Cultural diversity is, in its essence, a driving force that brings together the differences that make people who they are and tries to establish peace between many variables of human nature. In an ever-going globalization of the world, a person is constantly at the border of many cultures, be it because of their birth and growing up circumstances, traveling, or family setting. A human’s identity is shaped by the cultural experiences they have had, and each individual can represent many different cultures at once. The business possibilities are changing as the boundaries of everyday experience are shifting, and in turn, social mobility accelerates.
Specific Considerations of Working on a Multicultural Team
The process of organizing and successfully running a business in a culturally diverse setting – especially carrying out serious projects – is not only laborious and painstaking, but also quite complex in terms of cross-cultural management. Dover et al. (2019) suggest that “diversity initiatives have the potential to negatively affect performance of the employees from underrepresented groups” (p. 177). Firstly, diverse initiatives in business, when applied, often create stereotypes that people targeted by these initiatives are less competent and need help to get a job, and that, in turn, might greatly impact their abilities. The multinational workforce combines different professional skills and values, worldviews and work attitudes, which has a great impact on the functioning of the company in general and the communication process in particular. Jain and Pareek (2019) suggest that “people might think that organizations from the country where they originate operates with the same scope of responsibilities as the international businesses that they are engaging in” (p. 26). This also needs to be taken into consideration, as the experiences from people’s native business practices often clash with the expectations they face in a foreign multicultural environment. The problem needs to be resolved as soon as possible, for it might lead to a significant delay in the completion of the project due to the employee’s misunderstanding of their responsibilities.
Addressing the Differences between In-Person and Virtual Communication Vehicles
The diversity of communication means that the team members interact with each other in a multitasking manner, using a combination of several communication channels at the same time. It becomes obvious that teams that know how to use both in-person and virtual communication tools and integrate them into their work show better performance. The main difference between the two communication vehicles is their trustworthiness levels. It is obvious that in-person communication is more reliable in terms of quality, however, virtual communication remains a quicker way to discuss an issue or offer an opinion. Still, if any of the communication channels are of poor quality, an atmosphere of misunderstanding and mistrust may ripen. For interpersonal relations in a team, a typical situation is when the team members pursue goals which may coincide in their content or may differ from each other. To ensure the mutual understanding, team members should not depend only on virtual communication vehicles, but also include an in-person communication.
Issues Related to Cultural Differences
Cultural diversity greatly impacts the possibilities of a project’s success, especially in terms of finishing it on time, by creating barriers in employees’ mutual understanding and timely coordination. Of course, the ability to choose between talented professionals from different countries does give a business huge benefits, after all, but the issues are also plenty. Experience shows that cultural diversity in an enterprise will inevitably lead to conflicts and difficulties in mutual understanding if it is not taken seriously and is not controlled.
Among the main problems related to the topic are differences in religious and cultural customs, foreign employees’ poor knowledge of the state language, and inflexible company’s policy in relation to national and cultural differences. As a result of these issues, the potential labor productivity decreases, creativity and innovative activities are reduced, staff turnover is growing and employees might even avoid doing their work. For example, Gupta (2021) specifically expresses “the need to keep the workforce engaged while taking into consideration the diverse backgrounds of employees” (p. 1). Moreover, several studies suggest that even diversity training does not resolve these issues, failing in deconstructing different biases in people’s behavior towards each other. World business practice shows that companies are often faced with problems associated with people with intercultural conflicts, which often result in incorrect or belated management decisions.
Resolving Individual and Group Conflicts
The experience of solving cultural diversity problems presents concepts of managing social and cultural diversity and cross-cultural management. Its development is of great interest for world businesses since the issue of integrating representatives of individual nationalities is currently time-relevant, as are the issues of interaction with labor migrants, foreign partners and investors. In many studies, the management of socio-cultural diversity is recognized as a key strategic aspect of international companies. Velten and Lashley (2018) support this claim, stating that “working in a culturally diverse field, the tendency of employees to get entangled in interpersonal conflicts is intensified” (p. 107). With the rise of migration processes, the need to understand the proper patterns of interaction in a culturally diverse team became overwhelming.
Cultural diversification of personnel groups in different-sized enterprises supplies questions about the correction of traditional personnel management systems, taking into account intercultural differences. A cultural compromise lies in the peaceful coexistence of deliberately preserved contradictions as necessary complementary to each other within the whole society, which is recognized as the highest value. This applies to the relationship both between the individuals and groups, and it helps resolve social and cultural contradictions that naturally arise in working environment. Proper cultural management and diversity training continues to be quite important for a peaceful and productive coexistence of group and individual interests.
References
Dover, T. L., Kaiser, C. R., & Major, B. (2019). Mixed signals: The unintended effects of diversity initiatives. Social Issues and Policy Review, 14(1), 152–181. Web.
Gupta, M. (2021). Management practices for engaging a diverse workforce tools to enhance workplace culture. Apple Academic Press.
Jain, T., & Pareek, C. (2019). Managing cross-cultural diversity: Issues and challenges. Global Management Review, 13(2), 24–31. Web.
Velten, L., & Lashley, C. (2018). The meaning of cultural diversity among staff as it pertains to employee motivation. Research in Hospitality Management, 7(2), 105–113. Web.