Business environment
Joshua Poole
MGT/426
LANA GARCIA-MARTINEZ
11/21/2016
It is matter of fact that the modern day workplace environment is changing at a very high rate. The change is brought about by organizations need to incorporate new and innovative strategies and models. For business entities, the new models and strategies present both opportunities and benefits. For instance, the decision by most organizations to embrace diversity provides them with a lot of opportunities in using the diverse knowledge and skills to their advantage. At the same time, the issue of diversity brings about several challenges especially in managing employees from different cultural and religious backgrounds. Despite the challenges that the constant changes in the workplace environment offer to organizations, these changes have an overall positive impact on their growth and development (Creasey & Hiatt).
The role of innovation in executing change strategies
When an organization is implementing change, there is usually resistance from its members. The resistance is usually brought about by the members’ fear of the uncertainties related with the change. For instance, there are instances when some organization members fear that the changes might lead to them losing their jobs. In order to avoid such fears, leaders are supposed to employ innovation when it comes to implementing change.
One of the innovation ways the management needs to use in implementing change is through
According to Sullivan and Decker there is a ten-step process to implement change (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). In the first three steps the manager must
In companies or corporations the global landscape now reflects diversity in the employees found in the workplace. Employees come from different backgrounds, geographic or global areas, ethnic and cultural origins, and have unique skills and talents. Individuals must work together and merge skills and manage diversity effectively in the workplace. Our thoughts, actions, and very beliefs are shaped by our culture. These things are ingrained and remain unshakeable until, faced with someone who is of another faith or belief system with a different way of doing things than individuals are familiar with.
In order to investigate that what will it take for organizations to reap the real and full benefits of a diverse workforce, a research effort taken by the article author’s team. In order to understand three management challenges for Diversity, it conducted its research over a period of six years. The challenges undertaken were:
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)
Week 3, the lecture on Managing Change describes organizational changes that occur when a company makes a shift from its current state to some preferred future state. Managing organizational change is the process of planning and implementing change in organizations in such a way as to decrease employee resistance and cost to the organization while concurrently expanding the effectiveness of the change effort. Today's business environment requires companies to undergo changes almost constantly if they are to remain competitive. Students of organizational change identify areas of change in order to analyze them. A manager trying to implement a change, no matter how small, should expect to encounter some resistance from within the organization.
Cultural diversity has become widespread within many organizations today. The work groups in these organizations are increasingly being staffed by culturally diverse employees. The cultural differences exhibited in the groups can enhance or weaken the function of the work group, especially in a predominantly homogenous environment. These multicultural work groups present challenges to the organization and to the managers that must reduce these challenges in order to achieve the desired success of the organization. The biggest obstacle with
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
Multicultural workforces are becoming more prevalent in today's business environment. Businesses that make effective use of the talents of the workforce and value the differences that are present within it will certainly prosper under these conditions. Those employers who realize that diversity relates directly to the bottom line will continue to be successful. Companies must learn to lead, not simply manage their workers. Business will need to go beyond the needs and objectives of affirmative action and look at
Diversity is emerging as a major issue in the workplace today, yet most employers are not prepared to deal with it. Nor are their managers. Many managers grew up having little contact with other cultures. They are actually "culturally deprived," and their academic training did not cover the kinds of situations that arise in today's multicultural settings. (Copeland, 2004.)
Managing change is a difficult and complex task for a number of reasons. Planned change needs to be balanced with continuity to maintain personal and organizational equilibrium. Most of the work of managers is concerned with maintaining routine day-to-day activities. Too much change leads to initiative fatigue and innovation overload; too little leads to stagnation.
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.
In a diverse work environment the management of a company or firm is a crucial role. With firms that are growing internationally and having employees of different cultures the management style has to suite those employees. Diversity in the workplace means bringing people together from different ethnic backgrounds, age, and religions. The advances in communication have a great role in management of large cooperation or business. A great management strategy with diverse workplaces is to have strong policies on equality. Allowing individuals to be equal at work and strive to their full potential. Work becomes more enjoyable when the environment is equal and differences/similarities of individuals are valued. A current study examines the
As a business matures and evolves, it will experience change. Implementing change can be challenging therefore responsibility lies with the management team to develop a plan to efficiently introduce and implement change, which can ease the stress induced when change is introduced. The steps a manager must take to effectively implement change are clear. In order to effectively implement a change, an organization must asses the change that needs to occur, come up with a plan to implement the change, implement the change, and then evaluate the effects of the change in a timely fashion. In order to successfully implement the new change, the manager must be proactively involved in each step. By engaging employees, managers are able to use
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.
This paper will discuss the challenges and benefits of diversity and multicultural aspects in the workplace. It discusses how diversity challenges and gives