Personal Learning paper (PLP) is an individual assignment and the students are expected to write on any concepts / models

/ theories discussed in the course. Besides explaining the selected theme, it is necessary to link with the personal or professional experience. 2.The PLP should reflect some experience and should be submitted before the end-term examination. 3.Please do not write stories without linking the same with the conceptual framework related to cultural diversity. 4.PLP has no limitation regarding length or word count but should be precise communication. 5.PLP should only be in word doc file.
Resolve cross-cultural misunderstandings
Contents
Identify issues that might cause conflict If difficulties or misunderstandings occur, consider the impact of cultural differences Make an effort to sensitively resolve differences, taking cultural considerations into account Address any difficulties with appropriate people and seek assistance when required Even when we are thoroughly aware of all the barriers to effective cross-cultural communication and make use of available aids and tools to assist us in communicating with people from cultural and linguistic backgrounds different to our own, misunderstandings will occur. Misunderstandings occur in all communication, even between people from the same cultural and linguistic background. We cannot expect to get it right all of the time. What is important is that we know how to respond when a misunderstanding occurs and that we learn from our mistakes. By the end of this topic you will be able to identify cross-cultural misunderstandings and perform the steps involved in resolving such misunderstandings. When you have completed this topic you will be able to:

identify issues that may cause conflict consider cultural differences if difficulties or misunderstandings occur make an effort to sensitively resolve differences, taking account of cultural considerations address difficulties with appropriate people and seek assistance when required.

Identify issues that might cause conflict

The obvious way we communicate is by using words. However, as we have seen, we also use nonverbal communication: our tone of voice, body language, gestures, posture and facial expressions all impact on communication.

Often people think that the use of gestures and facial expressions will be sufficient to convey an accurate message, without regard for the different rules of non-verbal communication which may apply in the other persons culture. However, just as verbal communication rules differ across cultures, so too do the rules of non-verbal communication. These rules are specific to each culture and are largely taken for granted. We respond to these rules without being aware of them. Therefore it is important to be aware that our own non-verbal communication might be insulting to others. For example, in some cultures, maintaining constant eye contact while talking is interpreted as disrespectful. This is true for Aboriginal cultures. The first step in developing skills to communicate with people from other cultures is to develop an appreciation of the rules of communication in our own culture. Similarly, an awareness of the most common barriers to effective cross-cultural communication is the first step to overcoming them. It also means that we will not be less likely to judge a person from another culture by our own cultural values. When we are learning a new language, we need to learn the language as well as have an awareness of the culture. It is important of will have to learn new meanings and new ways of behaving.

Activity 1
List forms of behaviour that can present barriers to effective cross-cultural communications.

Feedback

List language barriers that can present barriers to effective cross-cultural communications.

Feedback

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If difficulties or misunderstandings occur, consider the impact of cultural differences

Case study
This case study looks at resolving a misunderstanding between health care workers. It highlights cultural differences in both non-verbal communication and the social codes of conduct.

Case study
Tina (originally from Malaysia): I have worked with a number of Fijians and sometimes I would touch their curly hair and tell them how nice and soft it feels. Then one day, I found out that in their culture, youre not supposed to touch people on the headonly the chief can do that.

Think about how you might deal with the above case study by following the points listed below. 1. Identify the misunderstanding. 2. Try to understand the possible reasons/causes of the challenging situation by consultation with the person/s themselves, relatives, co-workers, supervisor, doctor and/or looking at resources for information and possible explanations. 3. Develop and implement strategies to try to improve the situation. 4. Observe and describe the outcome of your strategiesie the success or failure of the strategies. 5. Share your expertise with your colleagues to prevent the same problem happening again (eg inform your supervisor, other colleagues). Case study continued
Sala (originally from Fiji): When I came here to Australia years ago, people at work would feel my hair. It made me uncomfortable. We dont go around touching people on the head in my Fijian culture. But not just thatif we walk into a room and there are people sitting on the floor, we always excuse ourselves and stoop a bit as we walk past them so were not towering so much over them. We also avoid reaching near their head for something. Later on, when they found out, they stopped touching my hair. They were curious about how my hair feels as its very curly. Mary (originally from Ireland): In the Fijian culture touching hair is NOT done. Im guilty of having done this on many occasions, because I have been friends with Fijians at work. I would run my fingers through their hair and say How I love your hair! or something like that. Never for a minute did I think that I was making my friends uncomfortable.

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Make an effort to sensitively resolve differences, taking cultural considerations into account
Negotiating cross-cultural conflict
Now we will look at how you define, recognise and respond to challenging cross-cultural situations in the workplace. While a challenging situation may be similar to a cross-cultural misunderstanding, there are a number of key differences to be aware of. While we hope that neither you nor any of your clients ever experience cross-cultural conflict in the context of health care or anywhere else, it is very important that if the situation did arise, you would know how best to respond. Cross-cultural conflict and challenging interactions may involve a person behaving in any of the following ways towards another person on the basis of their cultural or linguistic background:

name calling use of offensive language degrading comments in reference to a person's ethnicity, culture, religion or background ridicule based on a person's physical appearance teasing or put downs shouting/abuse/aggressive language excluding/isolating/ignoring. angry upset/sad ashamed frightened isolated intimidated.

Being subjected to any of the above behaviours can make a person feel:

No-one has the right to make another person feel that way. It is your right NOT to accept offensive behaviour. Justifying, ignoring, or doing nothing about such behaviour gives permission for it to continue. Cross-cultural conflict may occur when a person directs inappropriate verbal/non-verbal behaviour towards another. Conflicts can occur not only between a client and staff but also between staff as well as between clients, as depicted below. If you work with clients, eg in a health services setting, you will find this next section quite relevant. If your job does not involve working with clients, you will probably still find this section relevant as you would be a client in other situations, eg, when you visit the dentist, when you buy a train ticket from someone at the ticket booth, etc.

Different interactions require different responses

The relationship/s between the people involved in the situation help determine the way we should respond to it. For example:

The different levels of power held by different staff members and between staff and clients, especially if the client is frail. If a person in power is instigating the challenging situation it will be harder for the other person to stand up for themselves. Different cultures accord different levels of power to different people because of gender, occupation, age, etc.

The consequences of offensive actions will also differ depending on who the actor is. For example, there are specific laws concerning appropriate behaviour in the workplace.

Now, lets look at the basic steps involved in addressing cross-cultural conflict. The steps outlined below are based on the principle that while we cant change peoples attitudes, we can often change their actions.

Responding to cross-cultural conflict

Step 1 Keep your cooltry not to respond emotionally. Step 2 Tell the instigator promptly, clearly and calmly that you find their actions upsetting. The important thing to remember here is that the person understands you find their actions, not them offensive. A good response would be: Please do not say that to me, I find it offensive and upsetting. This response is clear, direct, and does not attack the person. It addresses the action. If your response is directed to the person, they are likely to get defensive, a situation not likely to work in your favour. Step 3 If the person apologises, accept their apology. Step 4 If they don't apologise, let it go once. Step 5 If the offensive behaviour happens again, action needs to be taken. Step 6 The action taken will depend on the parties involved. Step 6 will change depending on who is involved in the conflict situation. We will now look at responses for the range of possible parties in the health care setting.

Suggested response to cross-cultural tension/conflict involving two clients and a staff member
If a client is behaving offensively towards you, it is important to remember not to take the clients behaviour personally. However, it is equally important that you know you have the right not to accept offensive behaviour on the basis of your background.

Suggested response to cross-cultural tension/conflict involving staff and client

This is not a pleasant topic, yet one that nonetheless needs to be covered. Conflict/offensive behaviour instigated by a staff member towards a client is a serious and somewhat delicate matter. While it is hoped that no such interaction ever occurs, it is very important that were the situation to arise, we would all know how to react. If you feel unable to confront the situation directly, or if you are unsure about whether or not to act upon something you have seen, promptly discuss the issue with someone you trust such as a colleague, supervisor, human resources/employee advisor, counsellor, union representative, health care complaints hotline. Most workplaces have procedures allowing for the anonymous reporting of incidents/concerns/complaints; use them if you feel unable to respond in any other way.

Suggested response to cross-cultural tension/ conflict involving staff

Again, this is not a nice topic, but one that nonetheless needs to be discussed. The law states that all people have the right to be treated with dignity and respect and to refuse to accept offensive behaviour in the workplace. If you are subjected to upsetting or offensive behaviour by a colleague at work, or if you witness such a thing happening to someone else, clearly, firmly and simply state that the behaviour is upsetting. If the behaviour is offensive, but not threatening or aggressive, whether the person apologises or says nothing, let it go the first time. If the behaviour is threatening or aggressive, or if the offensive behaviour recurs, tell someone you trust and follow the guidelines of your workplace. If you feel unable to confront the situation directly, or if you are unsure about whether or not to act upon something promptly, discuss the issue with someone you trust such as a colleague, supervisor, human resources/employee advisor, counsellor, union representative, complaints hotline, AntiDiscrimination Board. Most workplaces have procedures allowing for the anonymous reporting of incidents/concerns/complaints; use them if you feel unable to respond in any other way. No matter who is involved in the negative interaction, whether the offensive behaviour is directed at you or you witness it happen to someone else, it is important that some action is taken promptly. If you do not feel you can confront the situation directly yourself, speak to someone you trust or make an anonymous report. Remember all people have the right to be treated with dignity and respect.

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Address any difficulties with appropriate people and seek assistance when required Activity 2
We have looked at managing conflict that arises when there are cross-cultural misunderstandings. Now here is an activity about dealing with difficulties, including who you will address difficulties with and whether assistance is needed. Click here for Activity 2 (.doc 104 KB)

Additional resources
There are many resources on cross-cultural communication and you might be able to find some in your TAFE library and on the internet. Below we have listed a few of the resources that you might be able to locate.

i - this is an article I wrote on improving cross cultural relationships in the office. Nowadays, people work in global offices with colleagues from different worldviews, religions and attitudes. It is important to be aware of cultural differences and how they affect team dynamics, communication and management style. Multi-cultural workplaces also offer a wealth of new experience and self-growth opportunities. Here are 7 ways to improve multicultural relationships in your workplace. 1. Make it ok to ask questions. Some people may feel that they cannot ask a person where s/he is from for fear of being offensive or being seen as racist in some way. This can prevent communication, team effort and

even friendship from happening. Encourage people to talk about where they are from, and their culture. Most misunderstanding comes from lack of communication. If you can ask questions of one another, then the growth in relationship will enable more effective working together. 2. Learn about each other's countries and cultures. Many people want to travel to exotic places and experience a different culture. But nowadays, there might be someone from one of those countries in the office. Put a map on the wall and stick pins in it linked to photos of your team members so you can see where people are from. Encourage people to add to the display with information and other pictures and use it as a group talking point.

3. Be respectful and open-minded. Cultural differences can sometimes be confusing or misinterpreted. Be respectful of the way other people work and interact. Try to learn from them instead of considering your way to be the best and criticising. Apologise if you feel you might have offended someone, and ask them how you can behave more appropriately in the future. Speak out again discrimination in the workplace and encourage understanding.

4. Celebrate holidays of other cultures. Festivals and celebration are a great way to learn about other cultures. Have a lunchtime meeting where you share some traditional food and discuss what the festival means. People are the same underneath and festivals often reflect what is important to all cultures - family, faith, children, honouring the past and looking to the future. 5. Create cultural awareness factsheets. If your company employs people from other countries, give them some material on what it is like to work in your company and country. If you send employees overseas to meetings or conferences, they should also know how to work in those cultures. For example, what is the customary greeting within each culture? These worksheets will help provide context for interactions and enable easier work relationships. 6. Treat people as individuals. Culture does not define a person, and cultural stereotypes can also be responsible for more misunderstanding. Don't jump to conclusions just because someone is from a certain place. Get to know people as individuals regardless of their culture.

7. Identify gaps in your own knowledge. We are all a work-in-progress, and we can always learn more. Identify what you don't know about your co-workers and their culture. What can you learn about your own culture that affects the way you work? How can you improve the situation so your team can work more

effectively together? "Understand the differences; act on the commonalities" - Andrew Masondo, African National Congress

Why Does Cultural Diversity In The Workplace Matter?

Cultural Diversity matters to every single one of us, both professionally and personally. When a group or segment of our population is excluded or oppressed, all of us are denied. For our businesses and communities to not only survive, but to thrive, each of us needs to be aware and sensitive to ALL the members of the community. Our communities are rich with human resources. When all segments are respected and utilized, it benefits everyone involved. A great many of us live on the "margins" of society. To be in a margin means that you are not a part of the mainstream, popular culture. In this nation, our popular culture, or ideal for business success, is white, young, heterosexual, Christian, and male. In regards to cultural diversity in the workplace, you are on the margins if you are: a woman have ANY ethnic background that is non-white are not a heterosexual are not a Christian are not between the ages of 21-50

If you can answer "yes" to any one of these criteria, you live in the margins. This means that there are obstacles, prejudices, and stereotypes about YOU as an individual. You can not automatically assume that society's view of you is unobstructed or based solely on your individual character, qualifications, or accomplishments. Unfortunately, you may be put in the situation to "second guess" or question one's motives in their interactions and responses to you. Another fact this criteria illustrates is that more of us live IN the margins than do not. More of us DO NOT fit the societal prescription of what is normal and acceptable. While this all may be true, we all must do our best to function as productive, happy individuals.

So what are we to do? We can all strive for change. We can all be proactive in our decisions and lifestyles rather than reactive to ignorance and intolerance. When a white woman snubs an ethnic woman, for instance, she is harming herself as well. The white woman lives in the same margin as the ethnic woman, and she is only perpetuating and cementing her place there. America is the most diverse nation in the world. Cultural diversity in the workplace is becoming more and more desired. Our ethnicity, religion, life experience, etc., makes each of us unique. Ideas our nation once embraced about assimilation are now inappropriate and outdated. For someone who lives on the margins to assimilate into a single idea of acceptance to fit into society is a gross violation of their individual identity and rights. This means that we all need to learn to accept what is different from us and respect it.

Managing Cultural Diversity in the Workplace

Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) means eliminating barriers to ensure that all employees are considered for the employment of their choice and have the chance to perform to their maximum potential. EEO practices include: A management system which incorporates the differences found in a multicultural workforce in a manner which results in the highest level of productivity for both the organization and the individual. fairness at work, hiring based on merit and promotion based on talent.

It concerns all aspects of employment including recruitment, pay and other rewards, career development and work conditions

Cultural Diversity in the Workplace

CASE STUDY 1:

Bonita Community Family Center

Background: Bonita Community Family Center (BCFC) is a community-based organization dedicated to provide a variety of services to families living in Bonita City. The Latino population has increased considerably the last 10 years and the BCFC has been integrating bilingual bicultural personnel into the organization. Mercedes Guzman has been working for the center for three year. She is one of the case managers providing family services to the Bonita Community. Part of her duties is to provide services to Spanish speaking families. Jennifer Wilson is the Director of Bonita Community Family center. Jennifer has been working for the organization for 15 years and has been involved in the organizations initiatives to expand services to the Spanish speaking families. At the cubicles: Mrs. Wilson: Mercedes, I need to talk with you in my office. Please come with me. Ms. Guzman: Yes, sure. Just let me inform the front desk person in case my next appointment shows up. At Mrs. Wilsons office: Mrs. Wilsons (Looking at Mercedes at her eyes): Mercedes, the reason why I wanted to talk with you is because I have had complaints about you and the other Spanish speaking coworkers speaking Spanish in the halls and in the break room. Ms. Guzman (Avoiding looking at Mrs. Wilsons eyes): Excuse me Mrs. Wilson but I do not see why there is a problem with us speaking Spanish, we feel more comfortable speaking in our native language. Mrs. Wilson: Well, some of your coworkers feel uncomfortable. They think that this is America and that you need to speak English. Ms. Guzman (Avoiding looking at Mrs. Wilson): I do not know why they feel uncomfortable. We are not talking about them and they never have talked with us about how they feel. Besides, we have been hired because we are bilingual and we speak Spanish. I have even felt sometimes that this is the only skill that you see in us.

Mrs. Wilson: I do not understand what you mean by this Ms. Guzman: When there are opportunities to get ahead in the Center we are not considered because you need our Spanish speaking skills in the lower level positions or because you do not see other skills that we have. Mrs. Wilson: Mercedes, I did not know that you were interested in those positions. Ms. Guzman: Well, I feel that you did not consider me because nobody asked me if I was interested. Mrs. Wilson: Lets talk about these issues later. Ms. Guzman: Ok, lets talk later. Unraveling the Situation: Desired Outcome: 1. To respect each person. 2. To create a workplace environment that is safe, comfortable, and honors each persons gifts and talents. Remember: We each have a cultural lens, which shapes the way we make sense of our experience. We all have talents to share. We all want the best for our organization.

CASE STUDY 2:

Diversity and Talent Management Practices at IBM

The case examines the diversity and talent management practices of the US-based IBM, the leading IT Company in the world. IBM figured in the Fortune magazine's list of "America's Most Admired Companies" in the year 2004. It was appreciated for recruiting and retaining the best talent across the world. IBM actively encouraged recruiting people from various social and cultural backgrounds irrespective of their age, sex or physical status. In the same year, IBM had developed a talent marketplace to effectively manage its workforce. The marketplace supported employees to find the most suitable job across different organizational units within the company. Experts felt that the talent management initiatives of IBM would help it to gain competitive advantage in the long run as talent is the key differentiator in the IT industry.

Introduction
In the year 2004, IBM was listed among the top 10 companies on Fortune magazine's list of "America's Most Admired Companies." The ranking was based on eight variables like employee talent, innovation, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, long-term investment value, and quality of products/services5. Fortune was appreciative of IBM for recruiting and retaining the best talent across the world. Analysts attributed IBM's success to its skilled diverse workforce that included people from almost all the countries in the world. The history of diversity at IBM dates back to 1953 when the then Chairman and CEO, Thomas J. Watson Jr. (Watson Jr.), issued a letter to the management team in which he stressed equal opportunity of employment. In the late 1950s, that letter was used as a foundation of company policy in negotiations to establish IBM subsidiaries in Southern US. In 1964, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) became a legal obligation as per the Civil Rights Act, passed by the US government. During the 1970s, IBM actively recruited women and minorities in the company. It formed a well-structured career development plan for them. Later, in the 1970s and 1980s, as IBM started operating in other countries outside the US, it actively promoted diversity. The company developed a well-structured diversity policy and

implemented it within the organization. During the 1990s, diversity council and network groups were formed to promote diversity In the early 2000s, a skilled workforce was one of the key differentiators for a successful IT company. IBM gave importance to not only recruiting and retaining the best talent but also to managing them in such a way that wastage of skills was reduced. In 2004, IBM developed Human Capital Management Services software to implement a talent management model within the organization. According to analysts, IBM's focus on talent management enabled the company to utilize its workforce properly and also to assess its future talent needs. They felt that the best practices in talent management could be further used to formulate and implement succession planning and leadership development strategies.

Background Note
The history of IBM dates back to the early 1900s. In 1911, the Computing-TabulatingRecording Company (CTR) was founded in New York, US, by merging the International Time Recording Company6, Computing Scale Company7, and the Tabulating Machine Company8. In 1914, Thomas J. Watson Sr. (Watson Sr.), who had earlier operated an agency for selling cash registers, joined CTR as a general manager In 1924, CTR was renamed as International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) and Watson Sr. took over control of the company as its President. Since its inception, the top management of IBM had been giving importance to employee-friendly practices. Watson Sr. concentrated on developing self-respect' and self-confidence' among IBM's sales force. He said, "I want the IBM salesmen to be looked up to. Admired. I want their wives and children to be proud of them."9 To promote teamwork, Watson Sr. formed sports teams among its employees. He tried to inculcate a sense of pride and loyalty in them toward the company. He valued his employees as he believed that the people were the biggest assets of the company.

Work Force Diversity at IBM

Diversity at the work place in the US originated from the concept of EEO in the 1940s. At IBM, Watson Jr. issued the first equal opportunity policy letter in 1953. Later, it came under government compliance under the Civil Rights Act of the US in 1964. With the onset of globalization' in the 1980s, organizations initiated efforts to broaden their marketplace. In an attempt to sustain themselves amidst the continuously increasing competition, they started doing business across the world. This trend made it important for them to focus on diverse cultures across borders in order to offer products and services that suited the specific needs of different markets...

Recruiting People with Disabilities

IBM had a well-structured plan in place for recruiting and training people with disabilities. The recruitment specialists and hiring managers were specially trained for this purpose. In each business unit, IBM had line champions' - the managers experienced in hiring and

working with people with disabilities - to facilitate the recruitment process. The company also worked with various educational institutions for campus recruitment of such candidates. Besides, IBM had a diversity website where prospective candidates with disabilities could submit their resumes directly.

Work/Life Balance
As one of its major employee retention strategies, IBM offered a comprehensive work/life balance program based on the following seven principles: Employees must take responsibility for their own work/life balance needs. Work/life balance should have a positive impact on all employees involved. Quality of output is more important than the amount of activity. Teams should be flexible when balancing working and personal needs. Employees must be treated as individuals. Ongoing performance and contribution are a prerequisite. Achieving work/life balance is hard work and ongoing...

Women in the Workforce

IBM started recruiting women professionals well before the Equal Pay Act, 1963. A letter issued by Watson Sr. in 1935 stated, "Men and women will do the same kind of work for equal pay. They will have the same treatment, the same responsibilities, and the same opportunities for advancement." IBM's management made efforts to find out what the specific needs of its women employees and provided women-friendly facilities accordingly. This helped the women in increasing their productivity while maintaining a proper balance between work and family life. The women networking groups in IBM actively promoted female mentoring, assisted women to achieve a better work/life balance, and also conducted programs to encourage girls to seek careers in the IT industry (Refer to Table I for Filling the Pipeline' programs).

Talent Management
To achieve a balance between talent supply and demand, IBM often redeployed its workforce. The internal redeployment process was designed to minimize loss of productivity of skilled employees. Each of IBM's business units had its own resource board that reviewed and approved external job postings on a regular basis. In case the company had employees with skills matching the criteria, they were redeployed on the new job instead of recruitment being done externally. IBM treated diversity as a part of its business strategy. Having employees from different social and cultural strata helped the company understand and serve its customers better. It also helped the company expand its market by obtaining business from small and

medium sized enterprises owned by the women and minorities (Asian, Black, Hispanic, etc.). In the early 2000s, the executive diversity task forces were encouraged to develop business relationships with the leading women and minority-owned businesses in the US.

CASE STUDY 3:

Promoting Diversity - The American Express Way

American Express was well known in American corporate circles for its commitment to diversity. The company not only made a conscious effort to recruit a diverse workforce, but it also created a work culture where diversity was valued and promoted. This case discusses the diversity initiatives of AmEx. It talks about how the company partnered with several profit and non profit organizations to ensure that it had access to a diverse pool of candidates in its recruitment efforts. It also talks about the culture and policies at AmEx that ensured that diversity was promoted in all parts of the organization. The case concludes with a commentary on the extent to which the diversity initiatives were successful at the company, in the light of a law suit filed by some women employees against the discrimination they faced.

Introduction
In January 2006, the American Express Company (AmEx) was featured on Fortune's 3 list of the '100 Best Companies to Work for' in America. AmEx was ranked ninth among large companies, and 37th in the overall ranking of the list of the best employers in the US. AmEx had been one of the regulars on this list in the early 2000s, and the company stood ninth in the overall ranking the previous year as well. Fortune said AmEx's diversity initiatives, especially its policies related to women employees and minorities, made the company one of the best places to work for in the US. AmEx's commitment to minorities was also saluted by Black Enterprise, a magazine committed to the business and consumer issues of the African-American community, in July 2005. The magazine included AmEx in its '30 Best Companies for Diversity' list. The 30 best companies were selected after the editors of the magazine conducted a detailed survey of more than 1,000 publicly traded American companies and 50 global companies with

significant operations in the US. Companies which showed a significant representation of African Americans and other ethnic minorities in four key areas - corporate procurement, corporate boards, senior management, and the total workforce - were included in the list. AmEx was also appreciated by other mainstream magazines as well as those catering to minority groups and special interests such as Hispanic Business and Working Mother, for its diversity related policies. In the 1990s, diversity issues came to the fore in corporate America. Not only had a large number of women and minorities entered the workforce, but markets had also rapidly expanded beyond national boundaries, compelling companies to adapt their operations to diverse cultures and societies. In light of these developments, analysts suggested that for companies to continue growing, they would have to take full advantage of all the human resources and intellectual capital available to them.

Background
AmEx was originally set up in 1850 as an express company that forwarded freight and valuables across the US. In the mid 1800s, the US postal system was not very well developed; not only was the service slow, but many far flung areas did not have any service at all. Besides, it was extremely unreliable and very often documents were lost en route. Therefore, people were reluctant to send valuable papers and articles by post. Henry Wells, William Fargo, and John Butterfield recognized that the shortcomings of the US postal system provided a good business opportunity. When AmEx was started, it provided a service that was not only fast, but also reliable. Consequently, it earned a reputation as the best express company in the country at that time. In 1882, AmEx launched a money order business to compete against the money order service of the US Postal Department. Around the same time the company also expanded into Europe with the same product. In Europe, the concept of money orders was still new and AmEx gained the first mover advantage. In 1891 the company created a new product known as the 'American Express Travelers Cheque' as a substitute to the traditional letters of credit people used when they traveled abroad. The Travelers Cheque was launched in denominations of $10, $20, $50, and $100, and soon became popular with international travelers. The Travelers Cheque triggered off AmEx's international expansion in a big way. In 1895, the company opened its first overseas office in Paris. This was followed by a London office in 1896... By the early 1990s, AmEx had offices across Europe including Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. In the early 1900s, immigration into the US was at a

high. In 1905 the US Immigration Department appointed AmEx to provide official currency exchange services to these immigrants. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 brought in new business opportunities for AmEx.

Diversity at Amex
Diversity was an integral part of the culture at AmEx. AmEx believed that focusing on diversity was one of the ways to gain competitive advantage in the rapidly expanding global markets. Having a diverse workforce allowed AmEx to obtain a better understanding of the varied markets it operated in. Diversity has been defined in various ways by experts. The narrow definition, the one pertaining to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the US, defined diversity in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, age, religion, and disability. However, over the years the concept of diversity widened to include parameters like marital status, language, sexual orientation and tenure with the organization. AmEx embraced and promoted diversity in the broad sense, and its diversity initiatives covered a large number of groups including women, minorities, senior employees, people with disabilities, and homosexuals.

Diversity Eyewash?
Despite AmEx's commendable diversity initiatives and the testimony of several satisfied employees, the company did not escape criticism. Over the years, AmEx had become involved in a few controversies related to discrimination One of the biggest controversies that the company faced was a class action gender discrimination lawsuit in 1999. During the late 1990s, several female advisors at AEFA complained to the EEOC that the unit's managers discriminated against them on the basis of gender, and showed preferential treatment to white males in terms of assignments, mentoring programs, promotions and compensation. They also said that they faced a sexually hostile environment at AEFA. Although the complainants were from different locations, their complaints were similar. Shirley Krieger from AEFA's New York office said that although she had worked at the unit for more than 13 years, her superiors had been trying to get her to resign saying that she was 'too old'...

Cultural Multiplicity in the Business

International

The issue of cultural multiplicity in the international business scenario is continuously on the up rise owing to the factor of rapid globalization. As the developed countries spread their wings across the globe, the third world talent finds more employment opportunities in their lap. Nevertheless, the businesses of underdeveloped nations have also made giant strides since they are provided with better and more channels for spreading out. The role of Internet has indeed played a major role in bring about this global revolution in the international business. Businesses worldwide are endowed with unfathomable opportunities and access to limitless societies and cultures, making business prospects and employment available to all. Even the biggest giants of the world are now just a click away. However, for the companies seeking to squeeze this planet, this cultural amalgamation has set a number of problems along with the rosy side of it. The last decade has proffered a number of challenges for the companies who intend to go global with regard to the effective management of cultural diversity. Managing the differences of languages, cultures, religions and traditions under one umbrella are some of the main obstacles faced by the international businesses, and are more complex than they seems to be on the out front. People coming from multiple backgrounds not only have differences of social setup, in fact, the cultural impact influences the psychological side of the personality as well. The business culture of a country is not very dissimilar to its social norms. As for instance, the social and cultural values and norms in U.S, Europe and Asia are

completely in contrast with one another and so are the perspectives of people. When these separate and distinctive cultures come closer, there are high chances of a tug of war since groups fail to empathies with each other and this is what mars the productivity and effectiveness of work environment, disturbing the business consequently. Moreover, the problem of general acceptability of other cultures and religions has been an issue ever since. It is indeed a fact that human beings feel more at ease with those of their own like and are not too enthusiastic to work in diverse teams. Team members coming with mottled cultures exhibit varying attitudes in work place and thus the situation for the management becomes all the more exigent. Every individual exhibits his social and cultural norms in business world. In this case, a lot depends on the role of management as to how they view taking their businesses to diverse countries and their insight into its pros and cons. Their international business strategies must encompass all the socioeconomical aspects of the native countries and have practical policies for business expansion in each culture. All these plans of actions need to be much customized; what might be suitable in a certain culture may not work for another. The constraint of English language as the sole mode of communication in the western business world is also an imperative issue. Although learning English has been given a lot of significance in Asia now, yet people are not too comfortable with foreign language as a matter of fact. This calls for interpreters sometimes, increasing the overheads for the firm. However, being defensive and confining our horizons pertaining to these obstacles would be child-like. Instead we need to be solution-oriented and device methods and strategies to tackle ethnic multiplicity in the workplace. More focus needs to be given to the positive sides of globalization, as the prospects of business success are much higher and beneficial around the globe. The international business strategies should be realistic and free of all bias based on religion, culture, race or ethnicity. With this constructive and realistic approach, firms can hop into the international market and extend their sphere. Various approaches can be adopted to minimize this issue and make people feel one. Breeding regard and respect for religions, ethnicities and races in training workshops, fair company policies, standard setting by the senior management, social gatherings and events where employees from varied ethnicities may get an opportunity to intermingle informally are some of the solutions that can help minimize this problem of multicultural diversity in the business world.

Guidelines for Diversity Management

The following are some important guidelines to manage diversity effectively: Consider female employee needs, such as child care and job sharing, to prevent their turnover. Commitment from top management towards value diversity is a pre-requisite. Arrange mentoring program by senior managers to identify promising women and minority employees and play an important role in nurturing their career progress. Arrange diversity training programs to bring diversity awareness and educate employees on cultural and sex differences and how to respond to these in the workplace There should be an apprenticeship program to trained promising prospective employees properly before they are actually hired on a permanent basis. Employer should set up a support group to provide a nurturing climate for employees who would otherwise feel isolated or alienated. Conduct diversity audit to review the effectiveness of an organization's diversity management programs.

 There should be a proper communication which includes speeches by senior executives, inclusion of diversity in corporate vision statements, the publication of diversity brochure and inclusion of diversity as a topic in new employee orientation. Managers need to be sensitive to the needs of working parents. Ward off change resistance with inclusion. Foster an attitude of openness in your organization Learn the professional aspirations of all team members and support their efforts to achieve them. Create opportunities for highly talented employees to be exposed to leaders who may not otherwise interact with them. Create cross-functional teams Volunteer for community projects that teach tolerance, both directly and indirectly Delegate fairly Communicate and support intolerance of inappropriate and disrespectful behavior. Evaluate performance objectively Consider individual needs when enforcing company policies and guidelines Dont make assumptions Communicate appropriately Search for common ground Be aware of formal versus informal work environments.

REFERENCES
1. Melissa Solomon, "Create Diversity in Culture, Ideas", Computerworld 36 (May 6, 2002):42-43. 2. Suzanne C. de .Janasz, Interpersonal Skills in organization, McGraw-Hill, 2002, p-146. 3. "Diversity: A 'new' Tool for Retention", HR Focus 77 (June), 14. 4. The Problems of Cultural Diversity in International Business - Instablogs.htm 5. Leadership-tools.com. Cultural diversity in the workplace.htm 6. Managing%20cultural%20differences%20...%20%20Google%20Books.htm#v=onepag e&q=&f=false 7. Managing cultural differences 6th edition Philip R. Harris, Robert T. Moran, Sarah V. Moran. 8. http://www.leadership-tools.com/intellectual-rights.html 9. www.google.com 10. www.scribd.com 11. www.citemanhr.com

Managing Cultural Diversity

The five cultural dimensions highlight the important cultural differences in organizations. To manage effectively in a global or a domestic multicultural environment, we need to recognize the differences and learn to use them to our advantage, rather than either attempting to ignore differences or simply allowing differences to cause problems (Adler, 1997). Rather managers should be taught how to respect the differences at work and how to work with them to maximize the contribution of each employee (Cascio, 1998).

Strategies for managing cultural differences

The extent to which managers and employees recognize cultural diversity and its potential advantages and disadvantages defines an organizations approach (strategy) to manage cultural diversity. Adler (1997) has identified the following strategies for managing cultural differences. (i) Ignore cultural differences (ii) Minimize cultural differences. (iii) Manage cultural differences.
Delhi Business Review Vol. 2, No. 2, July - December 2001

Ignore differences: By following this strategy, managers do not recognize cultural differences (diversity) or its impact on the organization. This strategy is very popular in parochial type of organizations. In such type of organizations, managers and employees believe that our way is the only way to manage and organize. Therefore, they do not see any impact of cultural diversity on managing an organization. They consider the diversity is irrelevant. The strategy of ignoring differences precludes effective management of cultural diversity and also precludes the possibility of minimizing negative impacts and increasing positive impacts of diversity. Minimize differences: This strategy of minimizing cultural differences is commonly adopted by ethnocentric organizations. Here managers do recognize cultural diversity but only as a source of problems. In an ethnocentric organization, managers believe that our way is the best way to organize and manage. They consider others ways of doing as inferior ways of managing. In this approach managers try to reduce the problems of differences by reducing diversity. They do not think about the advantages of diversity. Such type of organizations tries either to select a culturally homogenous workforce or to attempt to socialize all employees into the behaviour patterns of the dominant culture. Ethnocentric organizations, by minimizing differences, prevent the possibility of benefiting from the many cultures present. Managing differences: The organizations which adopt the strategy of managing differences are synergistic organizations. These type of organizations recognize the impacts of cultural diversity that leads to both advantages and disadvantages. Managers using synergistic approach believe that our way and their way of behaving and managing differ, but neither is superior to the other. Creative combinations of our way and their way may be the best approach to organizing and managing. By adopting synergistic approach, managers and employees minimize potential problems by managing the impacts of cultural diversity, not by attempting to minimize the diversity itself. In the same manner, managers maximize the potential advantages by managing the impacts of diversity, rather than by ignoring them. Organizations which use the strategy of managing differences train their managers and employees to recognize cultural differences and to use cultural differences to create advantages for the organization.

Synergistic organizations assume

(i) that groups within society differ across cultures and that each maintains its cultural distinctness. (ii) that the similarities and differences are of equal importance. (iii) that there are many culturally distinct ways to live, to work, and to reach a final goal. (iv) that there are many different good ways to reach the final goal. The best way depends on the cultures of the people involved (Adler, 1997). For recognizing cultural differences and using them to create advantages for the organizations, synergistic organizations can make use of cross-cultural training and valuing diversity.

Cross-cultural Training
Cross-cultural training stresses on training employees about other cultures and sensitizing them to the discrimination and biases diverse employees feel (Farren and Nelson, 1999). Cross-cultural training aims at helping employees live and work comfortably in another culture. Organizations

can use two approaches of training that can play a big role in managing diversity.
Subhash C. Kundu

(i) First approach offers training to diverse groups of employees. People from diverse groups can be trained for an entry-level skill. (ii) Second approach is to provide training to managers and other employees who work with diverse employees (Luthans, 1995). Many organizations impart practical, real-life training to teach employees how to handle situations those arise due to cultural differences. The organizations can use the following cross-cultural training techniques: Environmental briefings: to provide information about history, geography, climate, schools, government, economy, etc. Orientation in culture: to familiarize the employees with value systems and culture of the host country. Cultural assimilator: is a programmed learning technique that is designed to expose employees of one culture to some of the attitudes, customs, etc. of another culture. Language training: to teach conversational language skills. Sensitivity training: to develop attitudinal flexibility. Field experience: to give first hand exposure to another culture (Hodgetts and Luthans, 1994).

Valuing and Utilizing Diversity

The companies can succeed at diversity if the initiative to create and manage the diverse workforce has the full support from the top management (Hayes, 1999). With this, five other steps must be considered which are as follows: Conduct an organizational audit: The organizational audit should include a continuous monitoring of all human resource management decisions around hiring, placement, training and development, evaluation, promotion, compensation, and reward systems. Assess the pulse of the company: If diverse workforce in the organization feels good about their stay and experience and enjoy at work, then the well-being, motivation, satisfaction, and commitment of people of any organization will increase. Establish and communicate clear performance standards: Performance standards must be based on critical competencies necessary for each job. These must be clearly and objectively established, effectively communicated, and used on objective criteria. Provide continuous feedback: Employees should be trained about how to give and receive feedback continuously on clearly identified undesirable behaviors the company want to change and desirable behaviors the company want to encourage. Identification of desirable and undesirable behaviors must be based upon performance feedback discussions involving diverse workforce. Avoid copying: Very often, companies rely on benchmarking/copying to take advantage of the latest strategies. Copying may backfire. To be successful, the strategy (diversity or otherwise) must be based on the will of the human resources, strength, and culture of the organization.
Delhi Business Review Vol. 2, No. 2, July - December 2001

Adopting a diversity strategy for a company whose culture and history are different and not suitable for diversity strategy reduces the viability and utility of the strategy. Managers must understand their firms culture first and then implement diversity strategies according to that culture.

Indian Context
The Indian workforce is comparatively young. 52% of the total workforce is under age 34. Being young Indian employees can be trained easily for the purpose. The cultural dimensions those were discussed earlier identified certain features about the Indian workforce. Indian employees tend to show high power distance position. Titles, status and formality command high importance. Subordinates follow orders as a matter of course. Indians demonstrate a greater willingness to take risks, low levels of stress and low levels of anxiety, as they tend to be on the low uncertainty avoidance dimension. Indian employees are individualists with high level of autonomy and achievement orientation. Further they show the qualities of masculinity where assertiveness, acquisition of money and things are features. While managing Indian workforce, Indian managers and other countries managers have to take care of these specific characteristics alongwith others. The multinationals may not face cultural problems in some respects in India. As this country had been a British colony for a long time, people in general can understand and speak English language that is an international language. There is no problem relating to business communication while dealing at least with Western countries. But it may not be so while dealing with other countries.

Implications for HR Managers

The focus of the workforce diversity issue has changed from equal employment opportunity to effectively managing workforce diversity as an organizational imperative (Torres and Bruxelles, 1992). As the globalization is increasing, workforce diversity is here going to stay. Those recognize the globalization of labor as a positive trend and facilitate the flow of workforce will benefit most (Johnston, 1991). Keeping this in mind our strategy should be aimed at creating change in organizations. To be successful in such type of new environment, managers must learn to value and respect cultural styles and ways of behaving those differ from our styles. Managers must be able to tie the issues of managing cultural differences to the needs of the business and be well versed in business issues, goals and results. Managing workforce diversity should be considered by managers as an opportunity to serve the needs of customers better and to penetrate new markets. By valuing and managing diverse workforce, it is possible to enhance creativity, flexibility, and rapid response to change. Managers, to utilize the potential of diverse workforce, must link diversity to every business function or strategy i.e. recruitment, selection, placement, development, succession planning, performance appraisal and rewards. To remain competitive, organizations must develop long-term intervention strategies rather than short-term solutions or strategies. Managers have to remove the barriers which prevent the organizations from developing and utilizing fully equitable systems that allow workforce to achieve its full potential.

Conclusions A diverse workforce is a reflection of a changing world and marketplace. In the laboratory research diverse work teams bring high value to organizations and respecting individual differences will benefit the workplace by creating a competitive edge and increasing work productivity. Diversity management benefits associates by creating a fair and safe environment where everyone has access to the same opportunities and challenges. Management tools in a diverse workforce should be used to educate everyone about diversity and its issues, including laws and regulations. Most workplaces are made up of diverse cultures, so organizations need to learn how to adapt to be successful. In the exploratory research the benefits of the diverse workforce were not fully confirmed. The only advantage of cultural diversity indicated by the companies was better image and bigger opportunity on the marketplace with finding the best personnel for companies. Results of the research suggest that diversity is neither a great asset (in terms of innovation and creativity) or a liability but definitely is closer to the first one because of it symbolic effect.

Diversity management in practice

In functional terms, what is diversity management? There are, of course, different philosophies: To some, diversity may be little more than proportional representation of various demographic and social groups in the workplace. To others, it may involve overcoming cultural prejudice and instilling new values about difference in the organization. To still others, it may connote changing the very fabric of work practices in keeping with the cultural influences of different social groups. (Prasad et. al. 1997:13). Taylor Cox proposes taking an even more active role in embracing diversity. He talks about creating pluralism through a range of initiatives in a workplace and mentions for instance training and orientation programs, or making effort to ensure that minority groups gets room to give input and gain acceptance or perhaps establish support/advisory groups just to mention a few examples (Cox

1994: 244-247). In the arena of diversity management in practice, on manager level, how is the notion implemented? Again, this is a vast scholarly field, in which I have chosen the accounts of Nancy J. Adler, professor of international management at McGill University in Montreal, who has defined six guidelines for managers describing the implementation of the term (Adler 2001: 116-118): Christian Villum CCG8 / Individual project Page 10 of 18 10 Task-related selection Managers should select team-members for their abilities rather than their ethnicity, in order to ensure that the team is homogeneous in ability levels and heterogeneous in attitudes. Recognize difference Team members should become aware of their own stereotypes (2001: 117) as well as that of the others. Next step is to attempt to understand why the others think, feel, and act the way they do. Superordinate goals The manager must help the group agree on a broadly defined superordinate goal; a goal that they can all share. Equal power Managers should distribute power according to each members ability to contribute to the task, not according to some preconceived gradient of relative cultural superiority. (2001: 117) Mutual respect Negating prejudice is of utmost importance and managers should ensure this through inducing equal status, close contact, and cooperative efforts towards a common goal. (2001: 117-118) Feedback Managers should also remember the value of positive feedback, especially in the early stages of a teams cooperation process. External feedback helps the group see itself as a team, and serves the function of teaching the team to value its diversity, recognize contributions made by each of its members, and trust its collective judgement. (2001: 118)

CONCLUSION
Diversity management today has the potential to play a significant role in todays globalized world. From juxtaposing the theoretical accounts of diversity management, organisational culture and its inherent discrimination a range of findings became clear to me: Pushkala Prasads survey showed how women in many US businesses, despite poor diversity management, had seized the opportunity to gain influence. As such, diversity management was argued to be a proliferation of the individualistic tendency we see in general in the digital network society today a tendency that arguably reflects the

period of transition that we world is facing these years, seeing the diminishing of national borders and ability and opportunity for instant world-wide individual peer-topeer communication etc. In this light, reluctance against diversity management is a symbol of how the old world is afraid of loosing its supremacy both economically, but perhaps more significantly in terms of culture and influence. The individual tendency of diversity management is a natural next step away from the discrimination and inequality rooted in history; a history of slavery, colonialism, imperialism on the part of the West, and whose remnants still permeates society today in social, political, economic and cultural areas of society, where structure is still drawn in the dominant group's mono-cultural tradition. But times are changing and the transition has begun by far. We have seen effort in the shape of affirmative action that undoubtedly have balanced things a little, although perhaps more crudely than most people employers as well as employees, dominant groups and well as minority groups would have liked if they were to take charge in a perfect world. Thus, frustration with this legislation has lead train spotters to seek new ideas, and although diversity management is not to be considered new any more, I find it obvious that diversity management at some level is the leadership style that Christian Villum CCG8 / Individual project Page 19 of 22 19 fully realizes the embracing of the new world and the ability to take it to the next step. So how can diversity management make a difference in the discrimination in organizational culture that we see today? I will argue that diversity management needs to be seen as a much more flexible notion than has been the case so far. Each diversity management initiative should be customized to fit exactly into the actual situation, implementing highly tolerant environments - that stimulate both proponents and opponents into embracing or accepting the diversity that is increasing in all areas across the globe. And even if proponents do not accept this diversity, managers taking this approach should be able to cope through out-of-the-box thinking. The idea, as presented in the discussion is to stimulate rivalry rather than trying to negate it, thereby seizing the energy inherent in any conflict and turning it to be an advantage. Businesses and managers should remember, however, that they need 100% dedication in order to succeed. Only then will diversity management have its full impact; more productive and creative outputs and only through such radical changes is it possible to tamper with those historically biased and discriminative structures that permeate the very fabric of organisational culture today.