Background of the Problem
Historically, the concept of diversity in an organization was understood as the degree of responsibility, equal remuneration, and mutual respect, which an employee could rely on regardless of his or her skin color or culture (Barak, 2016). Diversity should be comprehended as a broader and more multifaceted term (Sabharwal, 2014). The majority of CEOs and heads of organizations came to the conclusion that diversity is a factor that can make business more successful (Harvey & Allard, 2015). Every person has a unique background and life experience, either positive or negative, which can be introduced to the common cause. The implementation of a set of skills, knowledge, and experience makes up diversity, the use of which is essential to equip organizations with tools to succeed, while people are viewed as the key resource.
Diversity may be regarded as a phenomenon that may affect both beneficially and adversely in the context of an organization. Martin (2014) considered that when culturally diverse employees had to work together, they are more prone to interpersonal and team conflicts. Opinions, beliefs, and traditions are regarded to be significant in decision-making, and when they are distinctive, it may lead to workplace disputes, thus reducing an organization’s productivity (Martin, 2014). On the other hand, collaboration and mutual efforts of diverse employees promote creative thinking and the development of unity based on the implementation of objective criticism ensured by leaders (Harvey & Allard, 2015). Inclusivity may facilitate the guidance through change, having a diversified staff of employees and executives in order to make a company more protected compared to firms whose composition is not so diverse.
Problem Statement
Managers and leaders in the United States must address new challenges and use opportunities in the developing age of globalization. Globalization may be specified as the disappearance of barriers to the movement of information, capital, property, goods, services, and labour (Barak, 2016). There is an international historical exchange of ideas, preferences, values, behavioural stereotypes, and cultural patterns, which leads to a certain change of different social communities and groups (Barak, 2016). The goal of the mentioned process is the provision of organizations with a competitive position due to lower operating costs and increased production, resulting in more services and customers.
The experts claim that globalization affects economic forces that deepen the disparities in employment already existing in workplace likewise in productivity, income, and other issues acting as an obstacle to appropriate social and labor relations (Sabharwal, 2014). In the United States, there are people of different ages, cultures, and backgrounds working together, which requires the establishment of an inclusive workplace environment (Harvey & Allard, 2015). In this regard, it is expected that leaders should not only promote diversity in their organizations but also consider national and global communities (Harvey & Allard, 2015). The problem is that there is a lack of workplace diversity that leads to conflicts associated with different working styles, business etiquette challenges, and misunderstanding in professional communication. According to the research by McKinsey that focused on executives, ethnic diversity was represented only by 14 percent of minority in 2017 (Hunt, Yee, Prince, & Dixon-Fyle, 2018). In addition, there is a need to elaborate and implement relevant diversity management strategies in the United States context, thus ensuring a more diverse workforce through evaluation of the existing practices.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the proposed study is the contribution to the contemporary practice of diversity management in terms of globalization processes. By identifying the target groups that need assistance with handling workplace challenges associated with diversity, it is expected to enhance the workplace environments in the United States. In particular, several categories will be considered. The quantitative research design based on the use of statistical data will be applied to address different stakeholder groups (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). The analysis goals are the identification of the needs and concerns as well as consideration of potential leadership strategies that may be utilized to improve their position. The context of the study will include the organizations located in the United States and having some problems with the identified area. Data will be collected from the available scholarly literature, official websites, and observations.
Applying one of the scripts suggested by Creswell and Creswell (2017), the following purpose statement may be formulated (p. 130). The purpose of this mixed method study will be to test the theory of adaptive leadership that explains how to adjust an organization to changing requirements and relate the independent variable of the context to the dependent variable of strategy, controlling for diversity among participants from the US. The independent variable will be defined as the context of organizations, and the dependent variable will be determined as strategies to be used to address the problem.
Significance of the Study
Workplace diversity provides a great variety of ideas and allows making the common approach adopted in an organization more creative. All people possess diverse knowledge and skills that they can share with an organization they work for, while a firm thus obtains the chance to select from the variety of employee performance models (Barak, 2016). It is clear that any company can achieve prosperity if it has enough resources, and the more these resources will be, the better. It is essential to emphasize the fact that the versatile views and unconventional thinking stimulate multilateral discussions and creativity, which helps to transform new ideas into meaningful innovations (Barak, 2016). The above philosophy allows discovering original solutions to meet business needs in an inquisitive and impartial manner. The use of diversity as a source of funds for the existence of business is seen as a strategic approach to business, contributing to the achievement of an organization’s goals such as increasing profit and productivity.
Along with benefits to business, workplace diversity contributes to employees’ professional and personal growth. As noted by Harvey and Allard (2015), the goals of valuing diversity include awareness, continuous education, and a positive perception of the differences between employees of an organization. Valuing diversity goes beyond the policy of equal opportunities since it is based not only on changing the level of representativeness of different employee categories in the workplace. At the same time, the recognition of the uniqueness of every employee contributes to the creation of a friendly atmosphere in which awareness and respect for members of other cultures is encouraged (Harvey & Allard, 2015). The main issue is the quality of work experience rather than the mere presence of minority or female representatives in certain positions.
It goes without saying that cultural differences stimulate innovation and improve the practical results of companies. Several studies have confirmed that the results of organizations that include cultural diversity and inclusiveness in their activities are superior to those of their competitors (Sabharwal, 2014). It is equally important to understand that not all employees of different backgrounds receive sufficient support and resources that promote career growth. Therefore, it is essential to actively encourage leaders to use opportunities that they may not know about.
Conclusion
This chapter included an outline of this study, background of the problem, and research questions. An in-depth review of the literature follows in Chapter 2, which will expound upon the development and significance of the study and its literature. Chapter 3 includes a discussion on the methodology of the data collection. In Chapter 4, the results and analysis of the study will be presented. Finally, Chapter 5 consists of commenting on the study combined with suggestions for future studies stemming from this research effort.
References
Barak, M. E. M. (2016). Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Harvey, C. P., & Allard, M. (2015). Understanding and managing diversity: Readings, cases, and exercises (6th ed.).Boston, MA: Pearson.
Hunt, V., Yee, L., Prince, S., & Dixon-Fyle, S. (2018). Delivering through diversity.
Martin, G. C. (2014). The effects of cultural diversity in the workplace. Journal of Diversity Management, 9(2), 89-91.
Sabharwal, M. (2014). Is diversity management sufficient? Organizational inclusion to further performance. Public Personnel Management, 43(2), 197-217. Web.