Ifugao State University

Nayon, Lamut Ifugao

College of Advanced Education

Name: Greg L. Sangalang Score

Course and Year: PHD-EM Date: January 18, 2024

Activity No. 5
Chapter Topic: Cultural Diversities

RESEARCH TITLE: Cultural Diversity among the Employees and its Effect in
Organizational Climate
AUTHORS: Dr. G. Balamurugan1 and B. 12

1. Research Issue and Purpose

The research was focused on the following objectives:
 To identify cultural diversity among the employees.
 To study the cultural challenges that can affect the working climate
and find out conflicts between employees.
 To investigate the impact of cultural differences on teamwork in an
organization.

2. Research Pre-Understanding
Cultural diversity is important in a changing world. If our basic
courses are to be current with student needs of the future, incorporating
instruction on effectiveness within multicultural setting is important. Many
organizations experience cross cultural management, based on the
different culture, there may exist different management approaches, to
adapt cultural diversity, adapt cultural environment, improve employee
satisfaction and so on. In addition, employee satisfaction can often be
influenced by cultural diversity or ethnic diversity, every company has a
corporate culture, and when the corporate culture, meets cultural diversity,
it will have positive and negative influence on employee satisfaction. A
positive organizational diversity climate will be intolerant of workplace
harassment and discrimination, whereas a negative diversity climate will
convey to employees that harassment and discrimination are tolerated by
the organization. Since managing diversity remains a challenge in
organizations, managers tend to learn managerial skills needed in a
multicultural working environment and prepares themselves to teach
others within their organizations to value cultural differences and treat all
employees with dignity.
3. Literature Review
The literature review of the research focuses on the research and concepts
presented by the following experts.
 Martha Kyrillidou and M.Sue Baughman, (2009): The survey addresses
a number of climate issues, such as diversity, team work, learning and
fairness as well as current managerial practices and staff attitudes and
beliefs.
 Priscilla dike, (2013): The study is conducted to explore how companies
deal with challenges that comes with employees from diverse cultural
backgrounds.
 Saumya Goyal and Dr. Sangya Shrivastava, (2013): This study makes
a healthy and happy working environment for all the categories of
employees.
 Joel Augustus Daddie, (2015): Mismanaged diversity can cause
employee dissatisfaction which can affect productivity, leading to lower
job performance.

4. Theoretical or Conceptual Framework

There is no conceptual framework presented in the study, though
concepts about cultural diversities were presented clearly.

5. Participants
The respondent of the study consists of different managers from different
establishments which served their companies for more than five years.

6. Protection Of Human Research Participants

The confidentiality and privacy of the participants and the data collected
were ensured throughout the research process. The participants/ public tweets
personal information and responses were kept confidential, and their identities
would not be revealed in any publications or reports resulting from the study.
All data collected during the study was stored securely and only accessed by
the research team.

7. Research Design
The descriptive research was employed in the study to identify the effect
of cultural diversity in an organization.

8. Data Collection/Generation Method

A self-made questionnaire was used to identify cultural diversity among
employees. Also, there is an open-ended questionnaire to answer the cultural
challenges that can affect the working climate of specific organizations. It is
also used to identify the conflict and the impact of cultural differences on
teamwork in an organization.
 9. Credibility
The collected data seems to be credible because of the presented and
narratives with supporting literature. The literature that supports the claim of
the study were current and well written.

10.Findings/Results

 To identify cultural diversity among the employees.

Employees’ conceptions of work, expectations of rewards, sufficient salary
from the organization and practices in relating to others are all influenced by
diversity. Workforce diversity does not automatically result in positive outcomes.
The reality is that increased diversity can lead to increased conflict among
organizational employees. Differential expectations and unspoken assumptions
can cause conflicts and misunderstandings.
 To study the cultural challenges that can affect the working climate and find out
conflicts between employees.
Improved innovation based on the concept that differences will provide
new and different ideas. Problem-solving is aided by staff with different
perspectives, backgrounds, and training. Other benefits can include a
competitive edge, better public image, increased productivity, job satisfaction and
morale, as well as improved inter-staff relations and a satisfying work
environment. The Challenges of Cultural Diversity are summarized as follows:
Diversity in unity-in-spite of belonging to one country each state has its own
language, most of the time community identity is ascribed status and you learn to
love them, different understandings of professional etiquette, conflicting working
styles across teams.
 To investigate the impact of cultural differences on teamwork in organization
Organizational climate is the manifestation of the attitudes of
organizational members towards the organization itself. An organization tends to
attract and keep people who fit its climate, so that its patterns are perpetuated at
least to some extent. To facilitate measurement and manipulation of
organizational climate, researchers have dissected its characteristics and
perceptions into categories such as the nature of interpersonal relationships, the
nature of the hierarchy, the nature of work, and the focus of support and rewards.
Factors that influence organizational climate are Involvement, Supervisor
Support, autonomy, work pressure and clarity.

12. Explain your Personal Reflections/Reactions about No. 10 (at least 500 words)
Diversity affects the workplace, it may or may not be beneficial to the
workforce. It was a lot more complex than it was originally thought to be.
Research indicates that diversity can produce both positive and negative when
introduced and enforced in the workplace. There is also evidence that suggests
that diversity may produce conflict and employee turnover as well as more
creativity and innovation. From the research the following are the perceived
effects of diversity in an organization: Diverse groups are shown to be less
integrated and have a higher chance of dissatisfaction. Probably because they
came from different cultures with different practices and beliefs also it increases
the level of dissatisfaction among group members, as well as miscommunication.
Miscommunication usually happens in a group of diverse individuals due to
differences in upbringing or practices and views. Diversity can be linked with
conflict, lower group adhesiveness, increased employee turnover and
absenteeism, and lower quality of performance. Employees who are not happy
to work with the people around them will never be an effective member of a
team. The relationship in a team is a factor that determines the success of an
organization.
Cultural diversities cannot be avoided specially because of globalization,
we expect that a diverse group will be working in a team and to overcome it, the
following are suggested: Ensure clear and polite communication, learn about
different cultures, work towards accommodating cultural difference, share
knowledge and employ diversity training.
 Ifugao State University
Nayon, Lamut Ifugao

College of Advanced Education

Name: Greg L. Sangalang Score

Course and Year: PHD-EM Date: January 18, 2024

Activity No. 5
Chapter Topic: Cultural Diversities

RESEARCH TITLE: Engagement in Online Learning Among Thai and German

students: The role of Classmates, Instructors, and Technology
across Country Contexts
AUTHORS: Grothaus, C. (2023)

1. Research Issue and Purpose

This study explores student engagement in online learning, comparing the
experiences of 9 German and 11 Thai students with help of in-depth
interviews. The study addresses the following questions: 1. How do Thai and
German students perceive online learning and engage, considering
behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement? 2. What role do instructors,
peers, tools, and the learning environment play in student engagement across
the two groups? 3. What are differences and similarities in engagement in
online learning across groups and how could these be possibly related to the
country and cultural context, considering the role of national, local, and
cybercultures?

2. Research Pre-Understanding
The use of educational technologies, such as online discussion boards,
digital games, web-conferencing software, and knowledge-sharing tools has
been positively associated with student engagement. However, a recent
review study showed that the use of knowledge organization & sharing tools
with undergraduate students as well as synchronous communication tools
were topics researched far less than expected. Next to a lack of studies
centering on tools in online learning engagement, review studies reflecting
upon the role of culture in online learning stress the need for more scholarly
efforts in researching the role of the country context in-depth. This study shall
fill this gap by exploring engagement in online learning among Thai and
German students qualitatively, focusing on the role of instructors, peers, the
learning environment, and technologies
3. Literature Review
The research paper uses updated and relevant literature about the
presented topic. It provides literature The role of culture in online learning
engagement and the Engagement in online learning in the cultural context
of Germany and Thailand.

4. Theoretical or Conceptual Framework

There was no presented theoretical and conceptual framework in
the study.

5. Participants
Nine German Bachelor students (one male, eight females) and 11 Thai
Bachelor students (two males, nine females) aged 18–23, from July to August
2020, as classes had just started with online instruction due to the outbreak of
COVID-19. Thai students came from two international colleges and one local
college with majors in social sciences, natural sciences, media studies, business
studies, and medical science. German students came from four different
universities. Two Thai international colleges and three German universities used
their own internal Learning Management Systems. Since in Thailand international
colleagues make up an important part of the academic landscape but are, at the
same time, mainly attended by a higher socio-economic income group due to
higher study fees, both international and local colleagues were chosen.

6. Protection Of Human Research Participants

Participants were provided with information about the aim of the study and
its procedure. They were informed that they could interrupt the study at any time
as well as that neither their name nor any information that could identify them
would be disclosed. The research project was approved by the Ethics Committee
of the International College.

7. Research Design
A qualitative method was adopted in the study.

8. Data Collection/Generation Method

The thematic analysis research design (Braun & Clarke, 2006) allowed us to
capture meaning within textual data sets with help of a stepwise and systematic
framework of data analysis. The author transcribed interviews and uploaded data
sets to the qualitative data analysis software MAXQDA. Transcripts were read
with the main research questions in mind, focusing on differences (and
similarities) in engagement during online learning across the two groups of
students as well as the role of the lecturer-student relationship, peer exchange,
and the cultural context. Passages in the text were coded inductively by openly
looking at meaning within the data sets, as well as deductively, relating data to
 existing concepts, such as those of previously researched cultural value
orientations. MAXQDA helped to identify and organize codes and related text
passages as well as to aggregate codes several times to be able to build and
name. Finally, text passages that belonged to each theme were downloaded via
the system and summarized to then write up the results section of the paper.
Selected quotes were later translated into English.

9. Credibility
The generated data seems to be credible as the data were thematically
presented based on the interview made by the students.

10.Findings/Results
Findings reveal differences in affective, behavioral, and cognitive
engagement across groups. Only German students referred to a lack of affective
engagement due to ineffective communication with peers and lecturers, tools
used, and privacy concerns. The learning environment influenced affective and
cognitive engagement differently. German students felt exhausted because of
increased self-study time and lack of guidance. Thai students spent more time
studying via videoconferences due to institutional policies. They highlighted a
lack of focus due to distraction by digital technologies as well as family members,
which they associated with Thai cultural norms to spend time with family.
Behavioral engagement, particularly verbal participation during
videoconferences, was negatively affected among Thai students. They worried
about the effect voicing behavior could have on classmates’ feelings, which they
attributed to cultural values of being considerate and the need for social
harmony. These and other findings are discussed considering the possible role of
national, local, and cybercultures as well as institutional contexts.

12. Explain your Personal Reflections/Reactions about No. 10 (at least 500
words)
This study explores engagement of Thai and German university students
studying online, considering the role of relationships between students as well as
students and lectures and of technologies. Behavioral, cognitive, and affective
engagement, as part of the engagement construct were addressed. The study
aims to shed light on the possible role of national, institutional, and cybercultures
in engagement in online learning by exploring how values, attitudes, and
behaviors related to online learning differed across the two samples.
This study identified differences between Thai and German university
students in affective, cognitive, and behavioral engagement when studying
online. Cultural dimensions such as those of collectivism, femininity, and power
distance or high and low context cultures as well as institutional and
cybercultures may likely explain some of these differences. Follow-up studies
could explore certain findings further in-depth, such as the role of family
members in online learning engagement or the concern about affecting
classmates’ feelings in collectivist and feminine societies. Furthermore, future
research could consider the possible role of the field of study, which was not
centered in this study but may have influenced factors, such technologies and
instructional methods used for online learning.