Running head: CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN WORKPLACE Cultural Diversity in Workplace Kishan Reddy Kukkala 737 MBA 525 STRATEGIC HR MANAGEMENT HEATHER WEGWERTH 6/12/2017 1 CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN WORKPLACE 2 Introduction Cultural diversity refers to the variety of differences among the people working in a particular workplace. Diversity is broad, and it entails elements such as gender, race, age, personality, educational background, cognitive style and others. For the organization to function efficiently, the human resource department needs to be in control of cultural issues within the workplace. Diversity is expected to increase in the coming years, and it is an issue that needs to be addressed adequately. For any successful organization, they recognize the need to observe cultural diversity by investing both time and resources. Cultural diversity presents both advantages and disadvantages to the organization. For any organization to be competitive and successful, it has to embrace diversity to reap full benefits. Under the same topic on diversity, there are also challenges presented such as communication and resistance to change. Discussion Crowe, D., & Hogan, M. (2007). Cultural diversity in the workplace. Crowe and Hogan give an explorative research into cultural diversity through an in-depth look at racism and equality in the workplace. The publication seeks to provide a framework for innovation and creativity in innovation as a way of managing cultural diversity in the workplace. Crowe and Hogan point out that through training and networking the workplace environment can be made more conducive to the advantage of the enterprise. They two authors highlight that developing new cultural practices that support diversity value is created in the utilization of the human resource. The publication encourages organizations to use the approach that best works CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN WORKPLACE 3 for them if the benefits can be realized for both the employees and the employers. The article also highlights that exercising cultural diversity in the workplace can help in boosting the image of the organization which acts as a direct marketing tool especially in an era of globalization. The article gives an understanding of how organizations stand to benefit from practicing cultural diversity values which are in alignment with the National Action Plan for equality in the workplace and against racism in the workplace. This article will be useful to my research paper because it cites the need for practicing cultural diversity in the workplace as a way of marketing an enterprise and conforming to regulations on labor. In the discussion, the article highlights the need to observe cultural diversity in the workplace as a way of conforming to labor regulation such as equal gender representation in the workplace as required by the labor law. The only shortcoming to the article is that it lacked statistical backup to support the idea of how cultural diversity can be of more benefit to the organization but to counter this weakness I will be using the facts on the advantages of cultural diversity discussed in the article. Stevens, F. G., Plaut, V. C., & Sanchez-Burks, J. (2008). Unlocking the benefits of diversity: All-inclusive multiculturalism and positive organizational change. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 44(1), 116-133. The article discusses the issue of cultural diversity in the workplace and how organizations stand to benefit from the trend. As demographics are rapidly changing in U.S, where the minority groups are taking over and becoming the economic majority, then organizations have to take a look at how this trend is affecting their organizations. To discuss the topic of cultural diversity the publication takes a look at the two forms of diversity that is multiculturalism and colorblindness which have direct benefits to the organization, however, they have been seen to cause feelings of exclusion in the workplace. In the article, the authors highlight the challenges CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN WORKPLACE 4 raised by the two forms of diversity in the workplace. As a way of offering solution to the highlighted problem, they propose using All Inclusive Multiculturalism model (AIM). The author highlights that using AIM can serve as the catalyst for effecting positive change through the establishment of positive relations at the workplace and enabling the members of the organization to grow their full potential. The value of the article to my research is that it highlights cultural diversity as a trend that organizations cannot ignore and therefore they have to address the challenges that come with it. The articles strengths are that it highlights the challenges to the two forms of diversity and offers a solution which will enable organizations to reap benefits and maximize their human resources. What is find lacking in the article is that it does not discuss how the AIM model can be applied in organizations because organizations differ and it may not always work for all the organizations. However, the article is resourceful to my research paper as it provides an overview of how challenges to cultural diversity can create new opportunities which stand to benefit the organization which is the primary goal of the human resource department. Kearney, E., Gebert, D., & Voelpel, S. C. (2009). When and how diversity benefits teams: The importance of team members' need for cognition.Academy of Management Journal, 52(3), 581598. The article is based on an experiment on how diversity stands to benefit organizational team members. In the study Kearney, Gebert and Voelpel observed that cognition is a very important element in recognition of cultural diversity. Cognition is the factor that helps in balancing all cultural diversity issues within the organization setting. The study points out that cognition can help in defining the organizational cultural and creating one that is uninfluenced by the broader cultural matters such as age, race, and gender. In response to the challenges posed by diversity in CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN WORKPLACE 5 the workplace such as communication, resistance to change and the successful management of human resources the study points out that cognition can help in improving the perception of feelings in each other hence promoting team morale and coordination. Identification to a team based on cognition can help in improving team performance and increasing the benefits to the organization by offering broader viewpoints to problems. The article adds value to my research paper on diversity because it highlights the key benefits of cultural diversity and the use of cognition to counter the challenges of diversity in the workplace. Being a journal, it means that it is peer reviewed and that study is authenticated. Roberge, M. E., & van Dick, R. (2010). Recognizing the benefits of diversity: When and how does diversity increase group performance?. Human Resource Management Review, 20(4), 295308. The publication discusses the positive results of diversity in the workplace. To explore the benefits the article gives evidence of how diversity increases group performance through the creation of a pool of innovation and creativity which offers different perspectives on an issue. In the study of how diversity works to benefit the group, a psychological perspective is used to observe the mechanism. The paper seeks to provide answers on how diversity promotes team performance through a theoretical framework based on social psychology models. In conclusion, the article points out that identifies that diversity allows team members to learn from each other’s identity within the team. When social psychological models are activated within the organization, they lead to increased group performance which stands to benefit the organization. The article adds value to my research paper because it highlights the relationship between diversity and group performance from a social psychological perspective. The article also gives a deeper understanding of how diversity works to benefit the group and the organization at large. CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN WORKPLACE 6 Tung, R. L. (2008). The cross-cultural research imperative: The need to balance cross-national and intra-national diversity. Journal of International Business Studies, 39(1), 41-46. In the article by Tung, he gives a broader look at cultural diversity on an international level as the world is becoming more globalized. In an era where globalization is taking place at extremely alarming rates then it is wise to look at the changing management paradigms as organizations try to make use of their human resource. One of the most pointed out challenges is virtual organizations as a more modern trend that is taking control of the definition of human resource and diversity. The pointed out challenges are cultural homogeneity among different nations. Cultural diversity acts the same way national differences create divisions globally. To be able to understand how cultural diversity affects organizations the paper gives an in-depth look at the cultural phenomena and how improving the quality of culture within the organization can help in promoting cohesion in the workplace. The article highlights the challenges that virtual organizations are facing which get its root from the traditional organization set up. Straight from the basic challenges such as communication to the resistance to change then the progress of the organization is prohibited. Challenges to cultural diversity are inevitable, and they need to be addressed in a manner specific to the organizational needs. The article adds value to my research because it gives a broader look at the challenges brought about by cultural diversity and how they have had an impact on how organizations manage their human resource. The article also explores the extent to which cultural diversity has impacted international business, and it highlights that the solution to the problem can be having in place a management plan that works for every organization human resource needs. Burke, R. J., & Ng, E. (2006). The changing nature of work and organizations: Implications for human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 16(2), 86-94. CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN WORKPLACE 7 The publication explores how changes in the external working environment of organizations have had an effect on human resource. While identifying the global trends, the article draws attention on cultural diversity. In the U.S labor force organizations are experiencing human resource issues such as age, gender, race all revolving around cultural diversity. The former is being assessed by the increased use of technology and changing societal values which raise concerns about how the human resource is being utilized. U.S is faced with the challenge of addressing the issue of globalization such as the need to embrace diversity in areas such as outsourcing and offshoring which places greater pressure on the need to embrace diversity. The article is relevant to my research paper because it discusses the diversity is a change that needs to be adopted because of the multiple challenges is presents on organizations. Through an evaluative look at the labor force, the article demonstrates that diversity in the workplace is a sensitive issue that cannot be ignored because it presents challenges which need to be solved so that they are turned to benefits. Shen, J., Chanda, A., D'netto, B., & Monga, M. (2009). Managing diversity through human resource management: An international perspective and conceptual framework. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(2), 235-251. The article bases its argument on a literature review of diversity in human resource. The paper highlights the main issues and objectives of observing diversity in the workplace and examines the state of diversity in human resource among organizations. The review shows that discrimination and inequality in the labor force exist as policies are being made to ensure equality in the labor market and ensuring compliance with employment legislations. What the article notes are that there has been less focus on how valuing and developing diversity can serve to be an advantage for the organization. Based on the identification of the gap the paper gives a CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN WORKPLACE framework that gives the strategies that HR department can execute to reap benefits of cultural diversity. The paper highlights benefits such as increased adaptability through bringing experience and wide pool of talent which bring ideas that are more flexible and adapt to the market needs and customer demands. For an organization that embraces cultural diversity, they have higher market acceptance. As the world is changing people are becoming more of worldwide community based on ideas rather than differences based on race and gender. With diversity, there is the effective execution of ideas as employees find their strength within each other which boost morale and performance. The article adds value to my research because it demonstrates that an organization that respects cultural diversity is likely to receive greater acceptance. One strength in the article is that its basis its facts from previous works of literature and through identifying the gap it presents opportunities in diversity which can work for the benefit of any organization. 8 CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN WORKPLACE References Burke, R. J., & Ng, E. (2006). The changing nature of work and organizations: Implications for human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 16(2), 86-94. Crowe, D., & Hogan, M. (2007). Cultural diversity in the workplace. Kearney, E., Gebert, D., & Voelpel, S. C. (2009). When and how diversity benefits teams: The importance of team members' need for cognition.Academy of Management Journal, 52(3), 581-598. Shen, J., Chanda, A., D'netto, B., & Monga, M. (2009). Managing diversity through human resource management: An international perspective and conceptual framework. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(2), 235-251. Stevens, F. G., Plaut, V. C., & Sanchez-Burks, J. (2008). Unlocking the benefits of diversity: All-inclusive multiculturalism and positive organizational change. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 44(1), 116-133. Tung, R. L. (2008). The cross-cultural research imperative: The need to balance cross-national and intra-national diversity. Journal of International Business Studies, 39(1), 41-46. Roberge, M. E., & van Dick, R. (2010). Recognizing the benefits of diversity: When and how does diversity increase group performance?. Human Resource Management Review, 20(4), 295-308. 9 CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN WORKPLACE 10
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