TraversPHRM7007-8 1

NORTHCENTRAL UNIVERSITY
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Student: Patricia Travers

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HRM7007-8 Dr. Roger Holt

Cultural Diversity Activity 8: Signature Assignment

Type Student Comments/Message Here:

It has been such a pleasure having you as my mentor in this course. I learned a great deal from you
and you added unique insights to the assignments. Thank you and best of luck in the future. PT

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Cultural Diversity

Week Eight

Activity: Signature Assignment

Patricia Travers

Northcentral University

August 7, 2016
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Introduction

Any discussion of diversity is bound to be complex as the subject encompasses an

enormous variety of aspects. The best place to begin a discussion of diversity is to define what

diversity is, and is not. Diversity is an extension of the legal mechanisms that guide employment

law. Diversity is not affirmative action or the dictates of the Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission (EEOC).

Diversity is the harmonious blending of legal and personal aspects of employees in an

organization (Tetteh, 2015). Diversity combines the visible and invisible traits and personalities

of employees. These are just a few of the things that comprise diversity, not only in the

workplace, but in society as well. Another excellent definition of diversity comes from Schneider

and Northcraft (1999) as the way a variety of cultures, abilities, religions, ages and other factors

come together, particularly in the business sense.

Today’s workforce is a rich mixture comprised of many different individuals and classes:

• Generations

• Genders

• Sexual preferences

• Religions

• Socio-Economic status

• Cultures

• Languages

• Ethnic origins

• Physical characteristics

• Mental abilities
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Considering the breadth and depth of the diversity question, it is no wonder that diversity

management has found its own place in the management and academic hierarchy. To create that

harmonious blending, communication must be the primary focus of any diversity plan, and it is

for that reason that I have selected communication as the focus of this paper.

Discussion

Given the broad mixture of individuals in the workplace, there are bound to be

difficulties that will arise. Yet, in spite of these challenges, there is much to be gained by the

inclusion of different people with different outlooks, skills and abilities. Our job is to find ways

to make it work for everyone (Lindenberger, n.d.).

It would be rare to meet someone that does not hold some type of stereotype, bias or

other cultural baggage. While we would like to believe we are the exception to the rule, we all

hold some type of bias. This does mean that we are actively racist, sexist or gender biased, it is

just part of the human condition. This stems from personal experience in many cases. If we have

repeated experiences with a certain type of person, we will begin to form opinions of that person

or culture that may or may not be true of the entire population. Yet, to create a positive and

diverse workforce, we must find a way to combat these negative feelings that will preserve the

dignity of all the employees. It starts with management and requires strong communication and

commitment to diversity for any plan to succeed.

As Human Resource managers, we are in an excellent position to create professional

strategies that encourages diversity and create a culture that embraces it. There are multitudes of

factors that cause employees to be distrustful of each other and we must remain focused on

providing a workplace that is free of harassment, bias, stereotyping or other unpleasant

behaviors. Patience is required in these instances as it is difficult to change the mindset of an

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employee inculcated with a belief system that excludes certain types of people. We need to stress

the importance of professional behavior in the workplace regardless of personal feelings (van

Knippenberg, van Ginkel, & Homan, 2013). This should be part of the employee orientation

process so that the expectations of professional behavior for all employees is clear from the

outset and the consequences for

Schneider and Northcraft (1999) write that in order to benefit from diversity an

organization must first become diverse and continue to maintain that state. One only needs to

look at a Facebook page or the comments published following any internet news story to see that

the divisiveness in this country seems to increasing and that is frightening. The recent tragic

events in Missouri, Louisiana and especially in Dallas, Texas are an indication that our society is

becoming less tolerant of our differences. This presents a conundrum for business: how to

maintain a diverse workforce in the face of such extreme hatred. While we cannot solve all of

society’s problems, we can tackle the problem that exists in our individual organizations.

Diversity and communication. Communication on any level is challenging and particularly so

in today’s business atmosphere. A casual comment, joke, or even a compliment might be

perceived as offensive to another person (Fritscher, 2007). One of the problems in addressing the

question of diversity is, what seems to be, a lack of respect for the subject. Some individuals

within an organization may reject the idea of diversity as being important. In my workplace if a

blatant offense does not take place, it is considered ordinary behavior for employees. The

leadership of this particular organization does not accept that the side glances, jokes about other

employees, behind-the-back comments, snubbing and/or eye-rolling is a destructive atmosphere

that does nothing to promote diversity, much less a positive workplace atmosphere. Negative

behaviors cause a lack of harmony, loss of productivity and creates the potential for liability for
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the company in the form of harassment complaints and other legal unpleasantness that can spring

from stereotypes, bias, jealousy and other cultural baggage.

Compound this with a lack of understanding of the language and/or cultural behaviors or

customs of an employee from a vastly different background and the challenge becomes even

more daunting.

Challenges to communication and diversity. People like to categorize things. This helps

people to make sense of the world (Markman, 2009). At one time, there were fewer categories to

consider; black/white, male/female, rich/poor and so on. In today’s world, however, we are

exposed to a greater variety of people, habits and cultures. With that comes a natural resistance

to change. The primary factor in resisting change is fear. Fear of the unknown and in the work

sense, how that unknown will affect a particular individual. Many assume that this impact will

be negative. We hear much in the media about immigration. One of the things that is often

mentioned is that immigrants to the United States will “steal” American jobs. This has become a

stereotype when discussing immigration for a certain portion of the population. A variety of

studies has shown that the jobs held by immigrants are not ones that most Americans are willing

to perform: housekeeping, domestic positions, entry-level positions, etc... In my experience, as a

working human resource manager has been that immigrant employees are often more hard

working and complain less than “citizens” complain and seem to value the opportunity to prove

themselves.

Cross-cultural communication. Globalization, be it an organization expanding its operations to

foreign countries, or the addition of those who have immigrated to the United States has brought

fresh talent and skills to the workplace. These employees, regardless of location, have a different

set of rules, customs, speech and jargon that is foreign to most citizens of the United States.
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Learning how to communicate effectively with all employees is paramount to success of any

organization in the 21st century (Mfene, 2010).

Perhaps the most effective way to broach the subject of cultural communication is to

understand how different countries communicate. In the 1990’s Richard Lewis developed what

has become known as the Lewis Cross Cultural Communication Model (McLean & Lewis,

2010). The image below is a visual representation of this model:

As is evident by the graphic, Lewis bases his mode on three specific communication types:

1. Linear-Active – cool, factual, decisive

2. Multi-Active – warm, emotional, impulsive, loquacious

3. Reactive – courteous, amiable, good listener, compromiser

Further examination of the graphic shows how various cultural communication styles vary from

country to country (Lubin, 2014). This is a rather simplistic illustration and is meant in no

manner to explain the cultural and language differences, however, it does provide a baseline for a

discussion of cultural communication. If nothing else, it illustrates the variety of communication

differences between various cultural groups.

DuPraw and Axner (n.d.) expand on this foundation by splitting the cross-cultural

communication challenges into six fundamental cultural categories:

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1. Differences in Communication Styles: While there are clearly language differences in

cross-cultural communication there are other factors such as non-verbal communication

that varies greatly between cultures. Asians consider silence to be polite, while people in

the United States feel silence is uncomfortable. Even gestures may take on various

meanings from country to country. As an example the gesture for “ok” (a circle made

with the thumb and forefinger) is considered acceptable and positive in the United States,

but is considered an insult in Brazil, Russia and Germany as it is a gesture for a bodily

orifice (Cotton, n.d.).

2. Differences in Attitudes toward Conflict: Some cultures embrace conflict while others

find it inappropriate. Asians tend to find conflict embarrassing, while the French delight

in argument (Lubin, 2014)

3. Differences in Approaches to Completing Tasks: There are a variety of attitudes that

color how different cultures approach tasks. In the United States getting things done

quickly is considered the norm, while in Hispanic and Asian cultures more value is

placed on developing a relationship in the beginning of the relationship which causes the

process to move more slowly.

4. Differences in Decision Making Strategies: This difference varies greatly between

countries. In the United States decisions are often delegated. In Asian cultures decision

making is done using collaboration. In Southern European and Latin American countries

decision making is done by oneself, with little input from others.

5. Differences in Attitudes toward Disclosure: This relates to how readily various cultures

are willing to express emotion or discuss conflict or misunderstanding. This is

particularly interesting with regard to management of workplace conflict. Depending

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upon the cultural background of the individuals with the conflict, discussion about the

issue may prove challenging. In this particular situation, knowing the cultural tendency of

both parties would assist in mediating the conflict.

6. Differences in Approaches to Knowing: This deals with how people learn from culture to

culture. In recent years, those in the United States have begun to borrow aspects of

approaches to knowing from other cultures. Asian cultures value knowledge based on

what is learned based on transcendence; African cultures rely on imagery, rhythm and

symbolism and European cultures rely heavily on numbers and counting.

These differences illustrate in detail only some of the differences in how cross-cultural styles that

are adopted by various cultures. While no culture can be stereotyped, or predicted there are

cultural norms that are specific to particular regions or countries.

Kinsey-Gorman (2011) further discusses differences in cross-cultural communication by

describing them as:

 High-context vs. Low-context: This relates to how information is given and received.

High-context countries leave much of a message unspecified with the expectation that it

will be understood through context. Low-context countries give and receive very specific

information. High-context cultures include; African, Arab, Asian, American Indian, Latin

American, Mediterranean and Central European. Low-context cultures include Germanic

and English speaking countries.

 Sequential vs. Synchronic: This aspect relates to how time is viewed by various cultures.

In sequential cultures time is viewed as something to use or waste. In synchronic cultures,

time is viewed as a constant flow that is continuous and cannot be controlled. In business

this addresses how tasks are viewed. In the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, and
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England businesspeople attend to one item after another. Individuals in these countries

tend to take a short-term view of things. In South America, Asia and southern Europe a

long-term approach is the norm for many business tasks and decisions and view time as

something to be understood in the present and to plan for the future.

 Affective vs. Neutral: Affective cultures are those where its members show emotion

easily. Neutral cultures tend to hide their feelings, particularly in business dealings and

find emotional outbursts inappropriate. Affective cultures assume many emotional

aspects such as laughing, arguing, smiling, scowling, etc., Neutral cultures include Japan,

the U.K., Norway and Indonesia. Affective cultures include the United States, Italy and

France.

Recommendations

Maximize the positive outcomes of diversity.. The reason most people are associated with an

organization is because they want to be successful. The more successful the organization, the

more individual benefit there is. Diversity provides organizations with a completely new talent

pool that can – and should – be incorporated into any organization that wishes to grow and have

continued success in their particular area (Lindenberger, n.d.). Focusing primarily on the goals of

the organization and downplaying the differences between employees is a management function

that needs to be emphasized on a continued basis. Human Resources, as well as all the managers

of an organization, must remind their employees that everyone is here for a specific purpose: to

help create and maintain a successful business. The message we send must be clear: we are only

interested in having the best people employed with our company irrespective of personal

feelings. While we always welcome input from our employees, we must subtly send the message

that the people hired by this organization have been, and will continue to be, selected based on
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their skills, qualification for the position and their potential to contribute to the company’s

success and nothing else. All employees of this company will share in the overall successes we

achieve and we want to have the best possible workforce to make that happen (Simons &

Rowland, 2011).

Employee involvement. On the heels of learning to deal with change, we should involve the

employees in developing a plan to embrace diversity in the workplace. Employees should be

asked for their suggestions to improve diversity. As managers we can develop as many plans as

we wish, but if the workforce doesn’t buy into them, the plan will not work. Plans that come

from the workforce are effective because they are the people interacting with their fellow

employees the most and therefore understand the areas that need attention to improve the

diversity culture.

One organization I was once involved with had an extremely diverse staff. Several times

during the year the organization held a dinner and invited the employees to bring a dish that was

representative of their particular culture. In sharing these dishes, it created an atmosphere that

allowed the employees to ask questions about the various cultural backgrounds of other

employees. Because the venue was casual, many of the functional separations were not present

and much was learned about one’s fellow employees. There was never a lack of participation at

these dinners. Or food!

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Summary

While this paper has discussed some of the common elements of various cultures it

should be noted that every individual is different. Belonging to a particular cultural group does

not necessarily insure that they will exhibit all, or indeed any, of the aspects that are generally

associated with their culture. There are gregarious Asians and taciturn Hispanics. The point of

this discussion is to shed light on the various cultural aspects that can emerge during enterprise.

It seems that the best way to approach cross-cultural communication is to adopt the

position that if one is unsure about the message being sent or received, clarification should be

sought. For those who are involved in international business, understanding the general

characteristics of a particular culture should be a specific understanding of the target audience. It

should not be assumed that your target audience is understanding your meaning (Mfene, 2010).

One of the interesting aspects of any culture is that we tend to assume that all people think and

comprehend the way we do. When dealing with a diverse cultural population in the workplace a

different set of communication rules should be in place. One of the most important things that

any manager should do is to insure their message is understood. Depending upon the culture of

the employee they may be unwilling to show either understanding or lack of understanding. In

this case making sure that the employee feels comfortable with the conversation and the situation

will send the message that you have their best interests, as well as those of the organization, at

heart. Treating each person with respect and dignity is a universal courtesy that should be

extended to not only the people with whom we do business, but to all people in general.

The behaviors exhibited by not only human resource professionals, but the executive and

middle management of a company must send a message that diversity is valued in their

organization. This does not need to be showy, but rather habits that are incorporated into daily
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interactions with all employees, regardless of their diverse nature. Successful companies have

successful employees (Sussman, 1993) and successful employees are those that see the positive

aspects of the variety of co-workers with which they engage on a daily basis. Perhaps the best

way to focus on the positive aspects of diversity is not to speak of it, but to embrace it.

In my experience, I have realized that we do not actually know very much about the

people with whom we work. Even people that seem quite similar to us can have a variety of

individual traits, likes, dislikes, habits, customs and so on. Sometimes the realization that one of

your co-workers has a particularly naughty habit can come as a shock. We may find out that

someone who seems unpleasant at work is devoted to his or her family, or regularly does charity

work outside of the workplace. If we can carry this further, our stereotypes, biases and other

negative baggage is really a continuation of the same theme, but on a greater level. We do not

know the hopes, fears, insecurities or any other emotion that someone, who does not share our

culture, sexual orientation, gender, religion or language, feels. Especially if we never ask them

about those things.

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References

Cotton, G. (n.d.). Gestures to Avoid in Cross-Cultural Business: In Other Words, 'Keep Your

Fingers to Yourself!'. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gayle-cotton/cross-

cultural-gestures_b_3437653.html

DuPraw, M., & Axner, M. (n.d.). AMPU guide: Common cross-cultural communication

challenges. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/ampu/crosscult.html

Fritscher, L. (2007). Workplace diversity: What you need to know. Retrieved from

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communication/communicating-across-cultures

Lindenberger, J. (n.d.). Diversity and the workplace. Retrieved from

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Lubin, G. (2014). Communication charts around the world. Retrieved from

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Markman, A. (2009). Categories, essentialism, race, and culture. Retrieved from

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race-and-culture

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communication: Analysis of human capital performance and productivity. Journal of

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Simons, S. M., & Rowland, K. N. (2011). Diversity and its impact on organizational

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