Cultural Diversity: A Source of Competitive Advantage

Diversity is a wonderful asset to an organization and brings with it many benefits. Employees bring in their own personal experiences and knowledge to the team (Burns & Kerby, 2012). Having diverse teams allows for the possibility to fix a problem or perfect a process by using different employee’s experiences and past knowledge to find solutions. A diverse workforce can drive economic growth and capture a greater share of the consumer market (Burns & Kerby, 2012). With diversity as a core value, the recruitment pool is widened to find the most qualified candidate and reduces employee turnover as a result. An organization can be highly competitive with a diversity initiative by adapting to a changing environment (Burns & Kerby, 2012).

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..

Throughout the book The Loudest Duck by Laura A. Liswood, we learn about what it means to be truly diverse and how to obtain this diversity. The book gives many examples of how and why it is important for companies to be diverse. Through this paper I will be outlining the main points the other made and share some of the lessons I feel are important.

In recent years, diversity and inclusion have emerged as an essential business practice. Why are diversity and inclusion so critical to organizations nowadays? Do they really help organizations achieve better results? Why is it a unique issue in the 21st century workplace? To answer these questions, organizations should look into factors such as globalization. Globalization increases interactions around the world and diversifies the profile of the workforce, which also contributes to the changing composition of the current workforce. While globalization offers extensive opportunities for organizations, it also imposes many challenges that require new responses. Organizations are not only looking for ways to effectively manage a diverse workforce but also to leverage it to achieve better outcomes.

Diversity in the workplace has always been an interesting topic to explore. When studying the topic, one is able to see how minorities and women do not get the same job opportunities at career growth as non-minorities. The lack of diversity in the workplace can definitely keep a company from reaching its full potential. Our guest speaker Patrick McKay explored different topics dealing with diversity in the workplace that shed light on why trying to diversify the workplace occasionally fails. McKay also mentioned how it is important to be mindful of the location you choose to live when beginning your career. In the article Doing Diversity Right, Derek R. Avery and Patrick F. McKay explain how “managing diversity” in the workplace is vital in today’s workplace. Over the years there has been a greater emphasis put on insuring diversity within the workplace. McKay and Avery explain the importance of creating a diverse environment in which companies promote. It is not enough to solely recruit minorities or women but also the environment of the workplace must allow the individuals to thrive. In the article Warning! Diversity recruitment could Backfire, Patrick McKay and Derek Avery explain how companies should implement diversity into their company programs. Having a company culture that embraces diversity is the key to successfully diversifying a company.

Organizations who make a commitment to diversity can see a significant impact on business in many ways. Diversity “requires a significant commitment for change to occur” (Delong, 2007, p.9). It is extremely important that leaders understand the commitment and embrace it in order for a positive impact to occur. Employers with diverse cultures and leaders can build positive and successful relationships with customers, suppliers and vendors. They can better attract and retain top talent. All of these equal more financial gain for the company.

Myrtle P. Bell explains that diversity recruiting demands a supportive climate (Andrew Greenberg, 2013). It is because the corporate profit will cut down significantly and pessimistic consequences definitely exist without the supportive environment. Inequality, underestimation and even exclusion persist of individuals, groups, organizations and communities turn a working environment into distressingly. The implementation on diversity is very hard due to its avoidance are complex and not often likely recognizable. For instance, foreign men are more possible to be a higher position which relates to leadership side, such as managing director, administrator or board members. The commitment of those foreign men towards diversity is very important

To say that diversity is not a benefit, especially in the United States, ignores the cultural diversity of a country that once prided itself on being a ‘melting pot.’ In a time when the United States is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, 43% of Millennials are not white, and the “religious landscape” of the U.S. is changing (Cohn), diversity should be valued rather than dismissed. These demographic changes bring a changing culture, a change that cannot be overlooked. This change will affect politics, education, religious institutions, and business. Already, It can be seen that companies with more diverse employees outperform other companies by 35% (Tulshyan). Ruchika Tulshyan, a writer for Forbes says that, “While correlation does not equal causation – greater diversity doesn’t automatically mean more profit – the link indicates that companies committed to diverse leadership are more successful.” Thomas Mason with the Huffington Post hypothesised that these diverse companies may be doing better, in part, because having a diverse group of people also brings a diverse skillset and cultural knowledge that would be neglected otherwise. A group of writers for the Harvard Business Review thought otherwise, and discussed their findings in an article entitled, “Diverse Teams Feel Less Comfortable - and That's Why They Perform Better.” The article suggests that

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)

Organisations have sought out to have a more diverse workforce, as it is claimed to increase organisational effectiveness. A team with individuals from different social group, personalities, values and beliefs, and etcetera, when managed well, can be an asset to the organisation. More often than not, there will be some sort of discrimination in the workplace, especially with a very diverse workforce. Therefore, with proper training and benefits to ensure the development of these employees, and legislation and policy to ensure equality and reduce discrimination within the workforce, it can drive competitive advantage and organisational profit. When looking at diversity in the workforce, the business case and the moral case justification are often necessary. The following paragraphs will talk more about the business case and moral case, and the linkages between them, as well as the theories and conceptual frameworks for the business and moral cases justification for diversity management in organisations.

In today’s society there are many culturally diverse people in the workforce. Most organizations can no longer make the assumption that every employee has similar beliefs or expectations. When entering into the global marketplace, people are considered one of the most valuable resources to an organization’s success. A well-managed culturally diverse workforce has the potential to thrive if managed correctly; or if mismanaged, there can be devastating negative attributes. With great expectations, culturally diverse employees can foster positive outcomes in the workplace. A company’s acknowledgement to embrace diversity and change, and implement the value of management techniques are

A society 's social structure refers to its basic social organization. Two dimensions stand out when explaining differences between cultures. The first is the degree to which the basic unit of social organization is the individual, as opposed to

In response to the growing diversity in the workforce around the world, many companies have instituted specific policies and programs to enhance recruitment, inclusion, promotion, and retention of employees who are different from the privileged echelons of society. The privileged groups may vary from one country to the next. The workforce of the world is a dynamic environment, and in order for this dynamism to be put to use for the benefit of organizations, they must develop an effective strategy for managing diversity. Global Diversity Management refers to the voluntary organizational actions that are designed to create greater inclusion of employees from various backgrounds into the formal and informal organizational

Diversity in workforce “include, but are not limited to: age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience”(Thomas 1992). Diversity in the workforce is initially perceived as a response toward the increasing diversity of the consumers in the market (Agocs & Burr, 1996). From there, it has been observed that capitalizing on existing differences among the employees provide benefits to the organization. Diversity in workforce fosters and encourages

Businesses are recognizing the need and importance of investing in diversity and addition as part of their inclusive talent management practices and to frequently challenge their organizations to make the connection between those values and their group performance.. Diversity is especially fundamental in today’s global marketplace, as businesses cooperate with