...June 2013 Research Paper: Workforce Diversity Chapter 1: Introduction In recent years, workforce diversity has become an essential business concern. Workforce diversity refers to the important similarities and difference among the employees of organizations. In a diverse workforce, managers are compelled to recognize and handle the similarities and differences that exist among the people in the organization. Employees’ conceptions of work, expectations of rewards from the organization, and practices in relating to others are all influenced by diversity. The importance of renewed interest in diversity is that it helps organizations reap the benefits of all the similarities and differences among workers. Diversity helps bring together ideas from cultures all over the world, in addition to new attitudes and perspectives that can help a company be truly competitive. The workforce is only going to continue to diversify through the years. The change is inevitable, and soon minority groups will become the majority. Managers must first recognize that diversity exists in organizations in order to manage it appropriately. Managers who do not recognize diversity may face an unhappy, disappointed, and underutilized workforce. Chapter 2: Review of the Literature "Diversity Management: Expert-Identified Leading Practices and Agency Examples." MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO, 14 Jan. 2005. Web. 11 June 2013. A high-performance organization relies on a dynamic workforce with the requisite talents...
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...What Does Diversity Mean to You, and What Does a Diverse Insurance Industry Look Like? By Amanda M. White, CPCU, API As I was preparing to start thinking about the topic of diversity, I did what most of us do these days. I did an internet search on the term. The search results were overwhelming and easily set a picture of what diversity is, without even having to click on a single link. But, while the search results may provide a definition of diversity, those results do not reflect the importance of diversity in the insurance industry and the role of insurance professionals in its development. Diversity is so much more than just the surface qualities of race or gender. It encompasses all qualities that make us unique, as an individual or as part of a group. And it’s acceptance, respect, and understanding of those unique qualities. As today’s economy and business world continues to expand globally, diversity moves to the forefront. There will be more cultures, personalities, and talents at play. In order to be successful, a company must understand how all of those qualities affect motivation, communication, and performance. When it does, it will benefit from better communication and teamwork, enhanced morale, and a higher level of creativity. Now that I’ve given the formal explanation, let me try to answer the first half of the question posed. What does diversity mean to me? In simple terms, I believe that diversity is learning from others that aren’t the same as me. I grew up...
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...Managing diversity in the workplace is a complex issue and one that is fast becoming one of the most important factors driving the sustainability of today’s organizations. According to Root (2015) diversity in the workplace refers to the bringing together of people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds, as well as, age groups into a cohesive and productive unit. Diversity also encompasses all manner of differences including mental, physical, cultural difference, including sexual orientation. Patrick & Kumar (2012) states that in promoting diversity in the workplace there should be understanding, acceptance, appreciation and respect of each individual’s differences and uniqueness. The effective management of diversity allows all employees no matter their difference to reach their true potential and to maximize their contributions to the goals of the company. Greenberg (2004) stresses that the level of success an organisation achieves will depend on its ability to effectively embrace diversity. The effective management of workplace diversity carries with it benefits to both the organisation and the employee. A benefit to the organisation includes increasing the company’s flexibility and its ability to meet customer needs. According to Nataatmadia & Dyson (2005) research has shown that diverse groups tend to be more creative and flexible than homogeneous groups. Creative employees are encouraged to explore, and are known for their open-mindedness. Employees from...
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...Diversity in the Workforce Raul Rios Jr. Columbia College Thesis Statement What are the different aspects of diversity within the US workforce and how might it be effectively managed? What positive and negative factors are derived from diversity training? This research paper aims at answering this particular question. In order to do this, the paper will look at the challenges of diversity in the workplace from many different angles. Abstract This paper first explains what diversity really is and the impact it has on today’s workforce. It also explores why diversity needs to be managed in workplaces in the United States. It then discusses the positive and negative impacts of managing diversity (mainly diversity training). This paper identifies some of the major challenges associated with managing diversity. This research paper concluded with some recommendations on how to manage diversity within a workplace. Diversity in the Workforce Changes in the US Workforce Make Diversity an Organizational and Managerial Issue The United States has historically been a land of the immigrants; it continues to be the same today. People from al around the world come to settle in the US. United States has people from ever ethnic backgrounds, whether those people are in the majority or minority. The diversity of America does not only encompass different races of people, but many other aspects which differentiate people from each other. Diversity can refer to people who practice...
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...The Workplace, Communication and Diversity Vanessa J. Bailey BUS 600 Prof. Sean O’Leary June 8, 2014 Diversity, by definition, has three meanings. According to Collins English Dictionary (website:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/diversity), diversity means: (1) the state of quality of being different or varied; (2) a point of difference: and (3) the relation that holds between two entities when and only when they are not identical; the property of being numerically distinct. For many of us, however, when we hear the word diversity we immediately associate it with our work environment and maybe even associate it directly with race and ethnicity in the work place. Multicultural diversity is no longer defined by race and ethnicity alone. In today’s workplace, it is important to also include age, gender, sexual orientation, education, religion and life experience (Okoro & Washington, 2012). With a better understanding of how inclusive workplace diversity has become, companies and corporations can now put greater emphasis in effective interpersonal and group communication as it is essential in today’s success (Okoro & Washington, 2012). As future managers and leaders, it is vital to understand communication and the foundation it provides for business, managerial and organizational communication. All three have a lot in common as well as overlap, in their intended functions (Reinsch, 1991). As Reinsch (1991) put it: “organizational communication is communication...
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...Diversity in the Workplace The aim of this paper is to review literature on the issues of diversity in the workplace. We can ask ourselves why is diversity in the workplace so important? Some arguments suggest that it may benefit to an organization and company success. This topic has been researched and discussed for many years before us and is still current in health care and in general. As I was preparing for this week learning adventure, I can say that, besides our chapters in textbooks, I read so many different articles, but for this paper I have chosen the article written by Maier- Lorentz Transcultural nursing: Its importance in nursing practice. I found this article easy to understand and fallow through and I agree with many things listed and discussed by the author. We can define diversity in many different ways many years ago diversity was defined mainly by gender, race, or color. In today’s world, we can also add on sexual orientation, military experience, education, work experience, marital status and many more. With a diverse workforce health care can compete with the higher achieving global organization. This article is discussing important of diversity in the nursing profession. As we can see from the article increasing culturally diverse workforce creates positive outcome for the hospital or organization, and also helps in delivering better care for patients and families (Maier-Lorentz, 2008). That is why this issue has been incorporated through nursing...
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...) in a current or previous organization who made a positive or negative impact. Secondly analyze the organizational structure and culture of the company for which work to determine its approach to team development, and whether that approach helped to enhance the relationship skills in the workplace. Thirdly evaluate the performance of selected leader based on his or her ethical conduct and effective communication to determine if this leader was successful in motivating and empowering to improve on your work performance. Fourthly determine three (3) best practices organizational leaders can use to motivate employees and discuss their potential benefits. Fifthly discuss some of the challenges leaders encounter when managing diversity and how diversity helps business organizations better compete in global markets. Lastly develop an effective business strategy to address the challenges and issues identified above. The leadership style(s) of a senior executive What is leadership? Leadership is the process of influencing others to accomplish a goal or mission. There are many leadership styles ranging from authoritative to democratic to a mixture of both and many others. According to Johnson (2014) there are five different types of leadership styles. “Autocratic Leader: leader has absolute power and listens to no one else and is generally considered a dictator. Participative/ Democratic Leader: participative leadership values the input of team members and peers, but the...
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...Final Research Paper-Multicultural Workforce COMM/215 December 1, 2014 Introduction-Worldwide Telecommunications Company Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations. It is driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology (The Levin Institute, 2014). Indeed, globalization has made our world smaller. As the markets for products, services, labor, and capital increasingly integrate worldwide, we are witnessing the increasing economic, cultural, demographic, political, and environmental interdependence of different locations around the world (Elfrink, 2014). In his book The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman perfectly captured the essence of today’s new era of globalization. By flat, Friedman meant that the world is connected. The lowering of trade and political barriers, and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution have made it possible to do business or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet (Friedman 2005). However, with a more global business environment comes a host of new challenges including managing a multicultural workforce comprised of people with widely differing backgrounds. In a multicultural environment, where the meanings of various behaviors and practices are as diverse as the people demonstrating them, incorrect assumptions could easily lead to miscommunication (Lankard, 1994). The...
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...bottlers, who hold territorially exclusive contracts with the company, produce finished product in cans and bottles from the concentrate in combination with filtered water and sweeteners. The bottlers then sell, distribute and merchandise Coca-Cola to retail stores and vending machines. Such bottlers include Coca-Cola Enterprises, which is the largest single Coca-Cola bottler in North America and Western Europe. STRENGTHS | WEAKNESSES | World’s leading brand Robust revenue growth in three segment | Negative publicity Decline in cash from operating activities | OPPORTUNITIES | THREATS | Acquisitions Growing Hispanic population in US | Intense competition Dependence on bottling partners | Strengths World’s leading brand Coca-Cola has strong brand recognition across the globe. The company has a leading brand value and a strong brand portfolio. Business-Week and Interbrand, a branding...
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...Within two years he listed Safeway on the New York Stock Exchange. Even in the midst of the Great Depression, he never lost sight of his mission to offer value to all his customers. Safeway was the first grocery store to offer produce by the pound, added “sell by” dates on perishable foods, added nutritional labels, and even made parking lots all in the 1930’s. Today there are over 1600 Safeway stores in the United States and Canada. Some of these stores operate under a different name, but they still hold true to the vision of M.B. Skaggs to offer the customer great value. They have stores in Northern and Southern California, Nevada, Texas, and Alaska. “We’re proud to be a part of local communities, and our customers can always count on us for great prices on the freshest produce and meat, plus thousands of everyday lower prices down every aisle” (“Our Story”, 2014, para.3). They offer recipes and more on their website and also the option of having your groceries delivered right to your door. This is available over the phone or on their mobile app. In today’s business world, it is so very important...
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...Elyce Emily MBA 525 Reaction Paper 6 June 9, 2013 Over the past century we have seen many changes in the workforce. We have seen the impact of the Industrial revolution, the importance of technology when expanding a business, and many changes in the face of the workforce. We have become a more diversified workforce that we cannot deny. With a more diversified workforce we have seen differing policies to handle the differences in everything from language to religious holiday vacation. But, in having a workplace accommodate for diversity something that we should think of as a luxury, or is it something that is a necessity in today’s workforce? Companies have differing philosophies about almost everything, and accommodating diversity is definitely one of them. Jaya Bohlmann, Vice President of PR at Sodexo states “Diversity is primarily a business requirement — without it, we could not respond correctly to our clients’ needs” (Jacques, 2010). Companies have come to the conclusion that if our country is going to continue to be a diverse and including place, then our businesses must mirror this idea. Like Sodexo, if we see accommodating diversity as a business requirement then we have also made the employee’s interest a business requirement. Employees feel important to the business plan. Pace states that a team cannot be effective without appreciating each other’s individual differences, and showing tolerance to those that are different...
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...Abstract Diversity management practices are specific activities, programs, policies and any other formal processes designed to improve management of diversity via communication, education and training, employee-involvement, career management, accountability and cultural change. Overall, diversity management places emphasis on the development of organizational strategies and cultures that are not only tolerant of diversity but actively encourage flexibility and inclusion (Burke & Ng, 2006; Childs, 2005). Workforce diversity is increasing and managers need to develop ways to effectively manage the different views and characteristics of the new, diverse workforce. While there has been considerable research exploring the ‘value-in diversity’ approach, many questions remain unanswered. The evaluation of diversity programs remains an area for attention. While many firms have implemented diversity practices, it is difficult to measure the relationship between diversity practices and organizational performance outcomes. Recent research has explored the factors that moderate the relationship between diversity and performance (Grimes & Richard, 2003; Richard, 2000). Richard (2000: 174) concluded that diversity does add value to a firm but the effects of diversity “are likely to be determined by the strategies a firm pursues and by how organizational leaders and participants respond to and manage diversity”. Introduction Diversity is a commitment to recognizing...
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...Page » Business and Management The Global Integration of Diversity Management: a Longitudinal Case Study In: Business and Management The Global Integration of Diversity Management: a Longitudinal Case Study Int. J. of Human Resource Management 18:11 November 2007 1895– 1916 The global integration of diversity management: a longitudinal case study Aulikki Sippola and Adam Smale Abstract Whilst the extant diversity management literature has provided a comprehensive array of theoretical frameworks and empirical studies on how organizations can and have approached the management of a diverse workforce, the same cannot be said about the literature on diversity in an international setting. Indeed, from a diversity management perspective we know surprisingly little about how multinational firms are responding to the increasing globalization of their workforce. This study seeks to contribute to this underresearched area through an in-depth longitudinal case study of TRANSCO, a well-known European MNC, which has been attempting to integrate diversity management globally throughout its worldwide operations. Adopting a Finnish host-country perspective, the study investigates what TRANSCO has been integrating, how it has tried to facilitate this and the challenges that have arisen throughout the process. The results indicate that TRANSCO has committed a considerable amount of resources to the global diversity management integration process, reflected in the myriad of integration...
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...Feature articles Workplace diversity: developing a win-win-win strategy Joan Marques iversity as a topic earns more attention today than it has ever received before, and the reasons are easily understandable: global migration is increasing, the internet is enabling communication on a worldwide scale, and business leaders are continuously in search for less expensive resources and lower wages to pay. All these trends result in progressively diversified workforces locally and internationally. D Joan Marques is Instructor, Business and Management, Woodbury University, Burbank, California, USA. Increasingly, companies allocate special room for diversity practices on their web sites. Yet, there are some interesting observations that may not necessarily be new, but should nevertheless regularly be brought to the attention of business leaders. Why? So that they can keep track of the best way to develop and implement diversity in their organizations. Let us briefly look at the right reasons and the right way, beginning with the right reasons. The right reasons Often, organizations pride themselves in implementing diversity in order to accommodate customers. But there is only limited reason to be proud of this way of bringing diversity to the workplace. What these companies overlook is that they apply diversity only as a means toward an end, not as an end in itself: B They apply diversity with the primary mindset of profits. They reach out to their customers, but do not...
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...Managing Diversity in the Workplace The modern business environment is marked by the many people-oriented variables brought to organizations. These variables include gender, race, age, and religion, and socioeconomic background, regional and national origin. All these factors form the current workforce in the market place. Diversity is widely recognized as one of the world’s greatest strengths. Diversity continues to affect the society and the organizational workforce in the process of shaping the 21st century workforce (Konrad, 2006). Organizations appreciate individual sensitivity and differences to allow them to succeed at the organizational mission. Sensitivity and training on diversity focuses on changing the standards and expectations of people. This paper gives details on understanding diversity. Although the scope is limited, it highlights how the understanding of diversity is a challenge in managing the current workforce. It remains a fact that the contemporary workforce does not have the same desires as the previous workforce. Work diversity is a challenging experience. Managing and valuing diversity touches on peoples’ values, emotions and beliefs. It demands that people must change their behavior. It demands that organizations must question and change their systems, policies and practices some of which have not been questioned for centuries. Besides, they have contributed to the organization’s values, traditions, and ultimate success (Albrecht, 2011)...
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