The Importance of Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity is defined as “The existence of a variety of cultural or ethnic groups within a society” (Oxford, 2017). Within the workplace there have been a trend towards promoting diversity by maintaining a workforce with workers differ in area such as race, sexual orientation, age, and gender. This is often times a daunting and difficult task for management. Effective communication can be challenging for diverse groups. Language barriers for example may cause confusion leading to conflict. Another risk to implementing diversity in the workplace is that some employees feel that individuals may have gained their respective position unjustly. Conversely, differing employees may feel out of place and not assimilate well with the rest of the group (Kirby & Richard, 2000). Promoting cultural diversity is not just relegate to the hiring of diverse individuals; rather the organization must also seek to create and maintain policies, procedures, training, and even incentives to truly cultivate a positive culturally diverse environment (Patrick and Kumar 2012). With all the time, money, and effort necessary to create and maintain a diverse work environment, leaders are left wondering what if any, benefits can be gained by promoting cultural diversity.
Research indicates that there are several valuable assets to fostering cultural diversity in the workplace. Firstly, the makeup of the labor pool is changing. There has been a steady increase
The author of this book intends to give an account of the political agenda of President Abraham Lincoln, his subordinates, those who aspired to become involved in the political realm and their involvement of the Indians. Indian reform, the so-called Indian System and the trading system between the white man and the Indians was extremely corrupt and was used to gain political power and wealth. Much documentation is presented to the corruptness and pure evilness of this system.
As we enter the new millenium, diversity in the workforce is rapidly increasing. Businesses and organizations are living up to the great melting pot image the United States has always been popular for. Employees now reflect a diversity of cultural perspectives, ethnic backgrounds, ages, genders, physical abilities, and levels of education. This wave of multiculturalism is here to stay and cannot be ignored. It is in need of attention in order to uphold the well-being and success of businesses and organizations all over the country.
Fostering A Nation Canada Confronts It’s History of Childhood Disadvantage, written by Veronica Strong-Boag, discusses the history of child welfare in Canada. Strong-Boag explains how there is a dark side of Canada’s response to the lives of children in private homes and institutions in Canada in the 1900s. Her argument has been stated clearly on page 3, “Fostering Nation? Explores the missteps and detours of a century and more of child protection efforts by Canadians and their governments as they confronted the specter if children judged neglected, abused, deficient, and delinquent.” Furthermore, her goal is to uncover her argument through first hand accounts from children at the time and “first” parents and their kin, surrogate parents and those responsible for children not of their own. This review will discuss Strong-Boag’s book in three parts, her clear concise layout, an excellent job with organization her thoughts, and her passion behind her writing. Strong-Boag’s, Fostering A Nation, deserves many praises for a well-rounded book.
When looking at diversity in the workplace, many people and companies encourage it. “Cultural diversity has become a defining characteristic of an increasing number of societies” (“Consequences of Cultural diversity” this should be the author and the date). They feel that it is a great thing to have diversity in the workplace, however, what some companies do not think about is the negative effects of having too much diversity in the workplace. “A workforce that has significant differences in ethnicity, race, religion, gender and other individual traits can produce negative effects, especially if not well-managed. These negative effects of diversity are understandable if the work culture does not support tolerance and acceptance of
The purpose of this paper is designed to introduce, educate, and promote diversity within your company. Your company will be shown the merits of diversity and how diversity within your organization can be a benefit. This paper will be broken down into three main areas: Benefits of Diversity, Challenges of Diversity, and Recommendations for an effective diversity within your organization..
Today’s management in the workforce is composed of all types of people verses thirty years ago when white males held a majority of upper-management positions in companies. These positions are now held by a mixture of ethnic back grounds and women who hold just as many if not more management positions then men. Just by looking at the changes in management demographics shows how important it is for people to understand cultural competency in the workplace. Dr. Roosevelt Thomas Jr. (1999) stated, “Diversity is the collective mixture of whomever we have in our workforce characterized by their differences and similarities” (p.11). Managers and supervisors must understand the characteristics of a diversity mature individual; they also need to be
The general line of reasoning is that if we learn to incorporate each other’s diverse traits and characteristics in the workplace, we can then use these differences to foster an innovative environment, which will give the company a competitive advantage over the competitors that do not accept workforce diversity. According to the Allied Academies International Conference, “Diversity is rapidly becoming a common practice among companies due to the increasing number of minorities entering the job market today. As these groups become more prevalent throughout companies, upper-level employees are facing numerous challenges when determining what changes must take place to create a positive working environment for everyone. Management is responsible for the development and implementation of effective policies directly relating to diversity to ensure the acceptance of minorities into the workplace and to aid in minorities’ success through equal opportunities and treatment.” (Marcia L. James, 2001, Academy for Studies in International Business Proceedings)
【介绍】Confucianism and Daoism are not only two of the most influential beliefs in ancient China, but also in contemporary society. They have played important roles in development of Chinese civilization. Both Confucius and Laozi were born in a chaotic period and their thoughts were originated in the late Warring States Period that there were wars among the subsidiary countries. In front of the dark society, they all produced rich thoughts of life. Confucius and Laozi had same moral thoughts of focusing on self-discipline and social progress.
According to Ozbilgin (2008), diversity is one of the top global issues and requires management attention. There are both benefits and challenges in managing diversity. However, Golnaz and Hoa (2002) stated that most organizations agree that diversity is a reality and while managing the same, it can be either an asset or a hindrance towards goals (Gleason 2004). Diversity helps the organization become proactive and flexible to new aspects and scenarios (Pwc 2011). To manage a successful diverse workforce, organisations need to promote self-awareness, openness, clear-headedness, adaptability, candour and egalitarianism. This can be a challenging task due to complex human behaviour and biases (Parkin 2009).
From our research, we identified three different perspectives on workforce diversity that people embrace, each with different implications for a work group’s ability to realize the benefits of its cultural diversity. We use these observations here to examine critically some of the themes and basic assumptions of previous research and to propose new directions for both researchers and practitioners interested in diversity (Ely &Thomas, 2001). When organizations have a diverse economy, it makes the company strong. Once our nation has embrace the changes from the demographics that reap the economic benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce. Burns et al. (2012) stated in their investigation that:
In any society, how we see ourselves and how others treat us depends on many factors. Race, ethnicity, and cultural background are identifiers of individuals. Most people have confronted prejudice based on these identifiers, either personally experiencing discrimination or knowing someone who has. Beyond ensuring organizational compliance with a country’s anti-discrimination laws, it is incumbent upon managers to support diversity in the workplace and to be culturally competent.
The first thing to acknowledge about diversity is that it can be difficult. In the U.S., where the dialogue of inclusion is relatively advanced, even the mention of the word “diversity” can lead to anxiety and conflict. Supreme Court justices disagree on the virtues of diversity and the means for achieving it. Corporations spend billions of dollars to attract and manage diversity both internally and externally, yet they still face discrimination lawsuits, and the leadership ranks of the business world remain predominantly white and male.
Diversity is what makes people different, not just culturally but in human differences. Having a multitude of differences in the workforce gives an organization the ability to use many ideas to reach a common goal. A person could say that a diverse group of people together in one room can accomplish greater achievements than a room filled with the same types of individuals. Managers understand the concept of diversity, and how important diversity is to the success of a company’s ability to implement programs that continue to develop a harmonious and diverse workplace. The recognition that diversity is a reality in the workforce has generated an enormous amount of activity over the years among leaders in business, government, and civil
Organizations have been becoming increasingly diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality. This diversity brings substantial potential benefits such as better decision making, greater creativity and innovation, and more successful marketing to different types of customers. But, increasing cultural differences within a workforce also bring potential costs in higher turnovers, interpersonal conflicts, and communicational breakdowns. The utilities of diversity training and the essential managerial skills required for effectively managing diversity will also be discussed.
Workplace diversity is when there is diverse culture of individuals in the workplace. It is when there is a value placed on the variety of ideas, race, ethnicities, religion, gender, sexuality and orientation, which is flourishing in an environment. Depending on your employer and workplace, workplace diversity can vary based off several different factors. Usually, there is a preferential standpoint taken on the matter and it can be either display a high or a low context culture of diversity. According to Mason (2013) Workforce diversity has been described as “a double-edged sword; it has the potential for positive and negative outcomes” (p.659). Workplace diversity is important in a business setting because it carries forward a combination of different types of people to work together in unity, encourages uniqueness, innovative, creative approaches, and supports interesting divergent ideas to accomplish tasks or goals.