Benefits_of_Diversity

Benefits of Cultural Diversity The establishment of diversity programs in any organization is of great significance, and companies that make use of diversity initiatives show various levels of achievement and growth. Diversity itself refers to all manner of ways in which people differ such as sex, age, nationality, race, and culture. Brazzel (12) defines cultures as the various aspects of mindsets that make people differ from one another. It also refers to the ways of life and patterns of thinking accepted by one generation and passed on to others. The components of culture include customs, beliefs, art, values, and norms. Due to the changes in the composition of workforce as a result of globalization, cultural issues have placed a big challenge to many organizations especially multi-cultural organizations. Effective management of diversity has been a concern of many organizations for the last ten years. One of the most challenging factors in building multi-cultural organization is marketing as its interaction with peoples’ culture determines whether a company will succeed or not. Advertising and promotion play a critical role in explaining concepts and benefits of a product to the society or target segment. However, what is normal in one culture may be different from another culture and therefore a diverse workforce will be able to provide information that is useful to the marketing manager prior to the development of the marketing plan or strategy. This means, managers will have relevant information pertaining to the needs of the target market. This will ensure success of the marketing program in the targeted group. Diversity has a direct impact on employee productivity. According to Canen (5), achievement of worker has been closely related to how well members of marginal groups related to their work and employer. The manner in which company bonds with its employees by embracing diversity provides a good environment for achieving the satisfaction as well as boosting the morale of the workers. On the other hand, the creation of good work environment by the employer minimizes the time taken in recruiting new employees. Doing every possible to get positive evaluations helps an organization save in recruiting and retention costs. In addition, a all inclusive company approach combined with good company image affects incomes, according to a study that evaluated stock performance in relation to both negative and positive announcements reflecting their ability to embrace diversity. Furthermore, research findings show that diversity enhances creativity, improve decision making as well as enhancing problem solving. Diversity is at the core of competitive advantage. According to Brazzel (45), competitive advantage is about being the market leader and most companies aspire to bet competition at their own game. It also refers to the idea of being preferred to first by the customers. To have a competitive advantage over others, a company must have good market intelligence, right resources in the right place at the right time. A diverse workforce is crucial in achieving a competitive advantage by allowing a company to meet the needs of clients, compete effectively in the market place and also get workers from an expanded labor pool. Companies are increasingly becoming aware of the need of having knowledge as a basis for gaining competitive advantage and are therefore looking for strategies that will help in creating knowledge management capabilities. In a diverse workforce, relationships with suppliers also benefit a lot. Knowledge of other languages and cultures is useful to the companies competitive advantage when seeking new supplier relationships or maintaining current ones. Another advantage of diversity is that, people from other cultures are able to bring in new attitudes in the organization. For example, Americans may want to know the ideas other people attach to time. American culture believes that time is money and getting to the bottom line is of utmost importance in the business. However, in other cultures, tie is important for building business relationships and thus it is an integral part of having to know the other party before completing any transaction (Skinner 22). Another notable advantage of diversity is that it symbolizes the local face to the customer. Successful national operations require workers who are knowledgeable in local languages, traditions, norms and rules of behavior. The connection between workforce diversity and development of international business capabilities is not well understood. International businesses are faced with challenges of doing business with people of different backgrounds. These backgrounds include ideologies, institutions, cultures, and social hierarchies. These factors help in increasing complexity and uncertainty surrounding the international business environment. Organizations operating in the international arena must come up with capabilities to overcome culturally challenging environments. Companies that have taken diversity seriously are capable of developing such capabilities. Diversity was previously viewed as a reaction to mistreatment, but now it is seen as a practical way of increasing productivity and profits. It is wise for managers to invest in education, analysis of systems or other efforts aimed at factual basis for complaint. Working together does not ensure financial success for the company. However, it helps in minimizing conflicts, anxiety, and misunderstandings. Having a good cultural diversity program helps in reducing discrimination. Skinner (44) notes that direct or indirect discrimination increases the risk of health and safety issues in the work place. In conclusion, for a company to succeed, managers responsible must take note of and use the talents, skills, culture and background of the different people in the organization. There are many ways in which diversity in the workplace is beneficial to the organization. A diverse workforce is instrumental in building a more rounded employee with knowledge that is acquired from a mixed environment. In addition, customers will find it easy working with a company that embraces diversity. One of the most probable advantages is that employees are able to gain enormous knowledge by drawing dissimilar life lessons, experience, cultures effectively enabling them to new business practices. As discussed above, diversity provides a business with a platform for taking advantage of the global market opportunities. The diversity of views gives a wide variety of talents, which leads to improvements in products and process research. Indeed, the mix of people, their skills, talents, knowledge provides a new avenue for approaching and solving problems. Works Cited Brazzel, Michael. "Building a Culture of Diversity in the Cooperative Extension System” ECOP and ES-USDA National Diversity Strategic Planning Conference, Denver, Colorado, September, 1991. Canen, A.G. “Logistics and Cultural Diversity: Hand in Hand for Organizational Success”, An International Journal, 2009. Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 3-10. Skinner, N. Manufacturing: The Formidable Competitive Weapon. New York: John Wiley, 2009.