A

CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT ISSUE

On

“(WORK CULTURE DIVERSITY)”

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the

Award of degree of

Master of Business Administration

Submitted By: - Submitted To:-

DELNA SALIM MR. KK MISHRA
MBA 2ND SEM

2009-2011

Govt. Women’s Engineering College, Ajmer

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 PREFACE

“The relationship between Culture and Development should be

clarified and deepened, in practical and constructive ways.”

We all have heard that the corporate sector has made substantial progress in
dealing with diversity. However, with the recent problems of sexual harassment
surfacing in the different services, I have to question this progress. Why do we
continue to have these problems? Personally, I feel there is a lack of training. A
two hour class on sexual harassment or cultural diversity isn’t enough to get to
the root causes of these problems.

Though this project only scratches the surface of the diversity issue in the
corporate sector, these project made me examine my own feelings and attitudes
and recognize areas where I can learn more and make changes. I hope this
project will encourage others to do the same we owe it to ourselves, our peers
and the people we lead.

I’d like to thank my faculty advisor, Mr. KK Mishra. He planted the seed for this
project and provided insightful feedback and guidance throughout. I would also
like to thank Mrs.Neetu Rathore who also took the time for providing me
additional ideas for consideration.

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 Acknowledgement

I express my sincere thanks to my project guide, Mr. KK MISHRA, Deptt MBA.,

for guiding me right form the inception till the successful completion of the
project. I sincerely acknowledge him for extending their valuable guidance,
support for literature, critical reviews of project and the report and above all the
moral support he had provided to me with all stages of this project.

I would also like to thank my seniors and friends for their help and cooperation
throughout our project.

DELNA SALIM

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.NO. PARTICULARS PAGE NO

1. Introduction 6
2. Meaning of Culture 7-8
3. Definition of Culture 8
4. What is Diversity? 9
5. Definition Of Diversity 9
6. Dimension of Diversity 10-11
7. Is Diversity Only About Women And 12
Minority?
8. What Exactly Does Diversity Include? 12
9. Why does Cultural Diversity In 13-14
Workplace Matter?
10. Principle Of Diversity Management 15
11. Statement Of Philosophies and 16-17
Approach Regarding Workplace
Diversity?
12. Impact Of Diversity On Individual and 18
Organisation
13. Interactional Model Of The Impact Of 19-21
Diversity On Individual Career
Outcomes And Organisational
Effectiveness
14. Impact On Corporate And Competitive 22
Behaviour
15. Diversity Management Objectives 23
16. Diversity Management And 23-24
Employment Value Proposition(EVP)
17. Managing Cultural Diversity At 24
Workplace
18. Approaches To Managing Diversity 25-26
19. The Importance of Culture And 26-27
Diversity In Successfully Building An
Organisation
20. Potential Problems, Barriers and 27-29
Challenges To Managing Diversity
21. Best Strategies For Working With 29-30
Diversity
22. Component Of Effective Diversity 30
Training
23. Trends 31
24. Tools To Improve Diversity 31-32
Management In Organisation

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25. Coping With Workforce Diversity For 32-33
Manager
26. Valuing Diversity 33-35
27. Workplace Diversity Issues 35
28. Attitudes And Workforce Diversity 35-36
29. How Hiring a Culturally Diverse 36
Workforce Can Benefit Your Business
30. How Your Business Benefits From 37-38
Diversity
31. Advantages And Disadvantages Of 39-40
Diversity
32. Management of Diversity In leading 41-44
INC’s
>Accenture Diversity 41
>Google Diversity 42
>Infosys Diversity 42-43
> TCS Diversity 43
>Wipro Diversity 44

33. Diversity Pays 45

34. Does Workforce Diversity Live Upto Its 46
Promises?
35. Conclusion 47
36. Bibliography

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INTRODUCTION

Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, the world is submerged in a wide
range of demographic trends which have the potential to radically change the
demographic, cultural and ethical mixture of the population in many countries
within just a few decades.

Top managers often say that their company's people are its most important
asset. In a tight job market and a global economy a company that puts people
first - regardless of their race, religion, gender, age, sexual preference, or
physical disability - wins.

Companies, especially big multinational players which have to deal with these
changes, are growingly forced to react. Employees, once a homogenous
group in many countries, are increasingly diverse and need to be integrated
within and into working environments. Diversity can present an immense
source of opportunities but it can also mean the opposite, a big threat.

Diversity management is a managerial approach in response to these trends

and can help companies to effectively and efficiently manage their personnel
diversity, i.e. personnel made up of diverse and multifaceted people. The text
argues that a diverse workforce can be regarded as an instrument of sales
promotion, a marketing tool to induce customers to buy certain products or
services.

To be successful at creating workforce diversity program involves attracting

and retaining the highest quality individuals in the talent pool. For the HR
professional it means looking beyond obvious recruitment methods and
venues for good people, then learning how to manage human potential
sensitively. It requires an ever-increasing awareness of how people from
different backgrounds deal with authority, communication, overall business
etiquette, and relate to their communities of affiliation.

Promoting workforce diversity is a process that takes place in many stages

and on many levels. It requires HR professionals first to recruit a competent
and qualified staff, then to accommodate individual needs within the context
of the work team and the organization. In today's world of cultural diversity,
our business can't thrive unless we implement a Workforce diversity initiative.
Besides tapping into the unique abilities and talents of people from different
backgrounds, we can improve our image in the community by opening up a
place of business to anyone regardless of race, color, gender, ethnicity,
sexual orientation and disability.

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Meaning Of Culture:
Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate,")
generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that
give such activities significance and importance. The quality in a person or
society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts,
letters, manners, scholarly pursuits ect.

• A particular society at a particular time and place; "early Mayan

civilization"
• The tastes in art and manners that are favored by a social group
• Acculturation: all the knowledge and values shared by a society
• Polish: a highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or
impeccable quality; "they performed with great polish"; "I admired the
exquisite refinement of his prose"; "almost an inspiration which gives to all
work that finish which is almost art"--Joseph Conrad
• The attitudes and behavior that are characteristic of a particular social
group or organization; "the developing drug culture"; "the reason that the
agency is doomed to inaction has something to do with the FBI culture"

It’s a system of shared meaning and beliefs held by organizational members that
determines, in large degree, how they act. It represents a common perception
held by the organization’s members. Just as tribal cultures have rules and taboos
that dictate how members will act toward each other and outsiders, organizations
have cultures that govern how its members should behave. In every organization,
there are systems or patterns of values, symbols, rituals, myths, and practices
that have evolved over time. These shared values determine to a large degree
what employees see and how they respond to their world. When confronted with
problems or work issues, the organizational culture – the way we do things
around here- influences what employees can do and how they conceptualize,
define, analyze, and resolve issues.

There are seven dimensions that capture the essence of an organization’s

culture that are described in the figure. Each of the characteristics exists on a
continuum from low to high. Appraising an organization on these seven
dimensions gives a composite picture of the organization’s culture. In many
organizations, one of these cultural dimensions often rises above the others and
essentially shapes the organization’s personality and the way organizational
members do their work.

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Thus, culture is the whole complex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual
and emotional features that characterizes a society or a group. It includes
creative expressions, community practices, and material or built forms.

Definition of Culture:

“Let my house not be walled on four sides, let all the windows be open, let
all the cultures blow in, but let no culture blow me off my feet.” (Mahatma
Gandhi)

To understand culture, we need to be able to define it although there are various

definitions to culture. The following definitions shall display the main components
of culture. Geert Hofstede’s definition of culture in his book ‘Cultures and
Organizations: Software of the Mind’ is:

“Culture consists of unwritten rules of the social game. It is the collective

programming of the human mind that distinguishes the members of one human
group from those of another. Culture in this sense is a system of collectively held
values.”

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WHAT IS DIVERSITY?

Diversity is variety. It includes all the characteristics, experiences, and

differences of each individual. Diversity can be identified as physical
characteristics such as skin color and gender, or it may be differences in culture,
skills, education, personality type, or upbringing. Each of these traits brings their
own perspective and skills to the workplace.

Diversity as an engine……

• Use a cultural-general approach – diagnose cultural dimensions, not

countries.
• Avoid assuming differences or similarities where there are none. Seek
similarities as well as differences.
• Analyse different levels of culture: use multiple approaches of observation,
questioning, and interpretation.
• Recognize your own cultural profile. Anticipate clashes with others.
• Recognize individual variance within your own culture as well as the other
in terms of specific dimensions. You/they may be more or less ‘normal’ on
different dimensions
• Recognize that cultural interaction is not static, but a dynamic process;
look for rub-off effects and enjoy.
• Depending on the degree of familiarity of each culture, use different
strategies for interaction.
• Confront concerns regarding identity and autonomy, both yours and theirs.
People need to feel valued and not coerced.

Definition
Diversity management is a combination of programs, policies and activities that
support an environment wherein employee differences are valued and integrated
into each part of the organization's operations. It assists in developing and
promoting culturally diverse employees to ensure that managers retain and
capitalize on the ideas and skills those employees bring to the organization.
Successful diversity management initiatives enhance both the performance and
the cohesiveness of an organization

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Dimensions of Diversity

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The following are brief explanations of the primary and secondary categories of
diversity:

Age: the number of years a person has been alive.

Race: the biological groupings within humankind, representing superficial

physical differences, such as eye form and skin colour.

Ethnicity: identification with a cultural group that has shared traditions and
heritage, including national origin, language, religion, food and customs.

Gender: biological sex determined by male or female chromosomes.

Physical abilities and qualities: a variety of characteristics, including

body type, physical size, facial features, specific physical and mental talents.

Sexual orientation: feelings of sexual attraction towards members of the

same or opposite gender.

Education: the individual’s formal and informal learning and training.

Work experience: the employment and volunteer positions the person has
held in organization.

Income: the economic conditions in which the person grew up and his current
economic status.

Marital status: the person’s situation as never married, married, widowed, or

divorced.

Religious belief: fundamental teachings received about deities and values

acquired from formal or informal religious practices.

Geographic location: the location(s) in which the person was raised or

spent a significant part of his life.

Parental status: having or not having children.

Personal style: tendency of the individual to think, feel, or act in a particular

way.

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Is diversity only about women and minorities?
No. While race, gender, and physical characteristics are easily identifiable
differences, and therefore, the most apparent aspects of diversity, there are
many other dimensions of diversity. Diversity dimensions can be internal,
external, and organizational. (See chart above)

Here are some examples:

• Regional origin (Southern U.S. v. Midwest)

• Political party affiliation (Republican, Democrat, Independent, etc.)
• Religion
• Personality type (introvert vs. extrovert)
• Rate (MK, YN)
• Education level

As Guardians, Coast Guard members are expected to treat each other

professionally and respectfully regardless of individual differences.

What Exactly Does Diversity Include?

Diversity is not only black and white, female and male, homosexual and
heterosexual, Jew and Christian, young and old, etc.; but the diversity of every
individual, slow learner and fast learner, introvert and extrovert, controlling type
and people type, scholar and sports-person, liberal and conservative, etc. This is
where HRD needs to focus its efforts. . . helping people to realize that it takes a
wide variety of people to become the best and that they need to have the ability
to be able to rely on everyone on their team, no matter how different another
person may be. An organization needs controllers, thinkers, dreamers, doers,
organizers, team builders, etc. to reach the goals that make an organization the
best. It does not need people fighting and distrusting other team members!

Organizations need an extremely diverse group of people on each and every

team. For example, having a group of team builders will get you nowhere, as
everyone will be out trying to create a team. Likewise, having a group of doers
will get you nowhere as everyone will be trying to accomplish something without
a clear goal or vision to guide them. Most organizations picture diversity in very
limited terms. The essence of diversity should NOT be to picture diversity as
race, religion, sex, age; but to picture it as the uniqueness of every individual.
Only by accepting this distinctiveness in others, will people want to help the team
as a whole to succeed.

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Why Does Cultural Diversity In The Workplace Matter?
Cultural Diversity matters to every single one of us, both professionally and
personally. When a group or segment of our population is excluded or
oppressed, all of us are denied.

For our businesses and communities to not only survive, but to thrive, each of us
needs to be aware and sensitive to ALL the members of the community. Our
communities are rich with human resources.

When all segments are respected and utilized, it benefits everyone involved.

A great many of us live on the "margins" of society. To be in a margin means that

you are not a part of the mainstream, popular culture.

In this nation, our popular culture, or ideal for business success, is white, young,
heterosexual, Christian, and male. In regards to cultural diversity in the
workplace, you are on the margins if you are:

 a woman
 have ANY ethnic background that is non-white
 are not a heterosexual
 are not a Christian
 are not between the ages of 21-50

If you can answer "yes" to any one of these criteria, you live in the margins. This
means that there are obstacles, prejudices, and stereotypes about YOU as an
individual.

You can not automatically assume that society's view of you is unobstructed or
based solely on your individual character, qualifications, or accomplishments.
Unfortunately, you may be put in the situation to "second guess" or question
one's motives in their interactions and responses to you.

Another fact this criteria illustrates is that more of us live IN the margins than do
not. More of us DO NOT fit the societal prescription of what is normal and
acceptable. While this all may be true, we all must do our best to function as
productive, happy individuals.

So what are we to do? We can all strive for change. We can all be proactive in
our decisions and lifestyles rather than reactive to ignorance and intolerance.

When a white woman snubs an ethnic woman, for instance, she is harming
herself as well. The white woman lives in the same margin as the ethnic woman,
and she is only perpetuating and cementing her place there.

13
America is the most diverse nation in the world. Cultural diversity in the
workplace is becoming more and more desired. Our ethnicity, religion, life
experience, etc., makes each of us unique. Ideas our nation once embraced
about assimilation are now inappropriate and outdated.

For someone who lives on the margins to assimilate into a single idea of
acceptance to fit into society is a gross violation of their individual identity and
rights.

This means that we all need to learn to accept what is different from us and
respect it.

Thus, Work environment directly affects unit performance. We all want to

contribute to a productive and positive work environment. Such an environment
enhances effectiveness, increases job satisfaction, and retains valuable
employees. Whether it's a boarding team, an AVDET, or a staff unit, the mission
suffers when members can't work as a team.

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PRINCIPLES OF DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT

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STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY AND APPROACH
REGARDING WORKPLACE DIVERSITY
Gardenswartz & Rowe is committed to creating organizational environments that
welcome and include everyone while diminishing and excluding no one. Whether
through training, consulting, or writing books and training materials, our work with
organizations draws us toward creating organizational climates permeated with respect
and dignity, places where healthy, resilient and productive people have an opportunity to
flourish.
Diversity in today's pluralistic organizations gives us a prime arena in which to
do this work. Over the years, we have developed a belief system and a
paradigm for dealing with diversity that is rooted in the following principles.
Diversity is an "inside job," meaning that diversity is not about "them." Rather, it
is about each person coming to terms with his or her attitudes, beliefs, and
expectations about others.
Diversity goes beyond race and gender. The diversity tent is big enough to
include everyone . . . young and old, homeless and affluent, immigrant and
native, white and black, gang members and corporate professionals.
No one is the target of blame for current inequities, however, all of us have
responsibility for removing them. Human beings have been socialized to
behave in certain ways, and all of us are at times both perpetrators and victims
of discrimination and stereotypes.
Human beings are ethnocentric, seeing the world through their own narrow
view and judging the world by their familiar yardstick.
The human species resists change, continuing to seek homeostasis. This
makes the constant adaptation required by diversity difficult for people already
overwhelmed by staggering transitions.
Human beings find comfort and trust in likeness. There is a tendency to seek
the company of those most similar to us.
It is difficult for people to share power. History shows us that we rarely do it
voluntarily.

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 The Gardenswartz & Rowe Difference
G&R's approach is non-confrontational. It involves bridge-building that focuses
on increasing understanding and expanding a repertoire of skills for all
participants.
The content of training goes beyond awareness. It includes knowledge about
different cultures as well as the interpersonal and management skills
necessary for survival in today's global work world.
While the training begins with intrapersonal awareness as a necessary starting
point, it is strongly application oriented. The "so what" question is asked, and
the connection to the real world of consumers and employees is always made.
The learning environment G&R creates is magic. Their extensive experience
can be seen in the learning climate. It is safe, secure, open, and full of the
possibilities of exploration.
Gardenswartz & Rowe has been working with diversity since 1977.

Lee Gardenswartz & Anita Rowe…

Are published authors of seminal materials in the field. They have written a
number of books on diversity and have created over 300 activities and training
tools upon which to draw.
have been professionally recognized. They were named ASTD Trainer of the
Year in 1985 and the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM)
awarded their book Managing Diversity: A Complete Desk Reference and
Planning Guide, the Book of the Year award in 1994.
Are recognized speakers on global and domestic diversity.
Are co-founders of the Global Diversity Roundtable
design and regularly present the Diversity Train-the-Trainer Certificate
Program through SHRM.
Customize their work with each client.

Impact of Diversity on Individuals and Organizations

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There have been so many changes in the cultural make-up of organizations that
it becomes imperative for leaders and supervisors to understand cultural diversity
and how it can affect their organization. Cultural diversity has been defined as
“the representation, in one social system, of people with distinctly different group
affiliations of cultural significance.”

1 It can further define diversity in primary and secondary dimensions. Primary

dimensions being age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, and
sexual/affectional orientation. The primary dimensions “shape our basic
selfimage as well as our fundamental world view.”

2 Additionally, they have the most impact on groups in the workplace and
society. The secondary dimensions include educational background, geographic
location, income, marital status, religious beliefs and work experience. These
impact our “self esteem and self definition.”

3 These dimensions are not exact—there are times when the secondary
dimensions will have as much impact as the primary dimensions.
In his book, Cultural Diversity in Organizations—Theory, Research and Practice,
Dr. Taylor Cox, Jr. provides a conceptual model showing the impact of diversity
on an organization. He ties together his research and uses information on
gender, racioethnicity, nationality, age and other areas of diversity to create this
model.
When developing this model, not only did Cox use the traditional areas of
diversity such as race, gender and nationality, he also used areas that are just as
important in the corporate such as job function, background and values. Another
point about this model is that it treats group identities in a more sophisticated way
instead of the traditional way. For example, we have traditionally grouped people
together based solely on physical characteristics such as black, white, or
hispanic. Yet, this categorical treatment ignores how the individual identifies with
the culture of the group. A final point about this model is that it proposes that the
impact of diversity on an organization is an interaction of the environment and
individuals.

Interactional Model of the Impact of Diversity on

Individual Career
Outcomes and Organizational Effectiveness

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DIVERSITY
CLIMATE

Individual Level Factors

 Identity Structures
Prejudice
Stereotyping
Personality

Group/Intergroup Factors
Cultural Differences
Ethnocentrism
Intergroup Conflict

Organizational-Level Factors
Culture and Acculturation
Process
Structural Integration
Informal Integration
Institutional Bias in Human
Resource Systems

INDIVIDUAL
CAREER OUTCOMES

Affective Outcomes
Job/Career Satisfaction
Organizational
Identification
Job Involvement

Achievement Outcomes
Job Performance Ratings
Compensation
Promotion/Horizontal
Mobility Rates

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 ORGANIZATIONAL
EFFECTIVENESS

First Level
Attendance
Turnover
Productivity
Work Quality
Recruiting Success
Creativity/Innovation
Problem Solving
Workgroup Cohesiveness and Communication

Second Level
Market Share
Profitability
Achievement of Formal
Organizational Goals

The logic of the model shows that a person’s group affiliations such as age,
gender and race can be analyzed on three levels: individual, group/intergroup
and organizational. These collectively will define the diversity climate of the
organization. This climate may influence individual and organizational outcomes
either as affective outcomes or achievement outcomes. These individual
outcomes may impact organizational factors such as work quality and
productivity.

How does diversity effect organizational performance? As Cox’s model suggests,

“a set of individual, group and organizational factors interact to influence a set of
individual outcomes that in turn influence organizational outcomes.”6 Additionally,
the individual and organizational outcomes can impact affective outcomes and
achievement outcomes. Cox defines affective outcomes as to “how people feel
and think about their jobs and their employers…what people believe about their
opportunities in the work environment is of vital importance regardless of whether
or not these beliefs are consistent with the facts.” If an individual feels valued by
the organization, they will contribute more to meeting the goals of the
organization. Cox defines achievement outcomes as “tangible measures that are,
at least theoretically, indexes of the employee’s contribution to the organization.”
These can include performance ratings and promotion rates. So, according to the
model, “by understanding the diversity climate we can predict effects on
individual outcomes and ultimately effects of diversity on organizational
effectiveness.”

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There are direct effects of diversity on organizations. Processes such as problem
Solving, creativity and communications will be effected by diversity. These
processes are critical to any organization and diversity can either complement
these processes or provide challenges to overcome. This is reflected in Cox’s
model by the arrow that extends from the diversity climate to the organizational
outcomes.

Problem solving in a diverse group will provide different perspectives, provide

more critical analyses of the alternatives and “lower the probability of groupthink.”
It is necessary for the group to understand the differences of the other members
of the group; otherwise, the group may have conflicts in trying to solve problems.
Creativity may also be enhanced by a diverse group. But, the contributions of all
members must be recognized so that individuals will want to share their creative
ideas with the group. Finally, communications can pose an obstacle to a diverse
group. “Communication differences related to culture may become the source of
misunderstandings and ultimately lower workgroup effectiveness.” Once this is
recognized, action can be taken to try to overcome these difficulties.

Examining selected factors from the diversity climate listed in the model and how
they can be applied to the military will provide the foundation of how diversity can
impact an organization. Specifically, identity structures, prejudice, stereotyping,
ethnocentrism and informal integration will be defined. Although the other factors
are also applicable to the corporate, because of the structured environment we
operate in, change in those areas require more than self-examination.

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IMPACT ON COOPERATIVE AND COMPETITIVE
BEHAVIOR: Team work and competitive assignments are legitimate and
recurrent tools in the strategic activities of many business organizations.
Knowledge of how cultural diversity affects the effectiveness of these work
arrangements is significant for managerial decision making. Cox (1991)
examined the effects on group tasks of ethnic group differences between Asians,
Blacks, Hispanics and Caucasians and concluded that those from collectivist
cultural traditions exhibit more cooperative behavior than those from
individualistic cultural origins. In addition to inter-cultural differences, some intra-
cultural attributes have been found to exert significant behavioral tendencies that
affect interpersonal interactions. Physical observable differences or phenotypes,
for instance, affect the level of acceptability and assimilation of organization
members even within their own cultural groups. It is not surprising that persons of
phenotypes different from the majority group tend to have less favorable work
experiences and career outcomes (such as satisfaction, compensation,
promotion etc) than persons from the majority phenotype. What is surprising is
that within the same group, differences in physical attributes do affect these
issues with equal force. Journal of Diversity Management – Fourth Quarter
2007 Volume 2, Number 4 3

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Diversity Management Objectives
The ultimate objective is for diversity to become a valued and institutionalized
component of business processes in high performance organizations. To support
this objective, the diversity plan works to achieve:

• Diversity at all employment levels — Achieve diversity levels that reflect

the population of the State of North Carolina at all employment levels and
specifically, in policy-making positions.
• Cultural awareness — Achieve a work environment that supports cultural
diversity and uses the varied experiences of employees to create a high-
performance organization.
• Diversity buy-in — Achieve an organizational acceptance that views
diversity as a competitive advantage in terms of achieving high
performance and improving problem-solving techniques.
• Performance organization — Ensure that the varied talents and
experiences of all employees are contributing to and supporting the
business operations of the organization.

Each objective must be qualitatively or quantitatively measured

Diversity Management and the Employment Value

Proposition (EVP)
According to the Corporate Leadership Council, an employment value
proposition is the set of attributes that the labor market and employees perceive
as the value they gain through employment in an organization. The benefits of
achieving a successful EVP is the ability to increase an organization's
attractiveness to talented job applicants and ensuring that, once hired, those
applicants maintain a high level of commitment to the organization.

Attraction Drivers Impacted by Commitment Impacted by

Diversity Drivers Diversity
Management Management
Compensation YES Job-Interests YES
alignment
Health benefits YES People YES
management
Organizational YES Respect YES
stability
Work-Life balance YES Manager quality YES
Future career YES Development YES
opportunities opportunities

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Respect YES Future career YES
opportunities
Job-Interests YES Senior leadership YES
alignment reputation
Location Ethics YES
Retirement benefits "Great Employer" YES
recognition
Ethics YES Meritocracy YES

Managing Cultural Diversity in the Workplace

The management of cultural diversity in the workplace can be considered a
response to the need to recognize, respect and capitalize on the different
backgrounds in our society in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender.

Different cultural groups have different values, styles, and personalities, each of
which may have a substantial effect on the way they do business.

Rather than punishing or stifling these different management styles because they
do not conform to the traditional white (male) management methods, employers
should recognize these differences as benefits.

Not only can diverse management styles achieve the same results as traditional
methods, but cultural diversity in the workplace can also help improve the
company's competitive position in the marketplace.

Diversity, or sensitivity, training is now common place in the corporate world.

However, small businesses need to be aware of these issues as well.

As a small business owner, your awareness and respect of cultural diversity in

the workplace truly matters to your employees and your client base.

You must create a balance of respect and understanding in the workplace to

have happy and optimally productive workers. In addition, it is important that you
AND your employees are aware of the importance of respecting diversity when
dealing with your clients.

When you work effectively with your community, both you and the community
benefit.

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APPROACHES TO MANAGING DIVERSITY

1. Learning
Many managers are often unprepared to deal with diversity due to their
inexperience. They are unsure to respond. To prepare themselves, managers
must learn and experiences as much as they can about developing appropriate
behaviour.They can learn more about the diverse group’s personal values and
how the individuals like to be treated. at the heart of learning process is
communication. Hence managers must be able to communicate openly and one
on one, regardless of age, gender or religion. Manager must be able to
understand and interest with diverse groups. Many managers are unaware of
their biased treatment of employees. Manager must also note that people who
are disabled do not want special treatment. They want to be treated like
everyone else. In this learning process, managers can also encourage diverse
employees, to give them candid feedback regarding how they are being treated.

2. Empathy
Closely linked to the individual learning is empathy. It is the ability to put oneself
in another’s place and see things from that person’s point of view. Empathy is
particularly important in managing diversity because members of diverse group
often feel that only they can truly understand the challenges or problem they are
facing. For example, many women are discriminated against or harassed at
workplace because of their gender differences. Empathy is an important because
it helps the manager understand diverse employee’s point of view. By learning
how to empathize with the feeling of employees and by offering encouragement,
guidance, and support, the manager can play an important role in more
effectively managing diversity.

3. Mentoring
Mentoring is an act of providing counseling, advice, guidance, and assistance. In
recent years, many organizations have begun assigning mentors to women and
minorities. The purpose of the mentor programme is to help support member of a
diverse group in their jobs, socialize them in the cultural values of the
organization, and pragmatically help their chances for development and
advancement.

4. Socializing
This is also a good method to manage diversity in organizations. Socializing an
ethnically diverse work force is a two-way proposition, not only must the
managers learn about the employee’s cultural background, but the employee
also must learn about the rituals, customs and values of the firm or the work unit.

25
5. Development practices

Development practices focus on preparing diverse employees for greater

responsibility and advancement. There include network and support groups,
development programmes for all high-potential managers, in networking
activities, job rotation, recognition events and awards, etc .

The Importance of Culture and Diversity in Successfully

Building an Organization
Finding, maintaining, and growing the right talent is crucial to business success,
especially in this economy. But academic intelligence and a strong resume are
not necessarily the most critical elements of a top candidate. It can be much
more crucial to fit into the corporate culture, its inner values, rituals, rites, and
perspectives, with a compatible personality, creativity, flexibility, and social
adaptability.

The right culture fit may be even more important than having a top degree.
Although education remains an important factor, the best people for the top jobs
may not be the ones who are the most educated.

There are a number of people in the hospitality industry, including board

members, who have reached fairly senior positions without having a college
degree.

Many started their career in high school or college, gained significant positions of
responsibility, got married, and dropped out of school. Today, they are in top
positions at thriving companies and considered leading executives by their
competitors.

On three different occasions, I conducted searches for top executives in the

hospitality industry with clients who initially said the position necessitated finding
a person who had a minimum of a bachelor degree. Each time they agreed, in
the end, to consider candidates without a degree.

In one of the searches, I placed a candidate who did not have a degree but was
a strong self-starter, a respected leader, and a great fit for the corporate culture.

Corporate culture starts at the top with the vision and strategy of leaders who
recognize the value of a team in sync.

As managers hire new talent, they need to know the art of matchmaking,
beginning with the knowledge that excellent credentials and skills alone are not

26
enough. The company must also identify core values that can be matched by a
candidate’s personal integrity, intellectual honesty, respect, passion, initiative,
and a desire to succeed.

In order to match a candidate to a company’s culture, it is important to thoroughly

understand in what type of business environments the candidate has been
successful, as well as to identify the candidate SWEAT (strengths, weaknesses,
experiences, aspirations, and talents).

With this fuller understanding, the most appropriate person can be more easily
matched to corporate needs and expectations. The end result has to be an
environment that fits the culture where the candidate is capable of making a
positive contribution.

Companies that understand their own cultural style and can identify a matching
approach in potential candidates are able to make more informed decisions
about the kind of people they need to round out their team with compatible
expectations. It is important to know not just how the company currently
operates, but also how it envisions its future.

Whether the company needs to mirror its own environment with new leaders who
can carry an existing vision, or needs to install a change agent who is academic
one ﾝ and tough enough to deal with some weak links in the organization, an
underlying understanding of the corporate culture can mean the difference
between success and failure.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS, BARRIERS AND

CHALLENGES TO MANAGING DIVERSITY

1. Differences are viewed as weakness:

The belief that differences are viewed as weakness creates roadblock to
diversity. In turn, this promotes the view that diversity hiring will mean sacrificing
competence and quality.

2. Prejudice and Discrimination:

Prejudice and discrimination on the part of majority group member s has the
potential to do more harm. These can prevent people from working effectively,
getting along with each other, and reaping the benefits that can be derived from a
diverse workforce. Prejudice and discrimination can serve as barriers to
effectively managing diversity, leading to stress, poor performance, feelings of
injustice, and poor organizational commitment on the part of its victims. These
also create poor public relations and lawsuits.

27
3. Stereotyping:
We learn to see the world in a certain way based on our backgrounds and
experiences. Our interest, values and culture act as filters and distort, block, and
select what we see and hear. We see and hear what we expect to see and hear.
Group members often inappropriately stereotype their “different” colleagues
rather than accurately perceiving and evaluating those individual’s contribution
capabilities, aspirations, and motivations. Such stereotypes in turn affect how
people are treated. Stereotyping results in lower commitment, frusted employees,
high turnover, and underused skill.

4. Communication problems:
Perhaps the most negative effect of diversity is communication problems. These
difficulties include misunderstandings, inaccuracies, inefficiencies, and slowness.
Speeds are lost when not all group members are fluent in the same language.
Conflict can also arise, and decision making take more time. Different cultures
have different norms about what is appropriate. Diversity also increases errors.
Group members may assume they interpret things similarly when in fact they do
not because of their different frames of references.

5. Power differential:
Power is not equally distributed among the individuals and group in a diverse
organization. When such power differential exists, they can prevent an
organization from developing an exclusive workplace. High-status groups may
downgrade, ignore, or harass members of minority group.

6. Resistance to change:
People are more highly attracted to, and more comfortable with, others like
themselves. It stands to reasons that diversity efforts may be met with
considerable resistance when individuals are forced to interact with others unlike
themselves.

7. Ethnocentrisms:
The ethnocentrism barrier represents the feeling that one’s cultural rules and
norms are superior or more appropriate than the rules and norms of another
culture.

8. Poor career planning:

This barrier is associated with the lack of opportunities for diverse employees to
get the type of work assignments that qualify them for senior management
positions.

9. Politics:

28
Diverse employees may not get promoted because they do not know how to
“play the game” of getting along getting ahead in an organization. Research
reveals that women and people of colour are excluded from organizational
networks.

10. Hostile working environment:

Diversity may create an unsupportive and hostile working environment for
diverse employees. Diverse employees are frequently excluded from social
events and the friendly camaraderie that takes place in most offices.

Best Strategies for Working with Diversity

Organizations must provide employees with skills for operating in a multicultural
environment, so that employees can understand their own as well as other
cultures, values, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and strengths and weaknesses.

The experts we consulted said that the six best strategies for working with
diversity are:

• training and education programs

• organizational policies that mandate fairness and equity for all employees
• mentoring programs for minority employees
• more systematic career guidance and planning programs
• performance appraisal systems that are non-discriminatory
• outreach programs, such as internship programs, scholarships, targeting
recruitment in the community, and lectures at schools

Training and education, an often used approach, can fill a company's needs in
areas such as awareness-building; skill building, helping employees understand
the need for valuing diversity, educating employees on specific cultural
differences, providing the skills necessary for working in diverse work teams, and
providing skills and development activities necessary for diverse groups to do
their job and have the opportunity for advancement.

Training and education programs vary in style and content from organization to
organization, and are heavily influenced by the organization's definition of
diversity. All forms of training should include awareness-building, skill
development, application, and support. Support is especially important, as
numerous authors have acknowledged that potential benefits of training will not
be likely to occur unless trainees return to a supportive environment for applying
what they have learned.

No single approach to working with diversity can be recommended for all

organizational situations. However, obtaining top management support,

29
integrating diversity into all company functions, using a combination of strategies;
and creating a corporate culture that supports diversity can be used with any
approach to improve outcomes.

Components of Effective Diversity Training Programs

These components can be used by human resource development (HRD)
professionals in developing diversity training programs in their organizations, or
as guidelines for comparison. Our study confirms previous research that program
success depends on many organizational aspects, especially commitment and
support from top management. This raises the important question of what HRD
professionals might do to insure and maintain management support in firms
where training is already being conducted, as well as how they might "sell"
diversity training to management when they feel it is needed. Human resource
development professionals need to make top management aware that
productivity and profits depend on full utilization of the workforce.

An effective diversity training program begins with identifying the specific

organizational needs and culture. Every organization has a culture of its own,
shaped by the people who founded it and staff it. And due to workforce makeup,
diversity needs vary greatly; for example, a company in northern Illinois will have
very different needs than a company in Miami, Tucson, or Los Angeles.

Our study indicates that effective diversity training is:

• integrated with the organization's education and training systems

• combined with other diversity initiatives within the organization
• delivered to all employees (including top-level managers)
• planned to include accountability

Ongoing evaluation is critical to the success of any diversity initiative. A clearly

focused evaluation plan can bring the organization to a place where it can see its
successes and then create a "re-vision" for the future, with new goals and
implementation initiatives. Without concrete, long-term information about a
program's strengths, weaknesses, and impacts, it is impossible to improve
content and delivery. Evaluation is also a way to fight against critics, and its
results may provide support for continuing with diversity programs.

30
Trends
The experts we consulted agree that workforce diversity will become an
increasingly important trend for the following reasons:

• more globalization of corporations, which will lead to a more global

workforce, marketplace, and economy
• diverse work teams will become prevalent in organizations
• diversity will become more of a business concern than a social concern,
and be more closely linked to competitive strategies
• diverse populations will make and spend more money, and this increase in
wealth will empower diversity
• senior managers will become more involved in diversity issues because
they will realize that the diverse workforce needs to be better utilized in
order to remain competitive
• more training professionals will face the challenge of dealing with backlash
• diversity training will be integrated more with other types of training

The task of managing diversity in the future may not be an easy one, especially
with the potential for backlash. History has shown that the struggle for greater
inclusiveness of all people has not been easy. Civil right laws, political events,
and wars all attest to this difficulty. Recent attacks on affirmative action provide
new evidence that diversity remains a controversial topic. HRD professionals
need to be prepared to deal with the inevitable possibility that not everyone will
accept diversity as a worthwhile goal.

Organizations of the future must place more emphasis on valuing and managing
diversity, or watch their productivity and competitiveness slip. A long-term
perspective on diversity initiatives, together with integration with other
organizational change efforts, will be needed. Diversity efforts should be linked to
organizational needs and objectives through need assessments and evaluation.
These efforts can substantially increase the company's productivity and profits
over the long run.

31
TOOLS TO IMPROVE DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT IN
ORGANISATION

There are a number of things that organizations can do to maximize the benefit
of diversity in the workplace and successfully integrate a diverse workforce.

1. Frame the diversity management initiative as an opportunity

for integration and learning.
Framing diversity initiatives in a manner that highlights previous conflict or
discrimination can have a negative impact on organization’s ability to
successfully manage workforce diversity. Emphasizing a learning and integration
perspective has a motivating effect on both management and employees and
can ensure the long-term success of the diversity program.

2. Ensure senior management commitment and accountability

As with any organizational change initiative, senior management needs to
demonstrate their commitment to workplace diversity and hold themselves and
others accountable to see that diversity policies are successfully implemented
within the organization.

3. Articulate how diversity is important to the overall functioning

of the business
Whether it be to attract new clientele from demographic groups that are not
traditionally a part of your client base or to increase innovation among your staff
– consideration should be given to how the new diversity strategy will benefit the
company.

4. Emphasize the value of diversity of all employees

Focusing a diversity initiative on one demographic group, such as women for
example, can sometimes have a polarizing effect on those employees who are
not the target of the initiative. Diversity by definition means “a point of difference”
which every individual possesses. Valuing the diversity of all employees will unite
employees under one common banner.

5. Emphasize solidarity with the team or department

To minimize the effect of in-group/out-groups, engage workgroups in team-
building exercises that help to facilitate communication and integration of work
activity as well as create pride in one’s work group or organization.

32
Coping with the workforce diversity for manager
Workforce diversity is often considered a characteristic of large corporations, with
considerably large pool of employees; however workforce diversity is not limited
to just large companies. If we go by the definition, any business having two or
more than two employees coming from different age groups, ethnic backgrounds,
religious sectors, race or gender, etc is basically having a diverse workforce.
Sometimes the differences are trivial and hard to notice, sometimes quite
flagrant.

Workforce diversity is not something to be wary of, even if it requires a little bit
more planning and thinking at manager's end, because it brings so many
different perspectives and thought patterns to the organization, hence a diverse
workforce is more of a plus than minus for businesses. A diverse workforce
results in a more flexible and innovative business. That is why, there's no need to
panic, if you find yourself managing a multitalented workforce. Wasting your time
in planning to avoid people coming from difference age groups, gender or
religious backgrounds is not only a discriminatory practice, but also a bad
management decision. By doing this, you are closing your doors to a more
versatile workforce, which is more capable of dealing with challenges.

Do's:

First of all, you need to accept diversity and allow your employees to carry and
develop their own unique personalities (as long as it doesn't clash with office
discipline and business objectives). It comes handy during the process of
decision making and business meetings, where some sort of brain storming is
needed. A group that consists of managers or attendees with similar ages,
genders or experiences is more likely to miss out some noteworthy aspects,
which a more diverse group can easily point out. As a manager, you must make
use of the diversity when making some important decisions like finalizing a
project, making appraisal plans or launching a new business.

Don’ts:

Never go over the top with your efforts to eradicate individuality from the work
place, with the intention of developing a more standardized workforce. By doing
this, you may end up killing the creativity of your staff, a business having no
originality or inventiveness can never reach its true potential. Take the example
of this world, despite of so many disasters and challenges; this world continues
to exist so far because of its diversity. To manage a diverse workforce efficiently,
a manager should be having excellent communication skills and an
understanding of human behaviors.

33
VALUING DIVERSITY
Diversity covers a wide variety of issues including communicating with
employees whose first language is not English. Helping a diverse team cope with
conflict, learning which rewards are valued by different groups, and dealing with
discrimination. A manager can improve handling of diversity issues by following
these behaviors:

1. Embrace diversity:

Successfully valuing diversity starts with accepting the principle of

multiculturalism. Accept the value of diversity for its own sake not simply because
you have to. The acceptance must be reflected in actions and words.

2. Recruit broadly:

When you have job openings, work to get a diverse applicant pool. Avoid relying
on referrals from current employees, since this tends to produce candidates
similar to existing work force. An exception is that if the present workforce is fairly
diversified then there is no harm in accepting referrals from current employees.

3. Select fairly:

Make sure your selection process does not discriminate. Particularly ensure that
selection tests are job related.

4. Provide orientation and training:

Making the transition from outsider to insider can be particularly difficult for non-
traditional employees.

5. Sensitize all employees:

Encourage all employees to embrace diversity. Provide diversity training to help

all employees see the value in diversity.

6. Strive to be flexible:
Part of valuing diversity is recognizing that different groups have different needs
and values. Be flexible in accommodating employee requests.

34
7. Seek to motivate individually:

A manager or the superior must be aware of the back ground, cultures, and
values of employees. The motivation factors for a full time working mother to
support her two young children are different from the needs of a young, single,
part-time employee or an older employee who is working to supplement his or
her retirement income.

8. Reinforce employee differences:

Encourage employees to embrace and value diverse views. Create traditions and
ceremonies that promote diversity. Celebrate diversity by accentuating its
positive aspects. But also be prepared to deal with the challenges of diversity
such as mistrust, miscommunication, and lack of cohesiveness, attitudinal
differences and stress.

In the current scenario in metro cities and corporate companies there are very
few problems with minority or traditional sector of employees are treated
differently. For that matter does not reflect in the working at all making the
manager task more easy. We can say differential treatment continues in the
government sector due to political orientations and it is not the minority or
backward but majority and so called forward classes are the sufferers. This also
must be eliminated and only one class must get the support that is economically
backward class belonging to minorities, all castes and creed.

Workplace Diversity Issues

Consider the following challenges and assess whether they are
posing problems within your workplace:

• Aptitude testing – some aptitude tests do not account for cultural

differences when offering choices for situations.
• Decision making with bias or prejudice – decisions such as who should be
promoted (glass ceilings can be a problem within multicultural workplaces
with diversity challenges), who should be recognized with an award or
accolades and who receives preferential treatment or perks can be
influenced by differences in culture, race, language or lifestyle.
• English-only communication – language barriers can effect proper inter-
cultural communication with staff and customers.
• Recognition of religious holidays – some employers do not understand the
importance of certain religious holidays and this can cause great tension.
• Bilingualism – the inability to speak both English and French can impede
some employees from employment options and/or advancement.

35
 • Unequal pay scales – inequities in salaries are often seen where new
immigrants are hired to fulfill lower level roles regardless of their
qualifications

ATTITUDES AND WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

Managers are increasingly concerned with changing employee attitudes to reflect
shifting perspectives on racial, gender, and other diversity issues. For example a
comment to a coworker of the opposite sex 20 years ago might have been taken
as a compliment. For instance, a male telling a female colleague that he thinks
her shoes are sexy may become a career limiting episode today. Therefore
organizations are investing in training to help reshape the attitudes of employees.

The majority of the US employers and a substantial proportion of medium-sized

and smaller one sponsor some sort of diversity training. Some examples: Police
officers in an advanced country receive 36 hours of diversity training each year.
The Administration sponsors a mandatory eight-hour diversity seminar for
employees of its Western region. A progressive and reputed restaurant puts all
its managers through two days of intensive diversity training, with each day
lasting seven to nine hours.

What do these diversity programs look like and how do they address attitude
changes? They almost all include a self-evaluation phase. People are pressed to
examine themselves and to confront ethnic and cultural stereotypes they might
hold. Then participants typically take part in group discussions or panels with
representatives from diverse groups. For instance, a Hmong man might describe
his family life in

Southeast Asia, and explain why they resettled in another country.

Additional activities designed to change attitudes include arranging for people to

do volunteer work in community or social service centers in order to meet face to
face with individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds and using exercise
that let participants feel what it like to be different. When participants see a film in
which people are segregated and stereotyped according to their eye color
participants see what it is like to be judged by something over which they have
no control. Following the terrorists attacks of September11, 2001, many
organizations have added diversity exercises that focus on relationship with
coworkers from Middle Eastern backgrounds and followers of the Islamic faith

36
How Hiring a Culturally Diverse Workforce Can Benefit
Your Business

Hiring a workforce that is culturally diverse can only be beneficial to your

business because it provides a point of view from sources that are totally unique.

In today’s global economy, where companies in different countries do business

regularly and the internet gives even the smallest business the potential to have
a global presence, embracing a diverse workforce has become more necessary
than ever. The idea of cultural diversity is not just about hiring people of different
races, or hiring people from different religions. It’s not even just about hiring
workers from different countries.

Cultural diversity exists all around us. It exists in different households and
communities, from the suburbs to the city. Diversity is a part of the very fabric of
society and it can also become a part of your business as well.

How Your Business Benefits from Diversity

Your business will need people with many different skills and experiences. By
choosing people of varying backgrounds your business can benefit from the
different experiences these people have gone through. The cultures they were
raised in can prove to be very important to your company. If you have employees
with a variety of backgrounds then you have people with a much different point of
view than your own. It’s that different point of view that you need to have.

A Different Perspective

A different point of view can be invaluable to your business. The cultures that
people come from can provide your company with opportunities that you may
have not seen or known about. Ideas for products that cater to a particular
culture or community of people can come from your employees. By hiring a
diverse set of people you give your company a better chance to tap into markets
that you might not have realized even existed.

Business Is about Opportunity

Small business is about finding opportunities and taking advantage of them. You
need every edge you can get as a small business owner and the source of the
opportunity or bit of insight should not matter to you as much as the results do.
People come from a great many backgrounds and there is no reason that your

37
business shouldn’t benefit from it. The question is will you hold your business
back or embrace the idea of cultural diversity in your workforce?

Increased adaptability –

Organizations employing a diverse workforce can supply a greater variety of

solutions to problems in service, sourcing, and allocation of resources.
Employees from diverse backgrounds bring individual talents and experiences in
suggesting ideas that are flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets and customer
demands.

Broader service range –

A diverse collection of skills and experiences (e.g. languages, cultural

understanding) allows a company to provide service to customers on a global
basis.
Variety of viewpoints - A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating
varying points of view provides a larger pool of ideas and experiences. The
organization can draw from that pool to meet business strategy needs and the
needs of customers more effectively.

More effective execution –

Companies that encourage diversity in the workplace inspire all of their

employees to perform to their highest ability. Company-wide strategies can then
be executed; resulting in higher productivity, profit, and return on investment.

38
39
ADVANTAGES OF DIVERSITY There is substantial literature which argues
that diversity has performance advantages over homogenous work structures
(Cox, Lobel and MacLeod, 1991; Cox and Blake, 1991). First, multicultural
organizations have an advantage in attracting and retaining the best talent. The
capabilities of women and minorities offer a wider labor pool. Organizations that
are able to attract and retain qualified minority group members and keep faith
with them through fair and equitable career advancement treatments, gain
competitive advantage and derive high quality human resources dividends.
Second, a multicultural organization is better suited to serve a diverse external
clientele in a more increasingly global market. Such organizations have a better
understanding of the requirements of the legal, political, social, economic and
cultural environments of foreign nations (Adler, 1991). Third, in research-oriented
and hi-tech industries, the broad base of talents generated by a gender-and
ethnic-diverse organization becomes a priceless advantage. “Creativity thrives on
diversity” (Morgan, 1989). Fourth, multicultural organizations are found to be
better at problem solving, possess better ability to extract expanded meanings,
and are more likely to display multiple perspectives and interpretations in dealing
with complex issues. Such organizations are less susceptible to “groupthink.”
Fifth, multicultural organizations tend to possess more organizational flexibility,
and are better able to adapt to changes. Women, for instance, are said to have
higher tolerance for ambiguity than men (Rotter & O’Connell, 1982). A study of
the U.S. Forest Service suggests advantages of a culturally diverse organization
in the development and management of natural resource policies. It concluded
that the creation of a diverse mix of employees was not only more reflective of
the diverse public which the Forest Service serves, but also resulted in better
land management decisions that were more responsive to the desires and needs
of the populations served (Brown and Harris, 1993). DISADVANTAGES OF
DIVERSITY Diversity has some drawbacks which moderate its significant
advantages. In problem-solving situations, extraordinary costs in time and
financial resources can negate the benefits of synergy, and can even degenerate
into dysfunctional conflicts. Diversity does not fare as well under conditions of
uncertainty and complexity which may lead to confusion and frustration. Diversity
can make it harder to arrive at an agreement on a particular course of action, and
can result in negative dynamics and cultural clashes that can create work
disadvantages for women and minorities. Traditionally, cultural conflicts between
majority and minority group members are usually resolved in favor of the majority
groups. This, in turn, creates significant barriers to full participation by minority
members in potentially conflict situations. In an analysis of 151 work groups,
Tsui, Egan and O’Reilly (1992) found diversity to be associated with lower levels
of psychological identification with group members which would tend to detract
from overall performance and result in adverse effects on organizational
measures of productivity, absenteeism and turnover. Homogenous groups have
been reported to outperform culturally diverse groups especially where there are
serious communication issues which make it more difficult for everybody to make
optimal contributions to the group effort (Sheridan, 1994). Higher turnover and
absenteeism are special problems identified with multi-cultural organizations.

40
Several research studies since the 1960’s have found women and other
minorities to be consistently higher on absenteeism and turnover than their
majority-member counterparts. Turnover for Blacks has been recorded at 40%
greater than for Whites (Bergmann and Krause, 1968). A Corning Glass study
reported that between 1980 and 1987, turnover among women in professional
jobs was double that of men and the rate for Blacks was 2.5 times greater than
for Whites (Hymowitz, 1989). Schwartz (1989), and Scott and McClelan, (1990)
arrived at similar findings of two-to-one turnover rate for women versus men.
Meisenheimer (1990) found a 58% higher rate of absenteeism for women
compared to men. In a study of twenty work units, O’Reilly, Caldwell and Barnett
(1989) concluded that heterogeneity in groups was associated with lower levels
of group social integration which resulted in higher individual turnover. They
concluded that out-group members were more likely to leave the organization.
Using a hypothetical company of 10,000 employees, Cox estimated that absentee
differences attributable to multiculturalism would cost a company an average of three million
dollars per year (Cox, 1993, p.25). Journal of Diversity Management – Fourth Quarter 2007
Volume 2, Number 4 5

41
Management of Diversity in leading INC’s
A manager or the superior must be aware of the background, cultures, and
values of employees. The motivation factors for a full time working mother to
support her two young children are different from the needs of a young,
single, part-time employee or an older employee who is working to
supplement his or her retirement

ACCENTURE DIVERSITY
Accenture is passionately committed to cultivating a diverse workforce both
because it’s the right thing to do, and it’s a key element of achieving high
performance,” said Armelle Carminati-Rabasse, Accenture’s managing director
of Human Capital and Diversity globally. “Our company comprises people from a
wide range of cultural, educational and geographic backgrounds–people who are
able to challenge conventional thought, offer unique perspectives and generate
innovative ideas. Our rich diversity is part of what makes our company strong.”
In an independent study commissioned by Accenture on cross-cultural
communication problems, it was found that the chief factors causing problems
between onshore and offshore workers were different communication styles (76
per cent of the times), different approaches to completing talks (53 per cent),
different attitudes toward conflict (44 per cent) and different decision-making
styles (44 per cent). About 200 US business executives whose companies have
outsourced business processes outside the country were interviewed here.

"We know the markets we serve are growing increasingly diverse and we are
proud of how diversity management has become part of our day-to-day
business practices," said Clyde Jones, ADP Vice President and Chief
Diversity Officer. "To consistently take our business growth to the next level
and beyond, we must do the same regarding our commitment to diversity.
This recognition from Diversity Inc is an important acknowledgement that we
have continued to move in the right direction."

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GOOGLE DIVERSITY
"Diversity plays a large role in the way we're developing our engineering
organization around the world. We're building a large worldwide office
presence to establish ample global representation among our engineers, and
we're applying that same focus to establish a balanced representation of
employees at Google. In the end, these efforts help us more accurately and
relevantly represent our users, and our continued success depends on the
best minds working from different perspectives and insights."
Alan Eustace - Google SVP, Engineering & Research

INFOSYS DIVERSITY

Globalization has changed the character of the modern workplace global

company’s employee base should reflect the diversity of the world it serves.
Infosys strives to employ people representing the widest possible variety of
nationalities, cultures, genders and gender identities, sexual orientations,
employment histories, and levels of physical ability. In doing so, the company
is able to recruit new employees from all available global talent pools and
provide paths to employment to all members of world societies, including
talented individuals from groups who may have in the past been
underrepresented within the IT industry. Within such a diverse company,
people bring to the workplace contrasting opinions and worldviews. As these
people interact, they develop new ideas, methods, and perspectives. Infosys
recognizes and promotes this power of diversity to drive innovation.
Infosys actively fosters inclusivity across all of its business units and in every
one of its company offices. It encourages all employees to focus on the
commonalities they share and leverage their differences towards productive
teamwork. Inclusivity ultimately makes for a more informed and sensitive
employee base that is better able to serve clients.
Infosys was the first Indian IT company to establish a company office to
manage and drive all company initiatives dealing with diversity and inclusion.
Today they have employees from over 70 countries. Women constitute more
than 32% of their workforce.

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Infosys Women Inclusivity Network (IWIN) promotes a gender-sensitive work
environment. IWIN recognizes the unique aspirations and needs of women. It
provides avenues for vocational, personal and psychological counsel to
enable professional and personal development. Infosys won the first
NASSCOM-India Today corporate award for excellence in gender inclusivity
in 2007. Infosys actively seeks to hire and train persons with disabilities.

In 2006 and 2007, Infosys BPO received the Helen Keller award for the best
employer from the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled
People (NCPEDP). Infosys announced an intake of 300 graduates from
universities in the US in 2006 and about 25 from universities in the UK in
2007 as part of its commitment to create a diversified workforce. The new
employees will develop their engineering skills at Infosys Development
Centers across India for six months before returning to Infosys offices in the
US.

TCS DIVERSITY
Diversity in companies is no longer about being melting pots, but being salad
bowls," according to Grady Searcy. "We want people to retain their identity
yet be integrated into the company Currently, 7.5 per cent of our workforce
consists of non-Indians," said Mr. S PADMANABHAN,EXECUTIVE VICE
PRESIDENT and head Global human resource, TCS said while speaking at
the NASSCOM HR Summit on `The War for Talent' held recently in Chennai.
In a session on managing cross-cultural teams, speakers emphasized that
managing a diverse workforce is no longer a choice, but an imperative.
The Indian workplace is no different from global MNCs. TCS has announced
plans to hire about 4,000 people from across the world.

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WIPRO DIVERSITY
Wipro launched of its Women of Wipro (WoW) initiative, coinciding with the
international Women's Day. Wipro honored its women workforce with the title
of 'Green Ambassadors' besides felicitating women achievers. The WoW
initiative has been launched as a chapter of the Wipro's Diversity Council, as
the company's Green Ambassadors will influence a change in the
environment by undertaking various projects that emphasize on the aspect of
'Green'.

The initiative will be driven by the Green Ambassadors at a personal level.

WoW will also work towards creating visibility for its female leadership, both
internally and externally. Building sustainable and growing networks that
contribute to the success of business, the community and self-development
would be the other highlight of initiative.

Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said: "In Corporate India, I have been seeing
very positive shifts in the last few decades that have made it easier for
women to contribute to organizational growth. There are many instances
where the so-called glass ceiling has been shattered. There is no doubt that
having more women in an organization can help in making it more profitable."

Eco Bags specially made for women employees were given away on the
occasion. The 'Eco-Bag' contains quick and easy list of green steps, called
"Shades of Green". Going forward, the WOW charter will include several
initiatives that have a significant social impact and where women can play a
catalytic role in ushering change. The Core Diversity Council has been set up
to breathe life into these initiatives so that they don't remain buried in a
PowerPoint presentation. The council consists of representatives from every
function at a senior level.

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DIVERSITY PAYS
Today, with growing global consensus that workforce diversity is important,
what trends do we see in India? If we take women in the workforce as a prime
indicator, there is no question that the signs are encouraging. But are they
similar across the country? Do companies big and small drive the change with
the same vigor? Are we witnessing these trends across industries or only in more
'progressive' sectors? And more importantly, are an increasing number of
women assuming senior leadership positions?

As a nation we have much to be proud of. Throughout the rich history of our
nation, women have occupied positions of leadership, and have made a mark
on the world stage. However, we have much to worry about as well. Female
infanticide and low levels of female literacy indicate that many sections of our
society are yet to accord an equal status to women.

So what is the connection? It is simple but important, businesses in India

have a responsibility to send a strong message by their actions - everybody
counts. This will not be easy. How do we get there if our start point is three
women in a workforce of hundreds? As always, we have to begin at the top. If
the captains don't get it; then we shouldn't start! Let's not forget, in this talent
scarce market companies (should) want to attract people of all backgrounds,
promote gender diversity and spread the talent net as wide as possible. And
frankly, once a company builds a diverse team the pay back is through
superior performance. Workforce diversity is an obligation to shareholders, to
society and to employees.

Effective diversity measures and evaluation processes that determine the

ROI of diversity management can provide an organization with invaluable
information to support key business imperatives--such as the impact of
diversity training and areas of improvement needed for recruitment strategies.
Further, diversity initiatives that receive public acknowledgment through
awards (e.g., Diversity In Top 50 Companies for Diversity) help attract bright
talent and positively affect company brand and reputation.

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Does workforce diversity live up to its promise?
The difficulty with the concept of diversity is that people are unsure what it really
means. We live in a society where prejudice is still very much alive and yet
political correctness competes for the attention of people as a way to deal with
those things that some individuals are afraid to say. Diversity is difficult to
quantify because we tend to hone in on certain human factors, but sometimes
forget about other aspects. For example, we tend to think about race or ethnicity
when it comes to diversity. But what about age? What about sexual orientation,
political affiliation, or religious beliefs?

Today, it is acceptable for a company to suggest that they need a more "diverse"
workforce. As mentioned above, this often refers to the racial makeup of their
staff. At the same time, people argue that you shouldn't judge people by their
race, so are we being reverse racist by trying to diversify? If people should be
judged the same, how can we say that bringing in people of different races will
actually create a diverse workforce? What if you hire some "ethnic minorities"
and it turns out that they think and act exactly the same as everyone else? What
if you hire people and they think so differently that the company starts to have
internal issues?

Again, we could make the same argument about diversity in different areas.
What if a company said, "You know, we have too many Democrats on staff. We
need to hire more Republicans". That may sound like a silly statement, but think
about diversity and consider what it really means. As it is, we sometimes like to
hire people with "experience" but isn't that discriminating against people who
have not worked as much?

The bottom line with workforce diversity is that people and organizations need to
articulate why they value it as a concept. If a company wants to diversify, they
need to ponder the reasoning. If they say that they want to diversify "because
they should be more diversified", then the meaning is kind of lost. People will tout
discrimination laws but people are always hard-pressed to show that companies
actively discriminate against them. Too much in the hiring processes of many
organizations remains subjective.

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CONCLUSION

The extent to which managers recognize diversity and its potential advantages
and disadvantages defines an organization’s approach to managing the diversity.
No organization in this world of globalization would survive without workforce
diversity. It is the duty of the management to critically evaluate the benefits of
workforce diversity in their organization. On the other hand the management
should put in place conditions which would enhance the workforce diversity in
their organizations, more especially in their strategies formulation on the diversity
of workforce. Hence, with the diversity of the workforce, the organization would
be internally and externally competitive. Although, the process of diversification
of organizations has six stages: denial; recognition; acceptance; appreciation;
valuing; and utilization.

It is believed that organizations should put in place strategies to enhance

workforce diversity. In terms of organizational learning, organizations are still
stuck on the problem of getting people to value diversity and have not yet
determined ways to utilize and exploit it.

It is the approach to diversity, not the diversity itself which determines the actual
positive and negative outcomes. Managing diversity in organizations absolutely
dependent upon the acceptance of some primary objectives to which employees
are willing to commit, such as the survival of the firm. In today's fast-paced work
environment a successful organization is one where diversity is the norm and not
the exception.

Workforce diversity can have both positive and negative outcomes in

organizations. We argued that an important consideration while examining both
these outcomes of team diversity is the demographic context in which teams
function. Diversity behaviors in organizations is incomplete without
acknowledging the role of a broader organizational context in shaping these
behaviors.

Thus it is more of a challenge which later becomes an opportunity for an

organization in different aspect

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. SUDHA GS ”Organisational Behaviour”, Tex t And Cases, 2nd edition 2010

2. Cultural Diversity in Organizations—Theory, Research and Practice, Dr.

Taylor Cox, Jr.

3. Journal of Diversity Management – Fourth Quarter 2007 Volume 2,

Number 4 5

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