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MANAGING WORK FORCE DIVERSITY
- Need for a Contingency Approach in IHRM
Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe Prof. Dr. P. S.RaoDirector DeanPrin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research Management Development & ResearchMatunga , Mumbai – 400019 Matunga , Mumbai – 400019
ABSTRACT :
The attitudes, beliefs, values and customs of people in a society are an integralpart of their culture. Naturally, their culture affects their behaviour on the joband the environment within the organization, influencing their reactions towork assignments, leadership styles, and reward systems. Like the externaland internal environments of which it is a part, culture is undergoing continualchange. HR policies and procedures therefore must be adjusted to cope withthis change. In this paper an attempt was made to examine the workforcediversity and cultural diversity and discussed the role of IHRM and itschallenges in International Business and also how Inter country culturedifferences affect HRM with Indian perspective.
Work Force Diversity -what it means?
Work force diversity means those organizations in general and MultinationalCorporations (MNC’s) in particular, which are becoming more heterogeneousin terms of gender, race, and ethnicity. One of the most important and broad –based challenges currently facing these organizations is adapting to “people”who are different. The traditional “melting pot approach” to differences inorganizations conveniently assumed that people who were different wouldsome how automatically want to assimilate. But it is now increasinglyrecognized all over the world that employees do not set aside their culturalvalues and life style preferences when they come to work. The challenge (and
2also opportunity) for organizations, therefore, is to make themselves moreaccommodating these diverse cultural groups of people by addressing theirdifferent life styles, family needs, and work styles. However, the melting potassumption is being replaced in recent years by one that recognizes and valuesdifferences
Work Force Diversity –Management Implications:
Work force diversity has important implications for management practices.Managers will need to shift their philosophy from treating everyone alike torecognizing differences and responding to those differences in ways that willensure employee retention and greater productivity – while, at the same time,not discriminating. Workforce diversity is a “doubled-edged sword”. It cutsboth ways. If positively managed, diversity can increase creativity andinnovation in organizations as well as improve decision making by providingdifferent perspective on problems. When diversity is not managed properly,there is potential for higher turnover, more difficult communication, and moreinterpersonal conflicts.
Review of Literature:
Dramatic increases in international activity in the last decade have raisedattention on the management of human resources in firms operating acrossborders. Much literature discusses IHRM in terms of how it differs fromdomestic HRM. Morgon (1986) discusses three factors:1.
Type of employees (local nationals, expatriates, third country nationals);2.
Countries of operations (host, home, other); and3.
Human resources function operations (procurement, allocation,utilization).4.
Others (Flokowski and Nath, 1990; Kidger, 1991; Gronhaug andNordhaug, 1992) argues that IHRM differs from and is more difficult tomanage than domestic HRM because of macro environmental factors such
3as cultural, socio-economic, institutional, and political dissimilaritiesacross countries. Schuler et al. (1993) define IHRM as, “human resourcemanagement issues, functions, and policies and practices that result fromthe strategic activities of multinational enterprises and that impact theinternational concerns and goals of those enterprises.” In a multiculturalcontext, IHRM comprises four critical components :1.
A firm’s various environments or context (both inside and outside of the firm);2.
The IHRM function (activities of finding, allocating, developing andvaluing human resources plus supporting systems and processes);3.
Employees involved in work that transcends borders (mode of international interaction. Level / type, and “source) and4.
Outcomes or contribution of HRM.These components of IHRM create a three-part framework or process of diagnosing organizational environments, designing and managing humanresources activities, systems, and processes in organizations that operateacross borders and evaluating IHRM’s contribution.In a multicultural context, IHRM function focuses on activities, polices andpractices of managing human resources. Four types of human resourceactivities include: Finding, allocating, developing and valuing employees.1.
Finding consists of planning for, recruiting, and selecting employees(Kane and Stanton, 1991).2.
Allocating includes issues relating to staffing, promoting, demoting, andtransferring employees (Gregersen and Black, 1992).3.
Developing employees embraces policies and practices associated withpreparing employees for current and future jobs in terms of formal andinformal training, development programmes, and career management(Evans, 1992).
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Uday Salunkhe - Managing Work Force Diversity
This article talks about the Challenges and opportunities for agriculture sector in India. It has been co- authored by Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Director of the prestigious Welingkar Institute of Management and Research
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