Ibm Organizational Behavior

The World is a diverse place; changing demographics, globalization and generational gaps. Diversity is the mix of people who make your organization. The workforce, including leadership should represent and look like the community in which business is conducted. Work place diversity is the key to survival and growth and is an essential business tool. Diversity promotes inclusion within and across business units and help all employees understand and respect individual differences and the value of everyone’s unique talents. Different types of people bring different talents and competencies to the table. Inclusion allows people to be themselves at work and letting them know they are valued regardless of their age, gender,

“Maximizing and capitalizing on workplace diversity has become an important issue for management today.” [ (Kelli A. Green, 2002) ]

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..

Levitt (2014) defines culture as the coherent, learned, shared views of a group of people and about life’s concerns that ranks what is important, furnishes attitudes about what things are appropriate, and dictates behavior. Macy’s corporate culture possesses a diverse leadership team to target their diverse customers and locations. Diversity, based on experiences and passion, gives the Macy’s leadership team new perspectives to promote successful business. Levitt (2014) suggests organizational diversity can be considered as a mixture of people with different group identities working in the same social system. A multi-cultural team of Americans, Italians, Germans and Swiss would adapt well in the rich bouquet of culture in Zurich, Switzerland. As a new team leader, the biggest concern would be establishing integrations between the different cultures working together at Macys.

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.

Since public and private organization uses managing diversity concept ,this chapter addresses how managing diversity concepts is use several ways such as organizational and management level, group performance, group dynamics, group perspectives, and individual identity.

If an organization is serious about leading and managing a diverse workplace, they must prepare a plan of managing cultural diversity not only for the current status of the diversity in their organization but also for the very starting point of accommodating new employees with different cultural backgrounds. It is all about the preparation for recruiting different cultural backgrounds.

Managing diversity within a company is an important task that can have a major effect on a business. Diversity is measured in different aspects such as supplier diversity, affinity group diversity, employee diversity and technology diversity. The most common area of weakness in diversity with companies is employee diversity. This area of weakness has been a steady controversy for many large and small companies. Not every company struggles with diversity issues, in fact some companies exceed in being a diverse business. Not only does diversity factors like innovation, enhanced creativity, and cost savings benefit a company but it also puts them in favor with the public eye. Past controversies have shown that diversity can play a key factor in

“Diversity management is the management strategy of using best practices with proven results to find and create a diverse and inclusive workplace (www.diversityinc.com)”.

Planning, initiating and maintain a diversified workforce and environment allows for the development of a well-equipped workforce that is poised to meet current and future challenges. In the public sector, these issues, including addressing skills shortages, recruitment and retention, succession planning and knowledge management for an aging workforce.

Choice of not seeing diversity of culture results in limiting the ability for its management. This involved minimizing the issues being caused while there is maximization of advantages and key benefits allowed (Latimer, 2012). When there is lack of consideration across diversity of culture, foreigners end up becoming mere projections related to organizations.

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)

Managing diversity is an important add-on to the management skills they already have. Managing diversity is simply acknowledging differences in people. It involves recognizing the value of differences, combating discrimination, and promoting inclusiveness. I may also be challenged with losses in personal and work productivity due to prejudice and discrimination, as well as complaints and legal actions against the organization. Communication diversity is that as employees from different cultures and backgrounds communicate in slightly different ways. This can lead to confusion and frustration, as if the signals result is missed in miscommunication, and the productivity is going to be lost. Miscommunication can also enforce existing stereotypes about minorities, further exacerbating tensions, and in the worst cases leaving the company vulnerable to

The article presents information on the management of diversity programs that are applied by companies. The article utilized benchmarking assessment to analyze the programs of diversity management. The importance of accommodating various groups in the workforce proves to offer benefits. The practice of managing diversity as revealed by the article, indicates that the training programs on diversity, employing mentoring and networking, together with cultural awareness is critical for the success of an organization. Similarly, the article offers an extensive data, whereby organizations are able to thrive by embracing a diverse workforce. The investigation carried out by the author, reveals that cultivating diversity propels the success of an organization.