Jared Jose Duplito

2Entrep-C
MWF/7:40-8:40/C306

CHAPTER 17

Cultural Diversity: Scope , Competitive Advantages, and potential problems

Cultural diversity is a wide range of cultural and individual differences. People with different skin
color, different gender, people with different cultural backgrounds and beliefs. These are examples of
cultural diversity. Diversity is measurable but not necessarily visible. Cultural diversity also has a lot of
advantage within an organization. By managing diversity organizations will have an advantage and
increasing their sales and profits. A potential problem in a diverse group is there are a lot of
misunderstandings, different races can not get along well together.

Cross-Cultural Values

Different cultures have different beliefs and values. Some people value themselves. They are
individualistic, they do not give value to others or to their organization wile some people care for others
more than themselves. They give importance to their groups or organization. Another example of cross-
cultural value is the formality/informality of a person. Some countries and organizations are formal,
they follow the organizations rules and their traditions. While informal organizations do the opposite,
they are not really strict being formal. Even the way they dress for work, they are vary casual.

Multicultural Managers and organizations

Multicultural managers and organizations value the different cultures. They are sensitive to diversity.
Multicultural groups encourage people with different cultures to give more importance to their beliefs.
They motivate people who are diverse. Multicultural organizations also understand their members or
employees culture. They do not stereotype the diverse groups.
Barriers to Good Cross-Cultural Relations

In order to have a good cross-cultural relationship is to understand their barriers. An example of these
barriers are language differences. With different languages and dialects, it is hard for different cultures
to understand which in some leads to misunderstandings. They misinterpret the message and can also
break the bond of some cultures. Another example of barriers is stereotyping. Like a person from India
or Iraq, people immediately think that they are terrorists even they are not. Even the Japanese, people
thinks they love math and science but not all of them do.

Cross-Cultural Processes

In motivating a person we should first be aware of his culture. It is important to know the background
in order not to offend the persons beliefs. Some might want to be recognized individually and some
might want to share the recognition or reward to their group. When it comes to cross-cultural
negotiations, the organization must again be aware of the culture that they will be negotiating. An
organization must plan it well on how they will negotiate a certain organization with different cultures.
Also an organization must be patient. Because some cultures when negotiating they are willing to
spend many days. While some wants a fast negotiation.

Diversity Training, Cultural Training, and Cultural Intelligence Training

Diversity training teaches people how to get along better with diverse workers. In this training, workers
are taught to understand their co-workers cultural backgrounds and values. To avoid culture shock,
organizations train their workers in cross-cultural relations. This helps the employees understand their
work associates culture, beliefs and traditions. Lastly the workers should undergo a cultural intelligence
training. Workers who are taught about cultural intelligence can deal effectively with people from other
cultures and can interpret different behaviors.