Intercultural Effectiveness Developmental Plan

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— BUSM4688 Cross Cultural Management Topic 9: Cultural diversity management

Dr. Shea Fan School of Management

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Lecture plan of the next a few weeks 1.  Week 9: Managing diversity 2.  Week 10: Managing language in MNCs 3.  Week 11: Global mindset and course review 4.  Week 12: No lecture

Assignment feedback: 1.  Discuss your questions with your tutor in

tutorials 2.  We do not discuss assignments through email 3.  We do not pre-review written assignments

Special consideration: apply for it as easily as possible

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Content Chart

Foundations

• The nature of culture

• Comparing cultures

• Beyond culture frameworks

Theory Applications

• Working in multicultural teams

• Communicating with culturally different others

• Cultural intelligence

Management

• Understanding culturally diverse employees

• Managing cultural diversity

• Managing language in MNCs

Self-lead learning: discussions, presentations, team investigation

Intercultural effectiveness development: knowledge, self-reflection, attitudes & behavioral change

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Pressing managerial questions

How can we manage diversity through organizational policies?

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Overview Objectives: 1.  Understand organizations’ attitudes towards

diversity 2.  Understand the features, benefits and limitations of

the three diversity paradigms. Be able to identify them in the workplace

1)  Discrimination- and-Fairness Paradigm 2)  Access-and-Legitimacy Paradigm 3)  Learning-and-Effectiveness Paradigm

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“Learning to work with differences” “Diversity management is to provide equal opportunity for

employees.”

We train our diverse workforce to embrace their similarities. Focusing on similarities creates a more unified, exciting, and collaborative work environment. Such an inclusive and accepting environment helps not only us but also our clients.

“Celebrating diversity at work”

Rhetoric about Diversity

Management

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A test

What is your impression about this organization based on the photos and descriptions from the following corporate brochures?

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Photographs From Corporate Brochure

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While other consulting firms mistakenly focus on their staff’s diversity, we train our diverse workforce to embrace their similarities. We feel that focusing on similarities creates a more unified, exciting, and collaborative work environment. Such an inclusive and accepting environment helps not only us but also our clients. And at CCG, if you’re a team player, you’ll have unlimited access to success. Your race, ethnicity, gender, and religion are immaterial as soon as you walk through our doors.

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Photographs From Corporate Brochure

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While other consulting firms mistakenly try to shape their staff into a single mold, we believe that embracing our diversity enriches our culture. Diversity fosters a more unified, exciting, and collaborative work environment. Such an inclusive and accepting environment helps not only us but also our clients. And at CCG, all individuals have unlimited access to success. As soon as you walk through our doors, you’ll appreciate the strength that we derive from our diversity.

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Perspective minority employees’ reactions 1)  I think I would like to work at a place like CCG. 2)  I think I would like to work in a company that has similar

hiring practices as those of CCG.

3)  I think I would like to work under the supervision of people with similar values as the staff.

4)  I think I could “be myself” at a company like CCG. 5)  I think my colleagues at CCG would become my close

personal friends.

6)  I think I would be treated fairly by my supervisor. 7)  I think I would trust the management to treat me fairly. 8)  I think that the CCG environment would inspire me to do

the very best job that I can. Purdie-Vaughns, V. et al. (2008). Social identity contingencies: how diversity cues signal threat or safety for African Americans in mainstream institutions. Journal of personality and social psychology, 94(4), 615.

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Diversity

Why are people interested in identity related issues?

What components are included in the term ‘diversity’ ?

•  Diversity is a trend.

•  Culture, gender, age, race, sexual orientation, people with disabilities or mental health issues.

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Diversity in organizations

Organizational level

Team level

Interpersonal level

Managing diversity

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Diversity is a double-edged sword

In organizations, how can we benefit from diversity? (diversity as a resource)

What challenges does diversity cause? (diversity as a liability)

Adler 2002

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Diversity is a double-edged sword

What challenges does diversity cause? (diversity as a liability)

1.  Diversity increases 1) Ambiguity 2) Complexity 3) Confusion

2.  Difficult converging meanings 1) Miscommunication 2) Harder to reach agreement

3.  Culturally specific challenges 1) Ethnocentrism 2) Overgeneralizing org. policies, strategies, practices and

procedures (Adler 2002)

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Diversity is a double-edged sword

In organizations, how can we benefit from diversity? (diversity as a resource)

1.  Expanding meanings 1) Greater openness to new ideas 2) Multiple perspectives 3) Multiple interpretations

2.  Expanding alternatives 1) Enhance creativityà better performance 2)  Increasing flexibility 3)  Increasing problem-solving skills

3.  Culturally specific advantage 1) Better understanding of local employees 2) Better understanding of subsidiary local environment 3) More effectively work with local clients

(Adler 2002)

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Topic 7: Managing Cultural Diversity Approaches Perceptions Organizational implications

Diversity blindness

Diversity is not an issue. We are all the same. “Our way is the only way.”

Cultural diversity has no impact. Problems occur but they are not attributed to cultural diversity.

Diversity hostility (ethnocentric)

Diversity is bad. Our way is best.

Managers reduce problems by reducing diversity.

Diversity naiveté Diversity is good. “Romantic view”. Do not see potential problems.

Diversity integration (synergistic)

Diversity does not automatically lead to positive or negative outcomes, but needs to be managed and integrated. Leveraging our ways and their ways may work best.

Managers recognize cultural diversity benefits. Some problems continue to occur and need to be managed

Approaches to diversity in organizations

(Moore, 1999 & Adler 2002)

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Managing diversity in organizations

Recognition of diversity

Parochial

Ethnocentric

Managing diversity

Discrimination- and- Fairness Paradigm

Access-and-Legitimacy Paradigm

Learning-and- Effectiveness Paradigm

(Adler 2002, Thomas & Ely, 1996)

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Discrimination- and-Fairness Paradigm “Prejudice has kept members of certain demographic groups out of organizations such as ours. As a matter of fairness and to comply with federal mandates, we need to work toward re- structuring the makeup of our organization to let it more closely reflect that of society. We need managerial processes that ensure that all our employees are treated equally and with respect and that some are not given unfair ad- vantage over others.”

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Discrimination- and-Fairness Paradigm

Features: 1.  Focuses on recruitment & retaining diverse

employees 2.  Often offering institute mentoring & career –

development programs 3.  Value due process & equal treatment of all

employees 4.  Bureaucratic in structure, use top down directive 5.  Organized around “assimilation”

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Discrimination- and-Fairness Paradigm

Benefits: 1.  “Equal opportunity; equal treatment” 2.  Increase demographic diversity 3.  Succeed in promoting fair treatment Limitations: 1.  Color-blind, gender-blind view 2.  Assumption: “we are all the same” or “we aspire to be

all the same.” 3.  Do not explore how people’s diversity generates

diverse ways of working, leading, viewing the market, management people and learning.

4.  Limited organizational learning

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Access-and-legitimacy Paradigm “We are living in an increasingly multicultural country, and new ethnic groups are quickly gaining consumer power. Our company needs a demographically more diverse workforce to help us gain access to these differentiated segments. We need employees with multilingual skills in order to understand and serve our customers better and to gain legitimacy with them. Diversity isn’t just fair; it makes business sense.”

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Access-and-legitimacy Paradigm Features: 1.  Increased diversity among customers, clients, or

the labor pool. “Diversity makes business sense” 2.  Matching the demographics of the organization to

those of critical consumer or constituent groups 3.  Increase in org. diversity 4.  Organized around “differentiation”

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Access-and-legitimacy Paradigm Benefits: 1.  Market-based motivation 2.  Potential competitive advantage Limitations: 1.  Without real analyses of how the differences affect

work. 2.  No knowledge integration 3.  Diverse employee groups feel exploited

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Learning-and-Effectiveness Paradigm Features: 1.  Incorporate employees’ perspective into the main

work of the org. “Learn from diversity” 2.  Organized around “integration” 3.  Like the fairness paradigm, it promotes equal

opportunity for all individuals. 4.  Like the access paradigm, it acknowledges cultural

differences among people and recognizes the values in those differences.

5.  It internalizes differences among employees so that it learns and grows because of them. “We are all the same team, with our differences, not despite them”.

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Take home messages

1.  Unde rstand o

rganizat ions’ atti

tudes to wards

diversity

2.  Unde rstand th

e feature s, benef

its and

limitation s of the

three div ersity pa

radigm. Be

able to id entify the

m in the workpla

ce.

1)  Discri mination

- and-Fa irness P

aradigm

2)  Acces s-and-Le

gitimacy Paradig

m

3)  Learn ing-and-

Effective ness Pa

radigm