discussion answer 7.1

PLEASE RESPOND TO THE TWO DISCUSSIONS BELOW INDIVIDUALLY

Respond generally to the overall discussions, be objective, clear, and concise. Always use constructive language, even in criticism, to work toward the goal of positive progress.

FIRST DISCUSSION BY LORI:

Cultural Diversity

     According to Argosy (2018) change can occur and affect culture in an organization.   A new leader may decide to change the vision of the company and that change may lead to a new culture evolving in the company.  In an organization I work for there has been a change initiative to offer general education classes in an online format rather than a physical classroom site for financial sustainability and attract the generation of learners who are tech savvy for their higher university level education classes.  This will and has started to bring around a change of culture in the organization that has faculty dressing more causally, interacting more with students online and reaching out to students who perhaps could not attend a physical classroom due to distance or other issues and now can take the classes online.

Level of Technology

     Technology can be said to have started with the industrial revolution. This was a period of history that was marked by a change into new manufacturing processes.  Manufacturing changed as well as production that led to the rise of a factory system Montagna (2018). This was new technology that took the hand made production of products to machine made products and affected the culture of communities, organizations, society and the world. We are in a technological revolution today that is affecting our society as well as organizations, community and culture.  The generations born today are growing up with a level of technology that was once considered science fiction.  This will affect our organizations and companies as they grow and mature and affect the culture of their generation and the organizations they will be working with.  

     Technological changes in organizations allow for greater input and more cultural diversity that can lead to innovation and new products and advancements in research and development. However, if the organization has teams that have a culture lacking the education of how to access and use the technology it can lead to resistance and slow the growth.  I have seen this in another organization where the educators resisted the technology and preferred to use out dated methods of delivering information.  This slows down productivity and can be costly for an organization.  Another aspect for the levels of technology to consider is does the organization have the financials and market to use the latest technology and does it have a strategic plan in place to train and launch the new technology for the organization?  The organization I am in had resistance to new technology and when asked for education and training in it the organization did not have the finances to provide adequate training and lost those employees as they left the organization feeling unsupported.

Communication

     Communication must have clarity to be effective.  Organizations must be transparent from all types of communication resources. This includes social media, internet, as well as upper, middle and lower management and across teams daily.   Leaders need to “walk the talk” according to Kotter (1995) to be the most effective during a change initiative.  It is not only the actual word but actions to support the change that leaders need to display as part of their own persona.  In the organization I am in that had the technological problems with team members they also had difficulty with communication.  There was not clarity and transparency, and this was displayed in their inability to effectively get information, ideas and carry out effective time management with change actions and processes that needed to be completed.

Reflections

     In looking back, it was evident that if you cannot have effective communication the technological changes were destined to fail. This brings more resistance and may cause a change initiative to fail.  Then the culture of the organization cannot grow and change to possess diversity.  Thus, communication is essential initially for advancing levels of technology and creating cultural diversity.

SECOND DISCUSSION BY JERRY

 

In this week’s discussion we are taking a trip into the term “Cultural Diversity, Levels of Technology and Communication Channels” and then try to explain them and reflect these term in the organization or company one is a part of. Therefore, the term “Cultural Diversity” is defined as according to the dictionary.com as the variety and differences of cultures that exist in the universe, world, society and institution, more so, it is a term to reflect the inclusion of multiple diverse groups of people in the organization, society and even the world. (cultural diversity, n.d.)

Nevertheless, the term “Levels of Technology” this can be broken down into five levels and they are Entry, Adoption, Adaption, Infusion and Transformation Levels. Then these levels can also be broken up into five areas called the Characteristics of the Learning Environment and their areas are Active, Collaborative, Constructive, Authentic and Goal Directed. And lastly, the Communication Channels, well this is simply put as the ways of communications Email, Text, Cellphones, Telephones, SOS, Snail Mail and the list can go on.  (The Technology Integration Matrix: Introducing the Five Levels of Tech Integration, n.d.)

Furthermore, what does these terms have to do with a company and organization? The answer is simple history will show that in the good ole days cultural diversity was hardly heard of, then certain laws came about and required the diversity to enter the companies and organizations, currently we are so cultural diverse that the ratio are close in percentages. this can be a good and bad thing, as to in the company I currently work in there is a large gap in the age were here I am just starting and there are a few set to retire. We have a mix of Hawaiian/Filipino’s, Chinese, Japanese, Caucasians and Hispanic. 

Moreover, due to these diversity it has an effect in the organization as the seasoned workers (long timers) they are set in their current and old ways, for example the State of Hawaii has been doing their payroll a certain way for years and till recent months it has moved to a complete electronic version, where they clerks in our offices will submit our time cards electronically. Well this was a hard change for a few who were set in their ways, the new technology can pose a threat to the seasoned workers, they feel pressed to learn a new trend. Then when we talk about communication, well not all will love how the communication is today, there is many ways to communicate and they seasoned workers will beg to differ, for the most they are a few who are set and stuck on mailing their payment in, they are used to using cash to pay bills, and they are less liking he newer trend of technology, this does also have a major part in the cultural diversity in the organization and company. 

In conclusion, this was a very well portion and for the most in this day the diversity, technology and communication is moving and changing daily and if you are not in the now you will get booted and or fail as a leader to produce. Technology is and will always be the issue due to not all are willing to follow the technology trend, this due to this communication will have a lack in there and then the downward trend will start. However, a good leader can overcome this and boost cultural diversity, technology and communication and keep all their employees, this will take time and patience and commitment, but it’s not impossible.