Understanding And Managing Diversity In Business Culture

A Form of Diversity

Discuss about the Understanding and Manage Diversity.
 

Diversity is a part of multicultural nations. A country that houses people of different religion, caste, language, race, gender, etc is diverse in its nature. Apart from ethnic diversity, there is political diversity, biodiversity, physical diversity and much more such as education, employment, family structure, and income. Any heterogeneity that is present in a single nation can be termed as “diversity”. However, diversity mainly includes acceptance of that heterogeneity and understanding it as a unique feature. A multicultural nation should keep it in mind that each person is different from the others, and it is the responsibility of the nation to respect its inhabitant’s uniqueness by nurturing a safe and positive environment for them.

While discussing various types of diversities, the racial difference seems to be the primary reason of diversity. As discussed in Fisher,. (2016), for example, Australia is a place of an indigenous population.  It is a country of both aboriginal people and migrants from various countries giving birth to cultural diversity in Australia. The current population of 23 million people is one of the diverse populations in the world. Migration is the primary reason of Australia’s diversity. According to reports, 60 percent of population growth in the year 2013 is due to migration from overseas. Racial discrimination is the obvious result of this migration and to evade such discriminations, the Australian government had enacted Racial Discrimination Act that came into force in the year 1975. The diversity of Australia is a matter of research, and it needs a systematic overview. For this reason, the Diversity Council of Australia, an independent and non-profit organisation, started working as diversity advisor to maintain diversity in the business of Australia. Their primary focus is to develop and promote current research works on diversity, to operate unique diversity practices that can improve business culture. Diversity is, therefore, should be treated as an important component of business culture especially, in a multicultural country. This essay will throw the lights on the positive and negative consequences related to diversity in business culture of a country.

Diversity is related to both animate and inanimate object, non-living and living matters. However, human variation can be distinguished in various levels. Some differences occur at the individual level, and some are at the racial level. At first, every human being is a separate individual; secondly, a group of people can be of a particular race giving birth to racial discrimination. It is the primary reason why the cultures of countries such as Australia and India are called “diverse”. According to Lichter,. (2013), racial diversity includes a difference in skin colour, body structure and facial features. For example, African people have dark skin colour whereas; Asian people are brown to white skinned. People of European countries have white skin. All these racial differences become their identity in one way or the other. The existence of racial diversity is due to geographic partition and reproductive seclusion. Racial diversity creates cultural diversity. Cross-cultural diversity is born when people of different races become a part of the business of a particular nation. The workplace is, then, full of different people either trying to cope with the dominant culture or trying to maintain their own cultural identities. A developing or a developed country that faces the challenge to bind these cross-cultural people together in a unity should understand it at first. Racial discrimination, however, can turn into a major issue if not maintained properly. People often tend to neglect or lower other races. It is prevalent in the United States, where there is a confluence of both White and Black people. The African- American black people had to fight to earn their position in a country dominated by white Americans. However, it is found that most of the African countries are diverse in nature. Uganda leads as having the highest ethnic diversity rating, and they are followed by Liberia. Twenty African countries are in the list of world’s most diverse countries. America and Australia are less diverse than Africa and there is a variation found in the countries of the Middle East. However, countries such as Japan and Korea are listed as most homogeneous regarding politics whereas, European countries have ethnic homogeneity. Throughout this essay, the impact of this racial diversity in the workplace would be discussed. (“Racial Diversity”, 2016). 

Benefits and Gains from this Form of Diversity in Tourism and Hospitality Business

Tourism is a part of hospitality business. Other sectors of hospitality include sports facilities and teams, gaming, event planning, transportation, cruise line, lodging etc. Travel and tourism is an industry that depends on encouraging linguistic, traditional and ethnic diversity. However, diversity is seen as a reason for separation and division, although in tourism sector diversity attracts tourists. Tourism can be promoted through this cultural diversity. As found in Andrevski, & Ferrier, et al,. (2014), a racially diverse country has many advantages. They are culturally rich as both the races have either developed or retained their own cultural uniqueness. According to Ghimire,. (2013), one can find different traditions coexisting in a particular place that has paved the way for cultural enrichment. Starting from food habits to clothing, architecture, literature, cinema or painting multiple forms and variations exist in harmony. However, cultural diversity gives positive results when the management of any workplace celebrates this cultural variation of their employees, values it and explores different aspects of it. Once they have understood the differences, the process of adoption starts and individual needs are taken care. Respecting one’s race or culture increases the level of tolerance within the workplace, and the inclusion of cross-cultures become successful.

A tourism and hospitality sector that values this diversity has various advantages. These are as follows:

They welcome innovation, as they understand that difference in cultures pave the way for different and divulge ideas. The solution of different problems is done through different perspectives, understanding, upbringing and training.

According to Simpson, & Cruz-Milán, et al,.(2016) acceptance of racial diversity by the hospitality and tourism managers makes the foreign visitors belonging to similar racial identity to respect the country where they are visiting. It enhances the reputation of that country globally. Those foreign people would visit more often and encourage other people to visit.

The migrated people of a separate race that are working in a foreign country get encouraged to work efficiently and effectively if the business culture imposes value on them. They do not feel isolated and dejected if their skin colour and physical dissimilarities with other people are not assaulted. It results in staff retention that increases productivity.

It encourages domestic as well as foreign people of a different race to come and work in an unknown place.

Native people with racial particularities play the role of communicator. People of similar races coming from foreign countries as visitors get someone with whom they can communicate their necessities and express their feelings. These native people interact and develop a cordial relationship with them that helps in maintaining a smooth flow of work.

Costs and Consequences to Business for not Accounting to this Form of Diversity

Hotels and restaurants, where different facilities are available for ethnic races, always attract foreign visitors of similar races to come there. They could cherish the homely atmosphere there. 

According to Jonse, & Bell, et al,.(2013) facing racial diversity is a challenge to a multicultural country as it has both positive and negative impacts. The areas of tourism and hospitality that is associated to serving the visitors with different cultural background and traditions need special care for any mismanagement may result into overall damage. The probable results may be the following;

Marginalisation of the subordinate races by the dominant races

Increase in conflicts among the employees regarding ideas and individual perspectives

Rising intolerance among the minor races influences foreign visitors belonging to that same race avoid the country not only for travel but also for work and business related issues. It actually damages the reputation of a country concerning business and inhabitation. 

According to Singal,. (2014). there can be reverse discrimination that means a member of the majority may claim that a member of the minority is given more preference because of his status.  The complaint comes that his ability is not counted for labelling him as an individual from the majority. 

According to Martín., & Sánchez, et al,.(2013) the world-class organisations provide various facilities to their customers irrespective of their racial discriminations. The steps that they follow should be adopted by other organisations relating to hospitality sectors too. These are as following:

Organisations should assess and evaluate the differences existing in a work culture

As discussed in Oswick, & Noon, (2014) they should develop diversity plan to include diversity into the work culture. The inclusion follows seven steps. These are value and respect, belonging and connection, influence, opportunity, Group Dynamics, and Societal dynamics. They should then implement the diversity plan accordingly, the outcome of which is the development of diversity within a work culture. (“Diversity Council Australia”, 2016) 

Conclusion

Understanding and managing diversity have prime importance in a culturally diverse country. It needs proper management otherwise, the result turns to negative. However, in this essay, it is discussed how and why it is important to understand this diversity because it is a unique component. Giving value to mainly ethnic and racial diversity can usher peace and harmony. Here, the discussion is restricted to the work cultures of hospitality and tourism sectors. It is not to forget that tourism sector is closely associated to this form of diversity. Therefore, it should set the guidelines to deal with advantages and disadvantages of racial diversity.

References 

Andrevski, G., Richard, O. C., Shaw, J. D., & Ferrier, W. J. (2014). Racial diversity and firm performance the mediating role of competitive intensity. Journal of Management, 40(3), 820-844. 

Diversity Council Australia. (2016). Dca.org.au. Retrieved 13 August 2016, from https://www.dca.org.au/    

Fisher, M. (2016). A revealing map of the world’s most and least ethnically diverse countries. Washington Post. Retrieved 13 August 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/16/a-revealing-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-ethnically-diverse-countries/    (Fisher, 2016)

Ghimire, K. B. (2013). The native tourist: Mass tourism within developing countries. Routledge. 

Jonsen, K., Tatli, A., Özbilgin, M. F., & Bell, M. P. (2013). The tragedy of the uncommons: Reframing workforce diversity. Human Relations, 66(2), 271-294. 

Lichter, D. T. (2013). Integration or fragmentation? Racial diversity and the American future. Demography, 50(2), 359-391. 

Martín Alcázar, F., Miguel Romero Fernández, P., & Sánchez Gardey, G. (2013). Workforce diversity in strategic human resource management models: A critical review of the literature and implications for future research. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 20(1), 39-49. 

 Oswick, C., & Noon, M. (2014). Discourses of diversity, equality and inclusion: trenchant formulations or transient fashions?. British Journal of Management, 25(1), 23-39. 

Racial Diversity. (2016). Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 13 August 2016, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/racial-diversity    

Simpson, J. J., Simpson, P. M., & Cruz-Milán, O. (2016). Attitude towards immigrants and security: Effects on destination-loyal tourists. Tourism Management, 57, 373-386. 

Singal, M. (2014). The business case for diversity management in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 40, 10-19.