Principles of Management

1. Principles of Management Management andDiversity

2. Globalizationanddiversity • Thenew World is flat! • Flexibleand mobile labour • Multiculturaldemocracies

3. Definingdiversity • Diversity refers to characteristics of individuals that shape their identities and the experiencesthey have in society • The purpose of exploring diversity issues in a management courseis to suggesthow managers might include diverse employees equally, accepting their differences andutilizing their talents. • Whyshouldwe be concernedwithdiversity???

4. ADVANTAGES OF DIVERSITY IN ORGANIZATIONS • Ann Morrison carried out a comprehensive study of 16 private and public organizations inthe United States. • In the resulting book, The New Leaders: Guidelines on Leadership Diversity inAmerica, she outlines the someadvantages of diversity: • Gaining and Keeping Market Share • Cost Savings • Increased Productivity and Innovation • Better-Quality Management

5. Gaining and Keeping Market Share • Today managers must understand increasingly diverse markets. • Some people argue thatone of the best ways to ensure that the organization is able to penetrate diverse markets is toinclude diverse managers among the organization’s decision makers. • Employing a manager who is of the same gender or ethnic background as customersmay imply to those customers that their day-to-day experiences will be understood.

6. Cost Savings • Businesses that fail to foster inclusive workplaces see higher turnover rates than businesses that value a diverse workforce because they foster a hostile work environment that forces employees to leave. • The failure to retain qualified employees results in avoidable turnover-related costs at the expense of a company’s profits. • Having a diverse and discrimination-free work environment helps businesses avoid these costs.

7. Increased Productivity and Innovation • Many executives quoted in Morrison’s study believe productivity is higher in organizations thatfocus on diversity. • These managers find that employees who feel valued, competent, and at easein their work setting enjoy coming to work and perform at a high level. • Bringing together workers with different qualifications, backgrounds, and experiences are all key to effective problem-solving on the job.

8. Increased Productivity and Innovation • The managers inMorrison’s study also saw innovation as a strength of a diverse workforce. • In essence,diversitybecomes the spark that ignites innovation. • Of 321 large global enterprises—companies with at least $500 million in annual revenue—surveyed in a Forbes study in 2011, 85 percent agreed or strongly agreed that diversity is crucial to fostering innovation in the workplace.

9. Better-Quality Management • Morrison also found that including nontraditional employees in fair competition for advancementusually improves the quality of management by providing a wider pool of talent. • By broadening its reach, a company looking to hire new talent stands a better chance of finding top-quality employees when it recruits from a more diverse set of candidates. • A company staffed with workers from various cultural backgrounds is better able to communicate with companies and clients from different countries and areas. 

10. STRATEGIES FOR PROMOTING DIVERSITYIN ORGANIZATIONS • Maintain the dynamism of an aging workforce • Reconcile the conflicting needs of women, work, and families • Fully integrate minoritygroupsinto the economy

11. Promoting Diversity Through Pluralism • Pluralism refers to an environment in which differences are acknowledged, accepted, and seenas significant contributors to the entirety. • A diverse workforce is most effective when managersare capable of guiding the organization toward achieving pluralism. • Approachestomanagementanddiversity: • 1. “Golden Rule” approach • 2. Assimilation approach • 3. “Righting-the-wrongs” approach • 4. Culture-specific approach • 5. Multicultural approach

12. Golden Rule • The “Golden Rule” approach to diversity relies on the biblicaldictate, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” • The major strength of thisapproach is that it emphasizes individual morality. • Its major flaw is that individuals apply theGolden Rule from their own particular frame of reference without knowing the culturalexpectations, traditions, and preferences of the other person.

13. Assimilation Approach • The assimilation approach advocates shaping organizationmembers to fit the existing culture of the organization. • This approach pressures employees whodo not belong to the dominant culture to conform—at the expense of renouncing their owncultures and worldviews. • The end result is the creation of a homogeneous culture that suppressesthe creativity and diversity of views that could benefit the organization.

14. “Righting-the-Wrongs” Approach • “Righting-the-wrongs” is an approach thataddresses past injustices experienced by a particular group. • When a group’s history places itsmembers at a disadvantage for achieving career success and mobility, policies are developed tocreate a more equitable set of conditions. • For example, the original migration of AfricanAmericans to the United States was forced on them as slaves. Righting-the-wrongs approachesare designed to compensate for the damages African Americans have suffered because ofhistorical inequalities.

15. Culture-Specific Approach • The culture-specific approach teaches employees the normsand practices of another culture to prepare them to interact with people from that cultureeffectively. • This approach is often used to help employees prepare for international assignments. • The problem is this approach usually fails to give employees a genuine appreciation for the culturethey are about to encounter.

16. Multicultural Approach • The multicultural approach gives employees the opportunity todevelop an appreciation for both differences of culture and variations in personal characteristics. • This approach focuses on how interpersonal skills and attitudinal changes relate to organizationalperformance. • One of its strengths is that it assumes the organization itself—as well as individuals • working within it—will be required to change to accommodate the diversity of theorganization’sworkforce. • The multicultural approach is probably the most effective approach to pluralism because itadvocates change on the part of management, employees, and organization systems and structures. • It has the added advantage of stressing the idea that equity demands making some effortsto “right the wrongs” so that underrepresented groups will be fairly included throughout theorganization.