1

Module 6 Paper

Nayeli Vallejo
OGL 350: Diversion and Organization
James Pryor
October 05, 2022
 2

1. What did you learn about diversity conflict in organizations? How do the concepts, etc.,

presented enrich your understanding of the ways in which organizations and the people

working in them function?

I learned that as long as there is diversity within an organization, there will always be some sort

of conflict and that the way the organization decides to handle the conflict will set the tone for

the way diversity is managed (Thomas & Woodruff, 1999). The way people from different

cultures will participate in conflict management will be based on their cultural beliefs, social

norms, and practices (Friedrich, 2018). Different cultures have different ways to communicate

and respond to conflict such as low context, high context, individualistic, and collectivistic

views. Low context cultures tend to act in subtle ways and not be direct because it may be

considered rude and high context cultures are more direct and get to the point (Friedrich, 2018).

One can already see how these two different styles of communication can cause some conflict

between individuals. The individual from a high context culture may find the person from the

low context culture as rude and demanding, and the person from the low context culture might

not be able to read between the lines or understand what the person from the high context culture

wants due to the subtleness in communication. Tension will exist as long as there are cultural

differences, and organizations make the mistake of eliminating it altogether instead of managing

it in order to create a harmonious environment (Thomas & Woodruff, 1999). If we want to be

diversity mature individuals, we must face these issues directly and acknowledge that they are

not meant to be personal but a result of the dynamics of diversity (Thomas & Woodruff). The

company I currently work for encourages to assume good intent when communicating with

others. Sometimes we may take something out of context and take things personally when in

reality, it can be a form of miscommunication between two individual from different cultures.
 3

2.What sort of diversity conflict have you witnessed in organizations in your present or

past (or in the organizations of your loved ones if you’ve only “witnessed” it from a

distance)? Explain in terms of the concepts presented in the readings and be sure to cite

appropriately.

My sister relocated to Philadelphia earlier this year, with the company she has been working for

years. Working out of Philadelphia has exposed her to a different work culture and people with

different diverse backgrounds. The organization has faced conflict with the employees because

they feel they are under appreciated and not getting paid what they think they should. They held

a strike a few months ago which really stressed my sister and her colleagues out. The majority of

the employees working in the Philadelphia location come from Latin roots such as Dominican

Republic and Puerto Rico. I gathered from the problems the organization faces that there is a

lack of cultural intelligence and diversity maturity by the leaders and the rest of the company

employees. The people involved, “the Giraffes and the Elephants”, are not communicating

effectively and understanding one another due to their cultural differences (Thomas & Woodruff,

1999). The company’s management teams are the Giraffes, and the Hispanic employees are the

Elephants, because they are coming into an American company and working under their rules

and norms (Thomas & Woodruff, 1999). The management teams do not realize that the

employees they are in conflict might come from a collectivistic culture with low context and

their work values might be different than the Americans all causing miscommunication and a

misunderstanding between both parties (Thomas & Woodruff, 1999).

3.Discuss how the Giraffe and Elephant “key dynamics” relate to diversity management.
 4

The Giraffe and Elephant scenario help give a visual representation of how complex diversity

can be and the challenges that may present itself with cultural differences. The Giraffe and the

Elephant want to have an interpersonal relationship but there are some barriers that keep them

from accomplishing this goal. The Giraffe’s home does not accommodate the Elephant’s unique

characteristics; therefore, the Elephant does not feel like he belongs no matter how inclusive the

Giraffe may be. These types of issues are seen in organizations and diversity management is the

concept in which the individuals within the organization manage diversity. Individuals need to

change their mentality to acknowledge that people’s behaviors and actions may be affected by

their diverse backgrounds and individuals need to tackle these conflicts with openness to better

understand the root of the problem.

4.How will these diversity management concepts, and the concepts found in the inclusive

leadership readings affect your approach and strategies to leadership in the organizations

in your life and in the future?

Diversity management is a process that is very important to follow in order to create a diverse

climate in the workplace. There are a few things that keep people from managing diversity to

their potential such as the belief that minorities are already equally represented in organizations

and defining diversity as diversity in experience, skills, and knowledge instead of race, ethnicity,

gender, etc. (Hayes et al., 2020). These may be some of the reasons why diversity management is

being hindered in some organizations and some leaders and employees are not effectively

managing diversity (Hayes et al., 2020). Having this knowledge will help me bring awareness to

the issue by educating my colleagues that minority groups are still underrepresented because

based on the population ratio of White Americans (60%) and Minority groups (40%), there are

only about 25% minorities employed within an organization (Hayes et al., 2020). I plan to
 5

implement changes to the hiring process to ensure more people from underrepresented minority

groups are hired and given opportunities to grow within the organization. Hiring more people

from diverse backgrounds can create more conflict because of the different communication

styles, so it will be crucial that I bring awareness of cultural differences amongst the members of

the organization I work for. Implementing cross cultural training will be beneficial and

encouraging everyone to continue practicing on their diversity skills to improve their cultural

intelligence will be very important. Diversity management is something that does not come easy

and quickly and must be practiced regularly for it to become more natural (Thomas & Woodruff,

1999).

5.Discuss any change in your CQ cultural intelligence score after taking the post-test.

My score to the pretest of CQ cultural intelligence was 81 points and my score for the post-test

was 105 points. My score increased dramatically on the second test, and I think it’s because I

was exposed to ways to improve mt cultural intelligence. Prior to taking this course, I was not

aware of all the cultural differences there are that affect the way people with different diverse

backgrounds communicate with one another. Being more aware of these cultural differences, I

can understand their form of communication without getting offended or confused and change

my way of communication to better understand one another.

 6

References

Friedrich, P. (2018). Cultural Differences in Conflict Resolution. The TESOL

Encyclopedia Of English Language Teaching, 1-6.

https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0288

Hayes, T., Oltman, K., Kaylor, L., & Belgudri, A. (2020). How leaders can become more

committed to diversity management. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research,

72(4), 247-262. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000171

Thomas, R., & Woodruff, M. (1999). Building a House for Diversity: How a Fable

About a Giraffe & Elephant Offers New Strategies for Today's Workforce. Amacom.