Cultural Artifact

The purpose of this paper is designed to introduce, educate, and promote diversity within your company. Your company will be shown the merits of diversity and how diversity within your organization can be a benefit. This paper will be broken down into three main areas: Benefits of Diversity, Challenges of Diversity, and Recommendations for an effective diversity within your organization..

Three ways of gaining executive commitment to diversity are to gather data and to assess the organizations current commitment to diversity to show where and why there is a need for change. The development of diversity council can also garner executive support because it offers a way for executive members of an organization to have a dialog with other members of an organization about diversity. Systematic changes are also necessary such as hiring from a diverse roster of candidates when filling a position. (Moodian, 2009,

An artifact has been found that pushes the timeline of the arrival of Native Americans in North Carolina back 4,000 years.

One of the objectives that the team discussed was diversity in the workplace. Major corporations have encountered issues concerning diversity in the work place. Our team can directly relate to this subject in the workplace since all of us are diverse minorities in our individual work place. It was discussed in the group that diversity in the workplace is the manager’s responsibility to insure that the workplace is a diverse environment. Managers in most companies are required to hire a diverse staff. Managers have the ability to use race, religion, and tenure as qualities to inspire success and

Diversity itself remains an unclear concept. It is contextually specific and linked to demographic and socio-political features of the population and the workforce. Diversity is a selective concept in that some, but not all physical characteristics are incorporated into Managing Diversity programs (Moore 1999). Diversity also has invisible and hidden aspects that include culture and attitudes (Moore 1999). Managing Diversity programs in general mimic or reflect legislative programs

Diversity leadership has been defined as "ways in which people and groups relate to one another and how management [leadership] decisions are made in the midst of the differences, similarities, and tensions among groups." (Lim, Cho, & Curry, 2008) And in order to accomplish this, a good leader must know the difference between the assimilation and inclusion. Assimilation takes a diverse group and homogenizes them, while inclusion maintains the individual differences between people and capitalizes on those differences for the benefit of all. For instance, instilling a goal-oriented sense of identity allows for each individual to maintain their uniqueness, while coming together to accomplish the goal. It is the goal that each individual concentrates on, not the differences between the members of the group. Also, a good leader will facilitate good

Cultural shapes how individuals experience the world around them. These experiences are a vital component of how services are both delivered and received. Gladding (2012) describes three key aspects of a multicultural leader. The first key aspect is to be aware of a diverse population and the effect on group work interventions (Gladding, 2012). To better facilitate a multicultural group, a leader

The article, “Challenges of Leading a Diverse Workforce,” by Janice R.W. Joplin and Catherine Daus, discusses research that suggests six challenging factors when promoting diversity in an organization, along with proposed solutions to those challenges. The six challenges include, the Change of Power Dynamics, Diversity of Opinions, Perceived Lack of Empathy, Tokenism, real and perceived, Participation, and Inertia (Joplin, Daus 1997). The challenges and solutions are discussed in relation to a continuum that consists of stages of intolerance, tolerance, and appreciation for diversity in the workplace. Each challenge is met with a solution involving required skills and attributes of a leader.

Today’s management in the workforce is composed of all types of people verses thirty years ago when white males held a majority of upper-management positions in companies. These positions are now held by a mixture of ethnic back grounds and women who hold just as many if not more management positions then men. Just by looking at the changes in management demographics shows how important it is for people to understand cultural competency in the workplace. Dr. Roosevelt Thomas Jr. (1999) stated, “Diversity is the collective mixture of whomever we have in our workforce characterized by their differences and similarities” (p.11). Managers and supervisors must understand the characteristics of a diversity mature individual; they also need to be

The general line of reasoning is that if we learn to incorporate each other’s diverse traits and characteristics in the workplace, we can then use these differences to foster an innovative environment, which will give the company a competitive advantage over the competitors that do not accept workforce diversity. According to the Allied Academies International Conference, “Diversity is rapidly becoming a common practice among companies due to the increasing number of minorities entering the job market today. As these groups become more prevalent throughout companies, upper-level employees are facing numerous challenges when determining what changes must take place to create a positive working environment for everyone. Management is responsible for the development and implementation of effective policies directly relating to diversity to ensure the acceptance of minorities into the workplace and to aid in minorities’ success through equal opportunities and treatment.” (Marcia L. James, 2001, Academy for Studies in International Business Proceedings)

Inclusive leadership is the practice of leadership that carefully includes the contributions of all stakeholders in the community or organization. The way a leadership mind is structured depend on how he structures his organization. An individual mindset might over shadow their ability to effectively overturn certain decision or behaviors. A leader’s values and characteristics strengthen the organization cultural diversity. Modern leaders use different styles and skills to shape human intuition. Their instinct reflect their ability to understand other’s cognitive ability. As a consultant in a global multicultural company, it will be very challenging to effectively lead an organization without implementing a strategic plan that promote respect, trust, loyal, and integrity. Prewitt, Weil, & McClure (2011) note, “Leadership involves creating a vision of the organizational future, devising a strategy for achieving that vision, and communicating that vision to all members of the organization” (p. 13). Depending on the structure of the organization, the leader’s mindset can and will change to adopt to the cultural diversity of the organization. Leadership, unlike management, is not dependent on position, title or privilege; instead it is an observable, understandable, and learnable set of skills that can be mastered by anyone that is willing to take the time and put forth the effort to learn them (Yukl, 1998). While implementing different strategies to improve the organizational

In today’s society there are many culturally diverse people in the workforce. Most organizations can no longer make the assumption that every employee has similar beliefs or expectations. When entering into the global marketplace, people are considered one of the most valuable resources to an organization’s success. A well-managed culturally diverse workforce has the potential to thrive if managed correctly; or if mismanaged, there can be devastating negative attributes. With great expectations, culturally diverse employees can foster positive outcomes in the workplace. A company’s acknowledgement to embrace diversity and change, and implement the value of management techniques are

The past decade, diversity in the workplace has become one of the most frequently discussed topics in management groups or circles, while interested academically in the actual prospective of workplace diversity has remained limited. To be successful in managing diversity in the workplace first one must understand it from a personal perspective. To be able to derive knowledge and strength from one’s differences shows deep faces in character. A book I read in high school defined diversity as “the mosaic of people who bring a variety of backgrounds, styles, perspectives, values, and beliefs as assets to the groups and organizations with which they interact” (Rasmussen, 1996, p. 274). Workplace diversity is characterized as representing two perspectives: functionalist perspectives and a critical believe there is several challenges with diversity in the workforce. Challenge because it requires organizational change; it means fostering a cultural environment that values differences and maximizes the potential of all employees. Workplace diversity is everywhere, from the small corner business to the fortune 500 company, and is one of the most important challenges facing companies today. This mixture of diverse gender, personality, experience, race, and culture is what makes a team successful. It is an opportunity because organizations that proactively address diversity have a competitive advantage. An advantage everyone wants.

Organizations have been becoming increasingly diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality. This diversity brings substantial potential benefits such as better decision making, greater creativity and innovation, and more successful marketing to different types of customers. But, increasing cultural differences within a workforce also bring potential costs in higher turnovers, interpersonal conflicts, and communicational breakdowns. The utilities of diversity training and the essential managerial skills required for effectively managing diversity will also be discussed.

As a result of these demographic changes as stated above, the ability of us as future business leaders to attract, recruit, and develop a qualified workforce from diverse populations will become critical for business survival. As managers, especially in today’s fast paced business environment we have little time to assess the impact of diversity efforts. Organizations are under pressure to improve the product and services they provide to customers, with greater accountability for achieving results, for reduced cycle time, and at a lower cost. So, as managers how do we manage diversity?