Academic literature on the topic 'Managing cultural diversity'

Abstract: Background: Cultural diversity within a workplace is increasingly becoming important as more organisations are embracing it within the global workforce. Some of its effect have been linked to performance outcomes according to past reviews and as a result, there are more suggestions on the need to study how various organisations manage their cultural diversity. Universities as an organisation has also blended in the internationalisation practice through human resources and diverse employees to form a part of the economic globalisation. Purpose: The purpose if this paper is to examine how cultural diversity is managed in a Swedish university, Jönköping International Business School (JIBS). Also, further investigation is on the employee’s perception of how the practices and policies of cultural diversity is being delivered by the management at the university. Method: An exploratory research is conducted for this paper and the empirical findings is gathered through a qualitative research. The primary research is retrieved by semi-constructed interviews. The human resource department and teachers from different backgrounds and countries were interviewed to find out how the teachers perception of cultural diversity management at their workplace based on how the practices and policies were delivered to them. Findings: Based on the interviews it was found that the cultural diversity management as a topic is well understood by both the management and the employees. However, the study revealed that the employees do not perceive it in the same manner it was being delivered to them by the management. The issues and practices connected to managing cultural diversity is not entirely provided by the management within the work environment. It essential that the management provide for more effectively communicated structure.

Cultural diversity is a subject that has been getting growing attention not just internationally but also in Sweden in the 21st century. The globalization of economies and the migration has dramatically increased opportunities while also affecting organizations in a manner that it requires it to be more open and accommodative towards a heterogeneous working environment. Unfortunately many companies do not see the advantages that cultural diversity could bring and how a well managed cultural diversity could essentially achieve competitive edge in the market. Therefore there is little to be found regarding how organizations today view and manage a culturally diverse workforce, especially in a Swedish working environment. The lack of this typeof research in a Swedish context creates a possible research gap and leads to this study ininvestigating the organizations in Västerbotten and their view and management of cultural diversity. Thus the research question: How do Swedish organizations view and manage cultural diversity? In order to gain insights to this question, previous research has been investigated and some main theories have been selected. Through this it has been found that cultural diversity is a complex subject that can bring both positive and negative effects to an organization. These are in turn affecting how cultural diversity is viewed by that organization. Furthermore, this view affects how cultural diversity is managed, and the management in turn affects the result this concept brings to the company. This in turn has been represented in a theoretical model representing the relationship between these concepts. The main theory that is used throughout thenstudy and in analyzing the empirical data is Adler’s approaches to answer the research question. This study takes view of interpretivism and constructionism as its philosophical stance. This has led to the choice of conducting a qualitative research approach with mixed method that is a combination of both the deductive and inductive way of collecting data. The research is conducted through multiple case study design with semi structured interviews as the way of gaining empirical data. These interviews have been conducted on seven organizations within Västerbotten that represents different types of industries within this region. As it is shown in this study the cultural diversity is viewed in a positive way and managed to achieve synergy within the organizations in Västerbotten. The firms believe that in order to develop and gain competitive advantage, they need to accommodate cultural diversity and create an atmosphere that is open and flexible. Still most of the firms lack the holistic view as they fail to articulate diversity at the strategic level and consequently in all dimensions of the organization.In addition the study has also identified different influential factors of cultural diversity, such as the geographical location, organizational culture, cultural diversity leading to cultural diversity, customers’ diversity and managers’ perspectives affects the existence of cultural diversity within an organization. These findings have been presented in the developed analytical model in the conclusion.

The thesis examines the public discourse on race, foreignness, ethnic diversity, inclusion of "new Canadians" in the Canadian national community, and the meaning of "Canadianism" during the WWII years, from 1939 to 1945, and maps the dialectic course of its construction by the Canadian mainstream intellectual and political elite (mostly Anglo-Saxon and Protestant) and the Liberal government in place. The pre-WWII years were marked by noteworthy official disinterest in "Canadianizing" newcomers and by a latent "racialization" of diversity mostly articulated on the basis of "foreignness" or cultural "strangeness" of so-called "racial" origins of non-British and non-French immigrants. With the outset of war, the "we vs. they" polarization, until then specifically implying on the political scene the British vs. French dualism, began to refer as well to a rather different tension in power relations, generated by the "Canadian born" vs. resident "foreign born" or "immigrant" dichotomy. The meaning of this duality briefly shifted to signify the potential distinction between "loyal citizen" and "enemy alien". Fascist or communist ideological leanings and strong nationalist feelings for the fate of the embattled homelands in Europe further exasperated this tension. In the heat of the WWII years, the Canadian government hired Tracy Philipps---an Englishman with expertise in colonial, Middle-Eastern and East-European affairs---to act as an adviser in its endeavours to secure loyalty and support for its war efforts among Canadians of continental European origin, to mitigate the adversarial relationship among various cultural groups, and to encourage faster assimilation of "new Canadians". To this end, the government set up the Committee on Cooperation in Canadian Citizenship and established the Nationalities Branch within its Department of National War Services, with Philipps as its European Adviser. The thesis explores the subsequent changes in the discursive practice created by the mediation of different ideological approaches brought forward by Philipps, various politicians and adult educators in their search to recognize and define what constituted being a "citizen", a "foreigner"---and, most of all, a "Canadian". The debates accelerated the process of common national self-identification and the emergence of a new institution of "Canadian citizenship". The resulting new discourse affirmed the idea that Canada was a national unit with, nevertheless, an inherent diversity that can be contained and managed if that management were entrusted in the state authority as guarantor of the equality of all its citizens.

Throughout the English-speaking world, minority language children (LMC) or children who speak English as an additional language (EAL) are being educated in mainstream classrooms where they have little or no opportunity to use their mother tongue. This study investigates how educators at primary schools in Merseyside, where English is usually the only language in the classroom, respond to the educational and academic needs (linguistic, cognitive) of LMC/EAL children. It addresses socio-linguistic issues, teaching strategies and instructional approaches related to linguistic development and academic achievement of LMCIEAL pupils. It outlines the background to policy and practice in relation to LMCIEAL pupils in Britain. School districts across the United Kingdom are serving increasing number of children from varied cultural and social-linguistic backgrounds in mainstream classrooms. While the population of LMC/EAL will continue to increase, the majority of teachers and those in teacher programs are mainly from a white British background with limited awareness, knowledge and understanding of linguistic needs of LMC/EAL children in mainstream classrooms. Thus, a major challenge for educators is to develop and provide resources that enable teaching such diverse populations to become more effective. The research investigates in particular, how well local authorities and schools can raise standards for all learners in mainstream primary classrooms and examines the ways in which mainstream educational policy and practice has attempted to adapt in recognising that linguistic diversity is the norm rather than the exception in modem British society. The research focuses on what instructional strategies that schools employ in order to provide the best support for language minority children in the classroom in term of the individually focused approaches to learning, closer link between school and home and resources available for schools serving LMC/EAL pupils. The focus of this research is on the experience of staff from 20 primary schools within two local authorities in Merseyside. Questionnaires, semi-structured interviews with the primary schools staff and local authority advisers and government/school policy documents were used as data sources. The results of the study showed that the institution and community (use of first language) play a role in academic achievement of LMC/EAL pupils. The study revealed that teachers within mainstream classrooms recognise the importance of bilingualism, but due to the lack of resources and support, they found it hard to put it into practice. The results indicated that most participants were from a dominant language (English) background, which lack the awareness and experience needed to be effective in multi cultural classrooms. Suggestions are made for improved content delivery and further research including bilingualism as a teaching approach should become a legitimate topic for discussion and further research.

Research Aim: Our aim is to understand how multinational companies integrate cultural diversity of employees in their corporate culture. To achieve this objective, we compare the employees’ perception with the company's view on the topic. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative case study is conducted with three sets of questionnaires. Two sets of questionnaires were designed for the foreign and the local employees. The third set was created for the department of human resource management who represented the company’s view. Analysis is done by comparing the theories with empirical findings of the study. Findings: The findings revealed that corporate culture is inspired by the national culture. By implementing a proper recruiting process, socialization and teamwork, multinational companies can integrate cultural diversity successfully in their corporate culture. Several tools such as offering language courses, announcements in both languages, a welcoming at the new country booklet, mentors, anonymous feedback on cultural issues and sports or cultural outings are proposed to manage cultural diversity. These tools can be used for both the foreign and the local employees. The integration relies on both employees and the companies. However, upper management should support the department of human resources management to find solutions for the integration of a culturally diverse workforce. Practical implications: Contemporary studies propose tools like mentoring programs that are costly and may ignite stereotyping while managing cultural diversity. This study proposes tools that are cost-effective and functional in integrating and managing cultural diversity of employees. Originality/Value: Previous studies do not emphasize the role of corporate culture in integrating cultural diversity of employees. This study focuses on the empirical gap of employees’ perception on the role of corporate culture in integrating cultural diversity. It proposes, that to manage cultural diversity, companies should only focus on the national and corporate culture of the company and not necessarily of the employee’s culture.<br>Syftet: Vårt mål är att förstå hur multinationella företag integrerar kulturellt mångfald i deras företagskultur. För att uppnå detta mål jämför vi medarbetarnas uppfattning med företagets syn i ämnet. Design / metod / tillvägagångssätt: En kvalitativ fallstudie genomförs med tre uppsättningar av frågeformulär. Två av frågeformulären utformades för utländska och lokala anställda. Den tredje uppsättningen skapades för personalavdelningschefen som representerade företagets uppfattning. En analys görs genom att jämföra teorierna med det empiriska resultatet av studien. Resultat: Resultatet visade att företagskulturen är inspirerad av den nationella kulturen. Genom att implementera en organiserad rekryteringsprocess, socialisering och lagarbete, kan multinationella företagen integrera kulturell mångfald framgångsrikt i sin företagskultur. Flera verktyg så som att erbjuda språkkurser, utskick på bägge språken, ett välkomshäfte för det nya landet, mentorer, anonym feedback om kulturella frågor och sport eller kulturutflykter föreslås för att hantera kulturell mångfald. Dessa verktyg kan användas för både utländska och lokala anställda. Integrationen bygger på både de anställda och företaget. Högre befattningar bör dock stödja personalavdelningen för att hitta lösningar för integration av en multikulturell arbetskraft. Praktiska åtgärder: Samtidsstudier som verktyg så som mentorprogram är kostsamma och kan skapa fördomar samtidigt när man vill behandla ämnet. Den här studien föreslår verktyg som är kostnadseffektiva och funktionella för att integrera och hantera kulturella mångfald hos de anställda. Bidrag: Tidigare studier betonar inte företagskulturens roll i att integrera kulturell mångfald hos anställda. Denna studie fokuserar på det empiriska gapet av medarbetarnas uppfattning om företagskulturens roll för att integrera den kulturella mångfalden. Det föreslås, för att hantera kulturell mångfald bör företagen bara fokusera på den nationella kulturen och företagskulturen och inte nödvändigtvis på medarbetarens kultur.