CULTURAL DIVERSITY

This paper is written to fulfill the assignment of

“English for Business”

Lecturer:
Nur Khasanah, S.Pd.I., M.Pd.

Compiled by:
Hanna Haika Humaira (204180034)
Lailatul Azizah (204180045)
Liza Akromatul Muf'idah (204180046)
Milenia Tri Rista Aryuni (204180050)

English Education B/ 7th Semester

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINING
STATE UNIVERSITY OF ISLAMIC STUDIES PONOROGO
2021
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background
At the organizational level, the concern for cultural diversity is central, mainly as
a result of the global economy, which has brought the internationalization of
organizations and a change in the composition of the workforce, primarily through
immigration and guest workers. Also, global legislative trends concerning anti-
discrimination oblige firms to adopt such policies with respect to their employees. Thus,
on an organizational level, a series of programs, practices and interventions are
developed in order to capitalize on the positive aspects of a diverse workforce. Most
often, these are reflected in human resource practices, e.g.: increasing numerical
representation of employees coming from minority/vulnerable groups (e.g.: criteria
based on ethnicity, race, gender), mentoring, educational and diversity training programs
(e.g. diversity and cultural awareness), work-life balance programs for vulnerable groups
(e.g. women, people with certain religious affiliations, the elderly, etc.), new family
friendly policies adapted to new types of family. This concern for workplace cultural
diversity is also reflected in the existing literature within this field of study, which has
developed relatively recently into a scientific field.
Moreover, the history of the world cultures is and always will be interesting.
Today’s globalization with its global migration as well as modern technology have
brought many different cultures closer together and we can find a clash of those diverse
cultures at the modern workplace. However, cultural diversity at the workplace
encompasses much more than just working side by side with people from other nations.
Cultural diversity is a fascinating topic. It is interesting to analyse a phenomenon that
steadily increases in importance and that, only recently, has been recognized as an asset
and opportunity for creating competitive advantage rather than a burden that has to be
managed, wasting valuable resourses. Therefore, cultural diversity has become an
important aspects of organizations as consequence of globalization and demographic
change. The complexity of managing a multicultural workforce and environment is
becoming a big challenge. International; organizations have the important responsibility
to value and manage diversity to ensure positive individual interaction, reduce prejudice
and discrimination among people with diversity cultural characteristics, and train them
 to work together respectfully and effectively.

B. Research Problem
1. What is the definition of cultural diversity?
2. What are the types of cultural diversity?
3. What are the characteristic of culture diversity?
4. What are the effect of cultural diversity in business?
5. How to managing diversity in the workplace?
6. What are the benefits of cultural diversity?
C. Research Objectives
1. To know the definition of cultural diversity
2. To know the types of cultural diversity
3. To know the characteristic of culture diversity
4. To know the effect of cultural diversity in business
5. To know how to managing diversity in the workplace
6. To know the benefits of cultural diversity
 CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION

A. Definition of Cultural Diversity

Culture is a concept that is as old as the human existence. The anthropologist
Tylor (1974) described culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge,
belief, art, morals, law, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by
man as a member of society. Culture is often illustrated with the image of an iceberg.
Only the small tip of an iceberg appears visible over the water surface, while the
biggest part is hidden under the water which misleads the perspective of the viewer.
The same happens with culture, as the most essential elements necessary for its
understanding are unseen (Schein, 2010). 1
Moreover, cultural diversity refers to the presence and interaction of people who
have different cultural backgrounds, attitudes, traditions and customs within the
same society as result of international migration (UNESCO). Within an
organizational framework, cultural diversity is referred to a mixture of cultural
dissimilarities that characteristic the workforce (Prasad et al., 1997). The profit
ability of a company is conditioned by cultural diversity (Adler and Gundersen,
2008) and sometimes this can compromise the achievement of desired results due to
misinterpretations or cultural clashes (Granovetter, 2005). According to Cox (1991),
a firm that simply includes several culturally diverse groups is considered a plural
firm, meanwhile when a firm appreciates the value of its workforce diversity it is
considered a multicultural organization. Indeed, a well managed culturally diverse
organization has the potential to benefit from improved decision making, creativity
and innovation as result of the individual’s distinct perspectives that will constitute
the organization’s competitive advantage (Cox and Blake, 1991). 2 Cultural diversity
is defined by gender, racial, and ethic differences. These definitions are determined
by discrimination legislation, organization in the US and do not necessarily apply to
other cultural and social contexts. Another approach in defining cultural diversity is
based on the criteria/methods to differentiate individuals among themselves, making

1
Mariana Piselli, Determinants of Cultural Diversity Training Effectiveness, (Berlin: SRH University of
Applied Sciences Berlin International Business Administration, 2017), p.3.
2
Ibid., page 7.
 a distinction between primary, secondary and tertiary dimensions of diversity
(Mazur, 2010). Primary dimensions include gender, ethnicity, race, age,
mental/physical abilities. Secondary dimensions refer to religion, culture, sexual
orientation, lifestyle, political orientation, work experience, education, language etc.
and tertiary dimension address: beliefs, assumptions, perceptions, attitudes, feelings,
values. All these dimensions are seen as interacting in creating the identity of the
individual, generating similarities and differentiations that affect the work
environment. this perspective is a reaction to the conception that predominated in
the organizational field, according to which diversity was only associated with
multicultural, multiethnic, and multiracial aspects (Manzur, 2010). 3 Furthermore,
culture diversity is the difference of human traits, qualities, venues and beliefs which
an individual adapts by nature and nurture, depending on the group to which the
individual belongs and relates to. Cultural diversity can be found everywhere.
Claude Levi-Strauss (1971) said that “we can see the diversity of human cultures
behind us, around us, and before us”. As a direct result, tensions between people
from different cultures will always arise. Levi-Strauss continued to say that “the only
demand that we can justly make is that all the forms this diversity may take
contributes to the fullness of all the others”. We can expand his point and safely
make the assumption that diversity not only how to cope with cultural diversity, but
how to manage it in order to gain a comparative competitive advantage in any
organization’s respective industry. The next chapter will elaborate more on this point
and explain why cultural diversity can become a competitive advantage. 4

B. Types of Cultural Diversity

If we talk about Cultural Diversity at the workplace, we think about the variety
of nationalities and ethnicities. Cultural Diversity is a complex issue and the word
‘community’ used by Goffee and Jones (1996) is only one of several
acknowledgements that the expression encompasses much more than nationality and
ethnicity. Here are just some of the different types of diversity in the workplace:

3
Veronica Maria Mateescu, Cultural Diversity in the Workplace-Discourse and perspesctives, (Babes: Bolyai
Universty, 2017), p.26-27.
4
Carine, dkk., Multicultural Management: International Intra- and Entrepreneurship (Cultural Diversity),
(Australia: St. Gallen University, 2007), p.6.
1. Race and Ethnicity
Race and ethnicity are crucial factors when we speak about diversity in the
workplace. Race is a person’s biological identity, including physical
characteristics such as skin color, hair type, etc. Employees of color have often
faced challenges getting hired, being accepted by the co-workers, and also
receiving fair compensation. One’s race might affect factors like life expectancy
and treatment by the criminal justice system. While on the other hand, ethnicity
is more about a person’s cultural background or geographic history. People who
belong to diverse racial and ethnic groups bring in unique perspectives to the
workplace.
2. Religious beliefs
Religious diversity can impact to staff’s drees, request for particular days off,
and because of different religious, perhaps thinking among employees are often
too different, but still have the same vision and mission of the company.
3. Workers with disabilities
Diversity in the workplace also applies to workers with disabilities. Whether
impairments from vision, learning, or mental health, diversity comes in many
ways. As a result, companies need to ensure that their diversity and inclusion
programs recognize and make provision for the wide spectrum of disabilities.
4. Educational background
Education varies greatly by location, school, and teacher, and can be heavily
influenced by national, state and district laws and requirements. This means that
now single individual will have the exact same educational. On the flip side,
employers are creating opportunities to help such professionals by pass collage
in exchange for applicable experiences. Some companies now longer require
candidates to complete or bachelor’s or master’s degree to compete for a role.
Instead, companies are focusing on experiences, as well as hard and soft skills to
qualify candidates.
5. Gender
In today business world, men and women work side by side in careers of all
kinds. For the most part there are no more “female” jobs or “male” roles in
business. Consequently, men and women are asked every day to relate to each
other in new (and equal) ways, and that makes some people uncomfortable.
 According to the World Economic Forum, it will take 208 years to reach gender
equality in the U.S. Cultural diversity in the workplace also applies to gender.
Gender do not have to be binary, which is a new way of thinking for many
organizations.
6. Generations
Age counts as diversity in business. Generation X, Millennials, and Gen
Z are some of the different generations that make up a diverse workforce. And
each group has different expectations and experiences that every employees
bring with them to work. For example, millennials are known for seeking
flexibility in their work and doing jobs that align with their personal values.
There is was not something Gen Z focused on when they joined the workforce.5

C. Characteristic of Culture Diversity

Various noticeable characteristics of cultural diversity have been pointed below:

1. Cultural diversity is regarded as the double-edged sword in an organization. By

double-edged it means that, if handled judiciously, it can reap the best result for
an organization, otherwise, it can be dangerous for the existence of an
organization.

2. Cultural diversity is regarded as a concept which is wider than the concept of

equal participation or equal opportunity.

3. Cultural diversity does not only include age, demographic profile. But also
includes religion, perception, educational background and personality.

4. Cultural diversity is not only applicable at a particular department or specific

level. It is applicable at the entire level and for every organization.

5. It is dynamic and an ongoing process.

6. It includes visible, non-visible tangible and intangible components.6

D. The Effects of Cultural Diversity

5Carine T., Gabriel De L’Escaille, Martin Eisenring, Ramon Tomas i Ranz, “Cultural Diversity: Seeing
Cultural Diversity as a Rsource”, (Universitat St.Gallen, June 2007). p. 5-6.
6
Aaiman Siddiqui, Ehtesham Ahmad, Neeraj Shukla, “Management of Cultural Diversity at Workplace”.
(Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Language University Lucknow, August 2020). p. 4.
 With the increase of globalization in the world, cultural diversity in the
workplace has grown as a tread. Cultural diversity can affect the workplace in
numerous ways. Negative effects can include miscommunication, creation of
barriers, and dysfunctional adaptation behaviors. Positive effects can include
building a sound knowledge base with in-house talent, which can make for smoother
integration of the organization into foreign cultures.

One negative effect of cultural diversity in the workplace is the increased

tendency of organizational personnel to indulge in interpersonal conflicts. Culturally
diverse workers have different opinions, thoughts, beliefs, norms, customs, values,
trends, and traditions. Not so obvious dimensions, such as culture, religion, and
politics, only show up with the passage of time.
A positive effect of cultural diversity in the workplace is that employees
belonging to different cultures usually have different ways of thinking and can thus
analyze a matter at hand from a variety of perspectives. This is hard to achieve when
employees belonging to the same culture are asked to analyze the same matter.
Employees coming from different cultures have different experiences, which can be
beneficial by providing the organization
with a sound and vast knowledge base.
Another positive effect of cultural diversity in the workplace is the increased
tendency of organizational personnel to overcome culture shock as the business
expands in other countries and becomes international. This is a very important
benefit derived from cultural diversity of the employees because many modern
companies have global expansion on their corporate agendas. With expansion into
other countries comes a range of obstacles including, but not limited to, gathering
information about local customs and laws in the foreign country, assessing risk, and
designing strategies to overcome those risks. When an organization has a culturally
diverse workforce, it can use the information and knowledge of the individual
workers to achieve these objectives and overcome the aforementioned obstacles. For
example, an American company trying to expand its business in Idi can draw
information about the Indian federal and provincial laws that apply to the business,
insurances required, and applicable tax regulations.
Similarly, cultural diversity of the workforce helps an organization shift its business
from the brick-and mortar office to the online marketplace. Diversity helps in the
 expansion of an organization’s perspective, approach, strategic tactics, launch of a
new product, development of a marketing plan, creation of a new idea, design of a
new operation, and assessment of emerging trends (Adler, 2002). (Adler, 2002)
identified five fundamental strategies for the management of cultural diversity in the
workplace; namely, cultural dominance, cultural avoidance, cultural compromise,
cultural synergy, and cultural accommodation. Of these, the most desirable strategy
is of cultural synergy, which is acquired through placing value in other cultures
without giving up self-culture.7

E. Managing Diversity in the Workplace

Human resources managers oversee diversity. They seek ways to make the
company inclusive by hiring people of different characteristics, backgrounds, and
ethnicities. This diversity leads to a more realistic world view, which can lead to a
competitive advantage. Employee diversity is an asset in dealing with clients and
customers of various cultures. Diversity management programs try to draw on the
strength of a company’s melting pot. Managing diversity in the workplace presents
a set of unique challenges can be mitigated if an organization makes a concerted
effort to encourage a more heterogeneous environment through promoting a culture
of tolerance, open communication and creating conflict management strategies to
address issues that may arise.8

Here are some tips for managing diversity in the workplace:

1. Create written policies

Companies should include their policy in relation to diversity in their employee

handbook. The policy should contain information about non-discrimination
laws, the code of conduct, and the compensation and benefits policy.

2. Provide sensitivity training

Employees should be provided with sensitivity training to create a better

workplace culture. Sensitivity training can help employees to value views that
are different, understand words, and actions that cause offense and what needs

7 Gillian Coote Martin, “The Effects Of Cultural Diversity In The Workplace”. Journal of Diversity
Management. Vol. 9. No 2, December 2014. p. 89.
8
Betty J. Brown, and John E. Clow, “Introduction to Business”, (United States of America, 2008). p. 323.
 to be done if they’ve been offended.

3. Create an accountability plan

Use regular surveys to check in on your progress, and have a plan in place for
how you’re going to ensure staff uphold these policies.

4. Address micro-aggressions

Micro-aggressions are “thinly veiled, everyday instances of racism, homophobia,

sexism (and more) that you see in the world.” Examples might be commenting
on how well an ethnically diverse person speaks English or saying that a Black
co-worker is well-dressed. Use trainings to help address these mico-aggressions

5. Facilitate effective communication.

One of the biggest challenges of managing a diverse workforce is ensuring there

is clear and effective communication throughout the organisation. To ensure
everyone is on the same page, make sure that all the employees understand all
the procedures, policies, safety rules and any other important information.

6. Impose a zero-tolerance policy

After employees have received the handbook and training about diversity issues,
the company needs to set the tone about how violations will be dealt with.
Employees should be aware that inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated and
every reported incident will be taken seriously.9

F. Benefits of Cultural Diversity

There is substantial literature which argues that diversity has performance

advantages over homogeneous work structures (Cox, Lobel and MacLeod, 1991;
Cox and Blake, 1991). The advantages of cultural diversity include:10

1. Leadership

Diversity in the workplace can have a powerful impact on your leadership. From
building company culture to attracting diverse candidates during recruitment,

9 Rashidat Abidemi Anjorin and Avni Jansari, “Managing Cultural Diversity at Workplace”. Bachelor Thesis
in Business Administration. No. 15, May 2018, p. 5-6.
10
Donatus I. Amaram, “Cultural Diversity: Implications For Workplace Management”. Journal of Diversity
Management. Vol. 2 No. 4, Fourth Quarter 2007. p. 4.
 your leadership is the face and the voice of your company.

2. Innovation

Where everyone in a company is from the same background, they’re likely to

have similar ideas. In order to remain competitive, companies need new ideas
and concepts. A diverse workforce brings unique perspectives on how to solve
problems and innovate to gain a competitive edge.

3. Respect

A diverse workforce enables team members to appreciate the differences in

others because of the positive contribution that different people bring. Where co-
workers are open to learning from each other, they appreciate that diversity
enables them to function better as a team. Therefore, gain a mutual respect for
colleagues who are different.

4. Reputation

A commitment to diversity demonstrates that a company values fairness and

equality. These characteristics have a positive effect on its reputation with
suppliers and consumers. A company that openly recruits the best candidates for
a job, irrespective of which group they are in, will gain customer loyalty and a
good reputation.

5. Productivity

The diversity of a company is an indication of how productive its employees will

be. The Forbes Global Diversity and Inclusion Fostering Innovation Through a
Diverse Workforce report found that 77% of companies used productivity as a
measure to gauge the success of diversity programs. Respondents in the Forbes
research advised that their companies have experienced an increase in
productivity due to a diverse workforce.

6. Growth

Where a company has a diversified workforce, they position themselves to build

relationships with people from different cultures. Diverse employees can advise
the companies about the best strategies to use to gain new customer bases.
Employees who speak different languages and are aware of the cultural norms
 of international markets can be vital to a company’s growth.

7. Recruitment

Research shows that 67% of job seekers advised that a company’s diverse
workforce is a key factor when evaluating job offers. These findings demonstrate
that diversity is a key aspect when recruiting the best talent. Job seekers are aware
of the importance of a diverse workforce and want to be part of a company that
will value and appreciate their difference.

8. Compliance

Companies need to comply with both federal and state laws that ban them from
carrying out discriminatory practices. Promoting a diverse workplace where
everyone is respected helps companies to obey the law and also ensures that
every employee is treated with the respect he or she deserves.
 CHAPTER III

CONCLUSION

A. Conclusion

Culture is a concept that is as old as the human existence. The anthropologist

Tylor (1974) described culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge,
belief, art, morals, law, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by
man as a member of society. Culture is often illustrated with the image of an iceberg.
Only the small tip of an iceberg appears visible over the water surface, while the
biggest part is hidden under the water which misleads the perspective of the viewer.
The same happens with culture, as the most essential elements necessary for its
understanding are unseen (Schein, 2010). Cultural Diversity is a complex issue and
the word ‘community’ used by Goffee and Jones (1996) is only one of several
acknowledgements that the expression encompasses much more than nationality and
ethnicity. Here are just some of the different types of diversity in the workplace are
race and ethnicity, religious beliefs, workers with disabilities, educational
background, gender, generations.

Various noticeable characteristics of cultural diversity have been pointed below:

cultural diversity is regarded as the double-edged sword in an organization. By
double-edged it means that, if handled judiciously, it can reap the best result for an
organization, otherwise, it can be dangerous for the existence of an organization.
Cultural diversity is regarded as a concept which is wider than the concept of equal
participation or equal opportunity. Cultural diversity does not only include age,
demographic profile. But also includes religion, perception, educational background
and personality. Cultural diversity is not only applicable at a particular department
or specific level. It is applicable at the entire level and for every organization, It is
dynamic and an ongoing process. It includes visible, non-visible tangible and
intangible components.

Managing diversity in the workplace presents a set of unique challenges can be

mitigated if an organization makes a concerted effort to encourage a more
heterogeneous environment through promoting a culture of tolerance, open
communication and creating conflict management strategies to address issues that
may arise. Some tips for managing diversity in the workplace are: create written
 policies, provide sensitivity training, create an accountability plan, address micro-
aggressions, facilitate effective communication, impose a zero-tolerance policy. The
last is benefits of cultural diversity are: leadership, innovation, respect, reputation,
productivity, growth, recruitment, compliance.

B. Suggestion

In making this paper, the authors realize there are still shortcomings and errors
caused by the limited knowledge that the author has. So, the author asks for criticism
and advice from the reader for the perfection of this paper.
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