Managing Diversity

There is always a lot to say when we talk about globalisation, specially when it comes to how easy it is to communicate with the entire world and the access to information. We talk about how easy it is now to trade with countries that we would not have even dared to consider in the past. But, do we talk about how would it be like to have people from other cultures working right next to us in an office or serving us if we go to a coffee shop, or living next door?

But diversity not only includes differences in culture. It also includes five other aspects that could construct social inequalities: race, gender, disability, age and sexual orientation (Kirton, Green, 2005: 5) and managing these differences means being able to work effectively with people who do not share your background, experiences, or self identification

In the past, many companies tried to use theories in order to homogenize behaviors and attitudes by developing their own organizational cultures, but nowadays it is becoming more and more difficult to ignore "the existence of distinct subcultures and microcultures, as people with different social identities try to negotiate or maneuver for advantage, often in competition with others".

But once organisations make their peaces with this fact they can start implementing measures to create a tolerant environment and they may come to realise that "Diversity creates positive outcomes for organizations when differences among people lead not only to a larger pool of qualified workers, but also to more creative problem solving, more productive use of human resources, and better understanding of markets and competitors".

However, when dealing with human beings and interactions among them there will always be flaws, and the need to grow skills to deal with them becomes more important since negative outcomes "can result if diversity leads to misunderstanding, distorted communication, destructive competition, political maneuvering, favoritism, discrimination, and intolerance".

References:

Managing Diversity in Organizations, Professor Nancy Di Tomaso. 2006. http://raceethnicity.rutgers.edu. Accessed: September 1st, 2009

Organisations: National and organisational cultures

Mankind has always believed to have all sorts of powers over its sorroundings. The truth is that no matter how much progress we make in terms of technology we will always be at the nature's mercy.

Rosario's presentation showed us how many changes over our planet had to take place before we could even exist; and how many things indeed are beyond our control.

Earth's structure, above the surface (Atmosphere, Hydrosphere and Biosphere) and the inner Earth (Lithosphere, Astenosphere, Mantle and Core) and everything that happens in between, as a result of the interaction of different fenomenon, like weather changes, natural catastrophes and even processes of natural selection.

But not only physical conditions determine what our destiny will be. Cultural precedences are all around us and are explained through four sciences: Linguistic Anthropology, Archeology, Physical Anthropology and ethnology.

But, how do these four sciences relate to one another? They all try to seek the origins of the various shapes of man kind as it is today and its evolution whether is through the study of languages, archeological findings, fossil remains and contributions by inheritance or patterns of thinking and behaviour seen in interpersonal relations.

References:

- Class presentation: Organisations: National and Organisational Cultures. By Rosario Tatis