Managing Diversity

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Managing Diversity
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Influences on individual behavior

• Abilities physical, intellectual and emotional
• Attitudes
• Values
• Culture and gender
• Learning styles

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Values at Work

• Stable, long-lasting beliefs about what is
  important
• Generalized conceptions of the world
• Terminal vs. instrument values
• Include cross-cultural, ethical, and
  organizational culture values

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Managing Diversity

• What is managing diversity?
• Why is it important?
• Types of diversity within organization
• Different groups within an organization
• Key issues and problems
• Focus on the Dutch vs New Zealanders
• How do we manage diversity?

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What is managing diversity?

• Managing Is getting things done through other
  people
• Diversity Being different
• Managing diversity managing, in a fair and
  respectful manner, the ideas and interests of all
  individuals within an organization
• Conditions necessary to create a safe, equitable,
  effective and welcoming work-environment

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Why is MD important?

• How to attract, draw on, and maintain talent?
• Changing NZ demographics
• Bi-culturalism
• Increasing participation of women
• Multinational corporations
• Identified as a core management skill

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Types of diversity

• Age
• Ability
• Culture
• Gender
• In this lecture Culture

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Different values across cultures

• Achievement/Nurturing
• Power Distance
• Risk avoiding or accepting
• Long short term orientation

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Achievement-Nurturing
Achievement
Japan

• The degree that people value assertiveness,
  competitiveness, and materialism (achievement)
  versus relationships and well-being of others
  (nurturing)

United States
France
Sweden
Nurturing
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Power Distance
High Power Distance
Mexico

• The degree that people accept an unequal
  distribution of power in society

France
Japan
United States
Germany
Low Power Distance
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Long/Short-Term Orientation
Long-Term Orientation
China

• The degree that people value thrift, savings, and
  persistence (long-term) versus past and present
  issues (short-term).

Japan
Netherlands
United States
Russia
Short-Term Orientation
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Uncertainty Avoidance
High U. A.
Japan

• The degree that people tolerate ambiguity (low)
  or feel threatened by ambiguity and uncertainty
  (high uncertainty avoidance).

Germany
United States
HongKong
Low U. A.
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Different Groups

• Homogeneous groups
• Token groups
• Bicultural groups
• Multicultural groups
• Bi-culturalism or multiculturalism?

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Key issues and problems

• Stereotypes
• a judgement about an entire group based on
  characteristics of a few members of that group
• Attribution
• assigning meaning to behaviour based on your own
  biases

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Key issues and problems (continued)

• Parochialism
• There is only one way
• Ethnocentrism
• Our way is the best way all others are inferior
• Cultural Relativism
• Beliefs, values and behaviour cannot be judged by
  those outside of culture

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Differences Maori/Pakeha

• Maori
• Collectivist
• Consulting and Consensus
• Leading from behind
• Choosing relationships over time
• Harmony with nature
• Past/Present time orientation

• Pakeha
• Individualist
• Mastery over nature
• Future time orientation

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Differences NZ/Holland

• New Zealand
• More masculine
• Less consultation
• Higher context
• Issues and people inter-linked
• Both actions and words important
• Less mastery over nature
• Avoid conflict

• Holland
• More feminine
• In spite of individualism much consultation
• Low context
• Distinguish issues from people
• Actions more important than verbal/non-verbal
  com.
• Total mastery over nature
• Love conflict

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How do we manage diversity?

• Keeping data
• Awareness training
• Affirmative action
• Selection criteria
• Role modelling and mentoring

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Remember

• Celebrate the richness of cultures other than
  your own
• Do not evaluate in terms of good and bad but
  in terms of differences
• Managing diversity is a key skill (but is also a
  value).