Sekioka1

MasashiSekioka/
MASA
ProfessorCarlisi
ESL33B
3Dec2015
Be
Diverse

Workplaces
Today,in2015,theworldissignificantly
globalising
.Peoplearegoingouttothe
worldtoseekeducations,careers,andmore.
Numerous
companiesandindustriesalso
aresteppingforwardtooverseastoproducebetterproductsanditemsforpeopleall
overtheworld.Becauseofthoseworldwidebusinesses,peoplein
workplaces
are
becomingculturally,racially,orethnically
diverse
individuals,butthosecompaniesand
individualsoftenfacevarietiesofculturaldifferences,blocks,andbarriersandstruggle
withhandlingallofthose.Anxietiesareobviouslyappliedtosolvethose.However,
researchesshowinterestingdatasthatculturally,racially,andethnically
diverse
groups
aremuchmoreinnovativeandhighlylikelytohavebetterproductivitiesthan
homogeneousgroups.Although
diverse

workplaces
frequentlyfaceandstrugglewith
numerous

difficulties
andconflicts,
workplaces
shouldbeculturally,racially,and
ethnically
diverse
insteadofbeinghomogeneous
inorderto
getthroughinthe
worldwidecompetitivesocieties.
Aswecanseetoday,
numerous
varietiesofculturesanditsuniquenessesexist
intheworld,sothatcultural,ethnical,racial,andotherdifferencescausepotential
problemsandconflictsbetweenindividualsin
diverse

workplaces
.Herearethe
examplesofthreemaindifferencesthatcancausetroubles.


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First,theculturesinthisworldcanbedividedintwocollectivismcultureand
individualisticculture.Collectivismculturerepresentsthatindividualswhoarefromthis
culturestendtoputhimorherimportanceonfamily,groupsmembersratherthan
individuals.Thosepeopleprefertobe
harmonised
inagroup(MartinandNakayama).
Ontheotherhand
,individualisticculturerefersthatindividualswhoarefromthis
culturestendtoputtheirimportanceonindividualsratherthanfamilyorgroupmembers
(MartinandNakayama).Whenpeoplewhoarefromtwodifferentculturalbackground
interactormakeaconversation,bothofthemmightfeeldiscomfortoftalkingabout
someproblems.Onemightfocusontheirbenefitsbycaringotherswhenmakinga
conversation,butanothermightconcentratedirectlyononesneedsorwantsinstead
offocusingonherorhisgroupmembers.Thisdifferencemightcauseproblemsofhow
individualswanttoachievetheirgoal.
Second,languagesarethetoolsto
communicate
,buttheselanguagescanbea
bigmatterwhenindividualsneedtoexchangeideas,information,andsowithothers
whoarenothomogeneous.Therearetwotypesof
communication
stylewhicharedirect
communication
styleandindirect
communication
style.AccordingtoYourOfficeCoach
byMarieG.McIntyre,directcommunicationstylesayexactlywhattheythinkand
attempttoconvinceothersthattheyareright.Unlikely,indirectCommunicators"are
morelikelytoobserve,askquestions,andpresentpossibilitiesWhen
diverse
individualsneedtoworkinagrouptoexchangetheirideasandopinions,someworkers
whousedirect
communication
stylenormallymightfeel
difficulties
ofcatchingmain
ideasfromotherworkerswhouseindirect
communication
styleoremployeeswith


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indirect
communication
stylemighthookaggressionsfromemployeesbecauseofdirect
communication
style.Thisdifferencecancausemisunderstandingofothersor
missellingsomethingtootherindividuals.
Third,personalspacecancauseproblems.Aswellaslanguageshavestyles,
personalspacecanbedividedintotwoculturalconceptscontactcultureand
noncontactculture.Peoplefromcontactculturetendtostandclosely,makedirecteye
contact,touchfrequently,gesturemore,andspeakinaloudvoicewhiletalking(Martin
andNakayama).Oppositely,peoplefromnoncontactcultureoftenstandfarther,
maintainlesseyecontact,speaksoftly,gestureless,andtouchisfrequentlynotallowed
(MartinandNakayama).Whenpeoplefrombothcontactandnoncontactcultureneedto
talk,bothmightsensediscomfort.Onewantstostandclosely,butanotherstepsback
gradually,oronetouchesanotherduringaconversation,anothermighttrytoavoidor
thinktobeinsulted.
Althoughtheseexamples,whichcandefineasdownsideof
diverse
groups,can
causemoreadversitiesandcomplications,variousresearchesshowthat
diverse
workforcestendtobemoreinnovativeandfrequentlysucceedthanhomogeneous
groups.Whyisitso?Whatandhowcanmakediversitiesinventiveandsuccessful?
Accordingtoresearches,
diverse

workplaces
highlyshowbetterproblemsolving
skillsthanhomogeneousgroups.Beinga
diverse
workforcemeansthatthereare
varietiesofpeoplefromdifferentcultures,races,ethnics,andothersandthose
diverse
workplaces
canbefulfilledwithcultural,racial,ethnical,andotheruniquenesses.
Uniquenessesindiversitiesusuallybringsdifferentexperiences,information,opinions,


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ideas,andperspectiveswhenindividualsgatheringroups(Phillips).Whatitmeansis
thatwhen
diverse
individualsneedtogatherandsolveaproblem,thoseindividualsare
abletohaveamassiverangeofdifferentchoicestoseeproblemsandpickoneormore
fromthosesolutionalideas(Ezell).So,thosepeopleoftencansolveaproblemquickly
andsuccessfully.
Moreover
,becauseofhavingamassiverangeofdifferentways,they
areabletoachievetheirgoalswithdisagreement(Phillips)aswellwhentheycannot
approveaproblemanditssolution.Theycanthinkthatagreementanddisagreement
arenotnecessarilygoodorbad,butthesearesolutionstoproblemstheyfacebecause
ofdifferentexperiences,information,opinions,ideas,andperspectives.
D
iverse
workforcesaretheplaceswhereuniqueindividualsgatherandare
fulfilledwiththeiruniquenesses.Inthoseplaces,therewouldbealwaysunfamiliarities
andconfusions.However,understandingandrespectingindividualdifferenceswill
benefit
workplaces
bycreatingacompetitiveedgeandincreasingworkproductivities
(Green)andthisconceptsleadworkforcestoinnovativeandsuccessful
diverse
workplaces
.Thoseindividualsfrequentlylearnnewskillsbybothtryingtounderstand
othersandmakingothersunderstandtheirowntoerasetheirunfamiliaritiesand
confusions.Inotherwords,individualsarestimulatingeachothersbyhavingmentorsto
getsomeskillsoutfromothersandbecomingmentorstocomposelively,active,and
smoothgrouprelationshipina
diverse
groups(Wind).
Otherresearchshowsthat
diverse
workforcescan
reduce
lawsuitsandincrease
marketingopportunities,recruitments,creativities,andbusinessimages(Green).If
thereisabusiness,thereareusuallycustomersaroundthebusiness.Thosecustomers


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arealwayswillingtodotheirbusinesseswithapersonortwowhobetterunderstand
theircultural,racial,ethnical,andotherbackgrounds(Finn).Forinstance,aChinese
customermightfeelcomfortdoingbusinesswithaChineseworker(s)insteadofworkers
whoarefromthecompletelydifferentculturalbackgroundbecausetheyarenoneedto
thinkofculturaldifferencesandbarriers.Becoming
diverse

workplaces
canattract
variousdifferent
customersbyrespondingtheirowncultural,racial,ethnical,andother
needsandbetterunderstandingcustomers.So,individualsin
diverse

workplaces
are
abletomatchindividualsandcustomersbasedonbothbackgroundsandavoidcultural
problemsandconflictswhendoingbusinesses.

Figure1:"CulturalDiversityInManagement,FirmPerformance,AndThe
ModeratingRoleOfEntrepreneurialOrientationDimensions."


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ThedatabyJaredNorman,whooffersbusiness
counseling
,diversitytraining
newsandadvice,actuallyshowsthat
diverse

workplaces
are68%morelikelytohave
higherproductivityratethanhomogeneouscompaniesandshow41%betterbusiness
performancethancompanieswherehomogeneousindividualswork.(SeeFigure1)
Also,companieswherewomenarepartofthetopleadershippositionstendtosee
greaterinnovationsonfinancialgains(Phillips)(SeeFigure2).Thesenumbers
represent
howbetter
diverse
workforcesdobusinesses,butalsothesenumberscanbe
analysed
thatbecause
diverse
workforcescancreatebetterbusinessproductivities,
diversitycanincreasebusinessopportunities,
fulfill
customerswithsatisfaction,and
decreaselawsuitcases.

Figure2:"TheDataonDiversity."


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Asillustratedhere,becomingculturally,ethnically,racially,andother
diverse
workplaces
consistentlycomeupagainstproblems,issues,andconflictsbasedonthree
mainissuesculturalconceptissues,languageissues,andpersonalspaceissues.Itis
obviousforindividualsin
diverse
workforcesto
anticipate
itsdecisivenessand
difficulties
.Astheyworkwiththosedifferentpeopleandaresurroundedbyits
toughness,theyarerequiredbeabletounderstandcultural,racial,ethnical,andother
differences,comethroughthoseissuesandrespecteachother.Theseprocessesare
absolutelyuniqueanditsuniquenessesdonotexistinhomogeneous
workplaces
.
However,becausethereareuniquenessesof
diverse

workplaces
,individualsareable
tolearnfromotherindividualscultures,ethnics,races,languagesandotherconcepts.
Also,theyareabletogetexperiencesofinteractingwith
diverse
people.
Analysing
alltheresearches,itseemslikethat
diverse
workforcescanachieve
theresultsofbetterproblemsolving,higherbusinessperformances,moreimproved
productivitiesandothersthanhomogenous
workplaces
becausetheprocesseswhich
arehandling
difficulties
,acceptingothers,learningfromotherculturalconcepts,and
gettingthroughalloftheseareaffecting
diverse
workforcesitselfandindividuals.In
otherwords,theirextraexperiencesthathomogeneousgroupsdonotgetaffecttoshow
theresultsbymakingthemstrongenoughtobringthosehigherperformancesinto
diversities.
Thesearethereasonswhy
workplaces
inthepresentworldshouldbecome
culturally,racially,andethnically
diverse

inorderto
competewithinworldwidebusiness


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societiesinsteadofbeinghomogeneous,eventhoughindividualsneedtocomethrough
numerous
obstacles.


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WorksCited
Ezell,Skylar."HowCanCulturalDiversityHaveaPositiveInfluenceonaProfessionalin
theWorkplace?"
EverydayLife
.N.p.,n.d.Web.13Nov.2015.
Finn,Lisa."TheEffectsofWorkplaceDiversity."
EverydayLife
.N.p.,n.d.Web.13Nov.
2015.
Green,KelliA.,MayraLopez,AllenWysocki,andKarlKepner."Diversityinthe
Workplace:Benefits,Challenges,andtheRequiredManagerialTools1."
EDIS
NewPublicationsRSS
.N.p.,n.d.Web.13Nov.2015.
Martin,JudithN.,andThomasK.Nakayama.
ExperiencingIntercultural
Communication:AnIntroduction
.NewYork,NY:McGrawHill,2011.Print.
McIntyre,MarieG."AreYouaDirectorIndirectCommunicator?"
AreYouaDirector
IndirectCommunicator?
N.p.,n.d.Web.02Dec.2015.
Nelson,Beryl."TheDataonDiversity."
CommunicationsoftheACMCommun.ACM
57.11(2014):8695.Web.
Norman,Jared."TheEffectsofCulturalDiversityintheWorkplaceLERABlog."
LERA
Blog
.N.p.,19June2013.Web.13Nov.2015.
Phillips,KatherineW."HowDiversityWorks."
SciAmScientificAmerican
311.4(2014):
4247.Web.
Richard,O.C.,T.Barnett,S.Dwyer,andK.Chadwick."CulturalDiversityIn
Management,FirmPerformance,AndTheModeratingRoleOfEntrepreneurial
OrientationDimensions."
AcademyofManagementJournal
47.2(2004):25566.
Web.


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Wind,Lee."SevenWaysToEmpowerDiversityWhereYouWork."
Officepro
73.6
(2013):1823.
BusinessSourceElite
.Web.13Nov.2015.