...Cultural diversity in organizations A study on the view and management on cultural diversity Authors: Supervisor: Dhakshayene Holmgren Anneli Jonsson Maj- Britt Johansson- Lindfors Student Umeå School of Business and Economics Spring semester 2013 Master thesis, two-year, 15 hp ABSTRACT Cultural diversity is a subject that has been getting growing attention not just internationally but also in Sweden in the 21st century. The globalization of economies and the migration has dramatically increased opportunities while also affecting organizations in a manner that it requires it to be more open and accommodative towards a heterogeneous working environment. Unfortunately many companies do not see the advantages that cultural diversity could bring and how a well managed cultural diversity could essentially achieve competitive edge in the market. Therefore there is little is to be found regarding how organizations today view and manage a culturally diverse workforce, especially in a Swedish working environment. The lack of this type of research in a Swedish context creates a possible research gap and leads to this study in investigating the organizations in Västerbotten and their view and management of cultural diversity. Thus the research question: How do Swedish organizations view and manage cultural diversity? In order to gain insights in to this question, previous research has been investigated and some main theories have been selected. Through this it has been found...
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...seems in line for managers to create and foster a diverse employee arrangement to complete all the company missions. Allstate is a company with a diverse clientele and therefore requires a diverse workforce. One reason is to get a full understanding or appreciation for cultures and people they service and to be able to connect with them on a more personal level. This is the goal for management to achieve. It is the employee’s goal to penetrate their respected market segments. Allstate accomplishes their goals by understanding the strength and importance of a diverse work force. Allstate’s workforce is a multi cultural and multi lingual company which gives them the competitive advantage they need to remain successful. By applying the model for goal setting, we see the companies challenge is to be able to reach a wide and diverse market. The goal is clear for management; they are to assemble a diverse group, penetrate market areas, and complete company objectives. To reduce the difficulty of this, mangers will recruit and hire direct matches for the objectives at hand. The ability of the assembled group to penetrate the market segment solidifies the goal commitment and can reduce the task complexity. With the continued feedback from employees, mangers can assess how they are reaching these markets and how effective their groups are in reaching those goals. Managers can also use the feedback to update or change the task strategy. The information can be used to change...
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...setting seems in line for managers to create and foster a diverse employee arrangement to complete all the company missions. Allstate is a company with a diverse clientele and therefore requires a diverse workforce. One reason is to get a full understanding or appreciation for cultures and people they service and to be able to connect with them on a more personal level. This is the goal for management to achieve. It is the employee’s goal to penetrate their respected market segments. Allstate accomplishes their goals by understanding the strength and importance of a diverse work force. Allstate’s workforce is a multi cultural and multi lingual company which gives them the competitive advantage they need to remain successful. By applying the model for goal setting, we see the companies challenge is to be able to reach a wide and diverse market. The goal is clear for management; they are to assemble a diverse group, penetrate market areas, and complete company objectives. To reduce the difficulty of this, mangers will recruit and hire direct matches for the objectives at hand. The ability of the assembled group to penetrate the market segment solidifies the goal commitment and can reduce the task complexity. With the continued feedback from employees, mangers can assess how they are reaching these markets and how effective their groups are in reaching those goals. Managers can also use the feedback to update or change the task strategy. The information can be used to change direction...
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...Cultural diversity advantages and disadvantages In the 21st century, work place diversity has become reality. With globalization taking place, diversification is the changing labor force in U.S. Increased emigration has mirrored into the workforce. According to Census Bureau data, immigrant workers made up 42 percent of the growth of the labor force in 2012 (Cohen, n.d). Managers now recognize that cultural diversity in the workplace is a challenge that must be addressed to lead an effective team. A culturally diverse workforce has many competitive advantages. Frist, by capturing cultural diversity, the company will gain an added value and competitive advantage over companies that have ignored this challenge (Gwynne, 2009). People despite their cultural upbringing, feel valued. By tapping into the human value of each individual, managers will gain an increased commitment and productivity, strengthen work relationships and retain the best employees. The second, benefit is business growth. Targeted audiences in a global market, come from multicultural backgrounds. Members with different multicultural background will bring ethnic authenticity (Gwynne, 2009). This means language skills, knowledge of business network and cultural sensitivity from their home countries. This is an added asset that the company can use to gain a competitive advantage into targeting a new audience. A third advantage to a multicultural team is the potential to gain new a consumer base at home...
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...ABSTRACT This paper examines the impact of cultural diversity on productivity in the workplace. In this paper, we will identify how diversity in an organization contributes or detracts from an organization. What is cultural diversity? Cultural diversity is defined by Cox (1991) as “the variation of social and cultural identities among people existing together in a defined employment or market setting.” This paper will focus on national and racial diversity as it relates to culture, and the impact of such a diverse team on an organization. The evolvement of an integrated global economy has made diversity essential in this present day world. The paper will explore the pros and cons of such a diverse culture to an organization. A diverse culture within an organization is one that will comprise of benefits such as innovation, the introduction of new ideas and the expansion of a consumer base. All of which increase the productivity of an organization. Diversity may be regarded as a double-edged sword in that a diverse environment could lead to team members creating subgroups and creating conflicts and tension within the group, in essence reducing the productivity of the team. Approaches to reducing the negative effects of diversity on an organization are addressed, and include education and increased awareness. This will in turn reduce bias and stereotypes in the group or organization. Impact of Cultural Diversity on Productivity in the Workplace An increase in...
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...Is culture really all that International Human Resource Manager is about? * Introduction * Diversity Management * IHRM & Culture issue * Conclusion * References Introduction People have always been the driving force of business and management. This force is a challenge and if not addressed with the right skills, it will develop into disturbing elements that are very dangerous for the management of the company. The challenges of global talent selection and mobility of labor, established by a career concept that transcends national borders and organizational groups and the emergence of virtual collaboration on international projects requires companies to develop new skills in their employees to be effective in the complexity of today's contexts. The workforces are people, and as we are human, we are all different from various points of view. This paper aims to answer the question: “Is culture really all that International Human Resource Manager is about?” I’ve analyzed the differences between HRM and IHRM based on the concept of diversity, characteristics that influence both topics but in a different way. After this, the next stop is to define IHRM and the concept of culture to reach the conclusion that managing cultural differences in an international team is the major challenge to IHRM. Due to the movement of employees between foreign subsidiaries and headquarters and between foreign locales, HRM professionals are likely to...
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...Analyze the Home Depot case in the textbook and develop a response to the questions below: How would you describe the culture at Home Depot? The culture at Home Depot was a culture set primarily by the founders, Mr. Marcus and Mr. Blank. It was a culture marked by an entrepreneurial high-spiritedness and a willingness to take risk, a passionate commitment to customers, colleagues, the company, and the community, and an aversion to anything that felt bureaucratic or hierarchical. All of this led to the company’s success. Discuss the impact of the cultural change and the reaction of the employee. When the founders of Home Depot left and the new CEO Mr. Nardelli came along, employees found it hard adjusting. They felt an outsider would “GE-ize their company and culture.” The changes Nardelli brought about was dealing with immediate problems that weren’t readily apparent, shortage of experienced store & district managers as well as the challenge from Lowes, poor inventory turns, low margins, and weak cash flows. Nardelli laid out new strategies from the store, the centralized leverage buying power, reevaluation was done on store operations, detailed data transparent environment, store layout and employee training. Although Nardelli’s changes left some managers and employees resistant, and many of the top executive team left, some did see merit in his approach. Over time, attitudes slowly began to change. Nardelli’s changes and new strategies transformed Home Depot...
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...Volume III Liz Mohn A Cultural Forum Corporate Cultures in Global Interaction Bertelsmann Foundation Gutersloh 2003 A Cultural Forum Corporate Cultures in Global Interaction Global Business Culture – an International Workshop, held in November 2002 in Gutersloh Content 04 05 Content 6 Foreword Liz Mohn Part I: Cultural Diversity as a Challenge for the Management of Globally Acting Companies: Forming Process of Interaction and Acculturation Global Corporate Cultures: Management between Cultural Diversity and Cultural Integration Wolfgang Dorow, Susanne Blazejewski Competing on Social Capabilities: A Defining Strategic Challenge of the New Millennium Piero Morosini Cultural Complexity as a Challenge in the Management of Global Companies Sonja Sackmann Managing Cultural Diversity: Insights from Cross-Cultural Psychology Felix Brodbeck Part II: Trust – Leadership – Conflict Management: Topics of Growing Importance to Multinational Companies at a Time of Globalization Corporate Culture of a Global Company: The Volkswagen Group Ekkehardt Wesner Organisational and Cultural Change at Deutsche Post World Net Joachim Kayser TOSHIBA EUROPE GmbH – An Example of Corporate Culture in Global Interaction Dirk Mandel Topics on the Increasing Significance of Globalization for Multinational Enterprises Gerhard Rübling List of Contributors 10 12 30 58 82 96 98 106 112 115 120 Foreword 06 07 Foreword Liz Mohn Mergers and...
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... Allstate’s goal setting demonstrated in the case file was directed not at sales but rather at how they could maximize the benefits of diversity to in turn maximize sales. The entire firm is aware of how important diversity is to the success of the company because it has been incorporated into the corporate vision statement. With this everyone knows how they should strive to ensure that diversity leads to higher sales. This is done by grooming a wide range of employees for leadership positions and ensuring that all of these employees come from a wide range of backgrounds and skill sets. One key method of recruitment ensuring an extremely diverse pool of employees is recruiting at minority universities. By recruiting here not only are they ensuring a much more diverse group of employees but also that they are all educated to at least the level of an associate’s degree. Ensuring that all employees get the training necessary for them to not only excel at their current position but also to be ready for the next position up the ladder of advancement is the purpose behind their development program. After an extensive evaluation of their current skill level each individual receives a customized program for development of the key skill sets required for advancement within the corporation. This dedication to the education of employees shows the determination behind Allstate’s diversity program. To further ensure they provide every member of the team with the opportunity to excel Allstate...
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...1.0 Diversity Diversity is generally defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status (Esty, et al., 1995). 2.0 Cultural diversity in workplace As the world becomes more global, it is more likely that the next person sitting close to you “belongs not to just to a different faith, but to the other part of the world as well”( Loveleena Rajeev, 2011 Buzzle.com). In our world today, where businesses or markets transcend all boundaries, cultural diversity in workplace needs to be properly understood to ensure a successful organization. In order to understand cultural diversity in workplace, it’s important to know that diversity refers to people who are culturally, racially and ethnically different from other. In this sense, people that belong to different demographic make ups and the life associated with that difference. It is also a term that not limited to physical appearances, but the ways we communicate, manage and think. There are some challenges in cultural diversity in workplace, like the rightness in conflict, judging others based of their upbringing, circumstances and religious beliefs. And also their varying ways of interpreting key words and valuing things in different ways. But there are many solutions to those problems, such as creating a common understanding among...
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...Short Essay | Diversity in the Workplace | How it can create business related advantages | | Madison Roney: 7660183 | 5/15/2013 | | In modern western society, the diversification of culture has increased dramatically in recent years. With this shift, along with the growing competitiveness of the labor market, corporations have been forced to hire more employees who are not familiar with the spoken language or societal norms present in western culture. Many corporations, as much as 80% according to equity activist Trevor Wilson, consider cultural barriers to be a burden on their managers and fellow employees. As a result, these corporations fail to treat their employees equitably. (Hayes, 1999). One could argue, however, that the diversification of employees within the workplace has various business related benefits such as improved efficiency, bottom line revenue, and relationships formed with co-workers, managers and customers alike. However, to ensure its success, principles of transformational leadership must be used on the part of managers and various challenges must be overcome in order for these benefits to take full effect. This is not the first time in Canada's history where ethnic equality in the workplace has been a subject of interest. In 1993 the New Democratic Party in Ontario, whom was the provincial government at the time, enacted an employment equity law to ensure fair employment opportunities to workers from select minority groups. This legislation...
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...Abstract The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine social and ethical issues within the global market. This document will also review how international management and cultural diversity are pertinent to the success of an organization that is operating in a foreign country. Based upon the above mention, this paper will focus on examining and providing frameworks and strategies that implement the concept of corporate social responsibility and cultural diversity. A number of factors are identified in the study, using literature reviews and numerous online research engines. Introduction Business firms that operate in foreign countries face an assortment of ethical and social challenges. These challenges run from fair treatment of employees, stakeholders, and customers, product safety, plant safety, advertising practices, human resources management, environmental problems, business practices, corruption, bribery, kidnapping, torture, and even murder. Therefore, organizations are increasingly concerned about how their actions affect the environment and social welfare. This in turn creates a demand by employees, consumers, investors, lenders, governmental agencies, and other stakeholder groups for demanding firms to operate in an ethical and socially responsible manner. Nevertheless, organizations cannot wantonly abandon their profit maximization aims while internalizing societal goals. As with other organizational decisions, ethical and social...
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...Workplace Diversity: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. That sounds simple, but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more. Diversity not only involves how people perceive themselves, but how they perceive others. Those perceptions affect their interactions. For a wide assortment of employees to function effectively as an organization, human resource professionals need to deal effectively with issues such as communication, adaptability and change. Diversity will increase significantly in the coming years. Successful organizations recognize the need for immediate action and are ready and willing to spend resources on managing diversity in the workplace now. Benefits of Workplace Diversity An organization’s success and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits. When organizations actively assess their handling of workplace diversity issues, develop and implement diversity plans, multiple benefits are reported such as: Increased adaptability Organizations employing a diverse workforce can supply a greater variety of solutions to problems in service, sourcing, and allocation of resources. Employees from diverse backgrounds bring individual talents and experiences in suggesting ideas that are flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets...
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...This merger coupled with our progressive policies, will give InterClean the strategic advantage to expand. Responsibility will be placed on our supervisory team to successfully integrate employees into our new system. Intensive structural changes, training and evaluations ensure that our organizational structure is aligned with this vision. In response to the anticipated changes and potential challenges, it is my responsibility to explain the considerable impact you, as first-level managers, have on the way employees behave. Exhibiting proper behavior is important and impacts productivity, profit increases, and employee attitude regarding the quality of work life. Supervisory cooperation is necessary to promote high-performance work practices, maintain diversity, equal employment opportunities and fair treatment for employees. Management Behavior Managers must utilize available resources to enhance productivity, quality of work life, and profit by enabling employees to utilize their talents and maximize their usefulness. Managers have considerable impact on employee behavior by influencing their actions and attitudes. Research states that critical factors for business success are (1) recruiting and retaining skilled employees, (2) increasing customer satisfaction, and (3) employing and developing leaders (Clark, 2004). High-performance work practices rely on how effectively managers utilize sources to enhance organizational performance. Our company’s philosophy is demonstrated...
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...ABSTRACT Workplace diversity exists when companies hire employees from various backgrounds and experiences. Many companies see workplace diversity as an investment toward building a better business. Although workplace diversity provides many benefits, it also poses many challenges to employees and managers. To reap the benefits of workplace diversity, employees and managers must understand the challenges and know how to effectively deal with them. Diversity is commonly interpreted in relation to ethnicity, gender and culture. Diversity also captures the differences and similarities between individuals and group, encompassing race, ethnicity, gender, culture, age, sexual orientation, religion, language, education, family status, physical and mental ability. These demographic variables are related to other important diversity characteristics such as values, attitudes, interaction styles, physical and cognitive abilities and non-work commitments. The impact of diversity is both positive and negative. The research questions was: How can diverse workforce affect the organization? Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction 4 Background of the Study 4 Statement of the Problem 4 Purpose of the Study 5 Research Questions 6 Chapter 2. Literature Review 6 Chapter 3. Methodology 12 Data Analysis 12 Final Results 14 References 15 CHAPTER 1. BACKGROUND Today, globalization has become...
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