may be affected by the variations in cultures which may make it difficult for them to match their skills and competencies to diverse cultural backgrounds.
Some cultures value hard work while others do not. Others value honesty, equality, fairness and justice in the distribution of resources within the society while others do not adhere to such values. Religious orientations may also affect management for expatriate managers.
Some religions have rules governing the days and hours of work. The days and hours of work are not universal and may therefore affect managers posted in new work environments in different countries. There is therefore the need for expatriate managers to be briefed about the cultural aspects of the country in which they are to work.
This may be of help to them in anticipating any challenges which may be associated with the national cultures for various countries in the world (Trusted, 2002.pp.65-66).
Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity is a variety of human cultures or societies which live in different parts of the world. It can also refer to the static representation of several cultures in a place and at a particular time, which must be interacting in carefully selected patterns.
Cultural diversity is characterised by the minimization of differences and inequalities as possible and the maximization of sameness and equality as much as possible. Due to globalisation, today’s society is becoming more culturally diverse day by day, meaning that we are moving towards sameness each day and moving away from differences as days move on (Chrysanthopoulos, 2010).
There are various authors who have written on cultural variations between different nations of the world. Examples include Dr. Geert Hosftede and Fon Trompenaars. In his research on the influence of culture on values in the workplace, Dr. Geert Hofstede came up with five dimensions of differentiating cultures for different countries.
For each country, he analysed and gave a report on five dimensions of cultural differentiation. He also gave the average standards for all the dimensions of cultural differentiations. These dimensions include individualism vs. collectiveness, masculinity, power distance index, long term orientation and uncertainty avoidance index (International business centre, n.d).
On his part, Fon Trompenaars came up with seven dimensions outlining how people interact and what drives their interactions. These dimensions include universalism contrasted with particularism, neutral contrasted with affective relationships, individualism contrasted with collectivism, specific contrasted with diffuse relationships, achievement contrasted with ascription, and time orientation (Gullestrup, 2006).
Theories Relevant To Management of a Culturally Diverse Workforce
Human Relations
Modern theoretical approaches to organisations are formed under the premises of systems theory formed by Von Bertalanffy in 1951(FAO Corporate Document Respiratory, 1997). The modern approaches to organisations and management view and define an organisation as a structured process in which individuals interact for specific objectives.
The modern approaches conceptualize organisations as being composed of sub-systems which interact with each other, for the common good of the organisations as a whole. Each subsystem is considered as being important for the success of the whole and therefore organisations need to be guided by mutual trust, harmony and a unity of purpose (FAO Corporate Document Respiratory, 1997).
This approach argues that each and every employee is unique and should therefore be treated as an individual, but not be based on cultural stereotypes or prejudices.
The Contingency Approach
This is also known as the situational theory. According to Burns and Stalker in an article titled “The Management of Innovation”, as quoted in the FAO Corporate Document Respiratory, it is not possible to have a universal approach to all situations and that different situations require different guidelines and modes of intervention.
Organisation do not exists in a vacuum, but rather exist in an environment which is characterized by social, cultural, economic, political and technical forces (FAO Corporate Document Respiratory, 1997).
In order for an organisation to attain its objectives in an efficient and effective manner, it is good to consider the environments in which the organisation exists and come up with strategies which match those environments, then cultivate an organisational culture which would enable it to thrive in those environments taking into account the establishment of mutual understanding and relationships between various sectors of the environment in which the organisation exists (FAO Corporate Document Respiratory, 1997).
Socio-Technical Theory
According to Pasmore in an article titled “Designing Effective Organisations”, and as quoted in the FAO Corporate Document Respiratory, each and every organisation comprises of the people, the environment and a technical system. The social system is composed of the employees while the technical system is composed of knowledge, tools and techniques used by the social systems.
The environment is composed of the goods and services produced by the organisation for the consumers, clients or customers who are external to the organisation. According to pasmore therefore, there is a need to maintain an equilibrium between these subsystems so that the organisation may be effective and efficient (FAO Corporate Document Respiratory, 1997).
How to Manage a Culturally Diverse Workforce
One of the strategies which can be used to manage a culturally diverse workforce is the creation of awareness on cultural diversity within the workforce. This makes the employees embrace the diversity and see it as strength rather than a weakness for the organisation which in turn increases their productivity (Deresky, 2002)
The other strategy is to do a regular assessment of the environment in which the employees are working in with special attention being given to diversity issues. This assessment should be aimed at identifying any difficulties encountered by employees as they intact with others who have different beliefs, faiths, values and morals. The managers should ensure that they make the necessary changes so that the employees can work in a free and friendly atmosphere (Dowling and Welch, 2008).
Managers should also make a point of interacting freely with employees from various cultures with a view of learning and understanding those cultures in terms of the similarities and differences. They should in turn see how they can transform the similarities or differences in cultural backgrounds of the employees to benefits for the organisation without making any section of the workforce feeling marginalised (Holden, 2002).
Lastly, the managers should be regularly trained on various cultures of the nations of the world. This should be aimed at equipping them with a general overview of various cultures for various nations so as to be in a good position to manage a culturally diverse workforce.
They should more specifically be trained on the five dimensions of cultural differentiations for various countries as studied by the renowned psychologists Dr, Geert Hofstede mentined above (International business centre, n.d).
Conclusion
The discussion was about managing a diverse workforce. The main cause of a diverse workforce is globalisation, which is the minimisation of the differences between people and the maximisation of their similarities. The relevant theoretical approaches to the management of a diverse workforce include the human rations and the contingent approaches.
In the discussion, it has emerged that managers can use various strategies to manage a diverse workforce. Some of the strategies include the creation of awareness on the importance of cultural diversity in the workplace, on-going assessment of the work environment as well as an on-going training of the managers on the cultural dimensions for various countries so as to enable them have the general understanding of the cultures of their workforce.
Reference List
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