Cultural diversity can affect the workplace in numerous ways.

Negative effects
can include miscommunication, creation of barriers, and dysfunctional
adaptation behaviors

One negative effect of cultural diversity in the workplace is the increased

tendency of organizational

personnel to indulge in interpersonal conflicts. Culturally diverse workers have

different opinions, thoughts, beliefs, norms, customs, values, trends, and
traditions. The analogy of an iceberg comes to mind in the face of these
potentially endless dimensions; the obvious characteristics of race, ethnicity,
gender, age, and disability relate to the small, visible portion of the iceberg and
are the basis of much anti-discrimination legislation around the world
(Biaostocka, 2010, p. 6). Not so obvious dimensions, such as culture, religion,
and politics, only show up with thepassage of time. The core of individual identity
constitutes the tertiary dimensions and exists deep beneath the surface. These
deeply buried qualities offer the actual essence of diversity. An individuals
spirituality is personal and although effects of their spirituality may be seen at
the surface level, the source is still a deep-level artifact(Moore, n.d., p. 83).

When culturally diverse workers are placed in a group to achieve a goal with
mutual effort andcollaboration, these differences of opinions and other variables
can hinder the development of unity. Harrison, Price,and Bell (1998) assert that
the effect of deep-level similarity on group cohesion is positive, while that of
deep-level dissimilarity on group cohesion is negative. Workers may have
reasons to indulge in conflict with one another that may or may not be related to
work at all. For example, a South African and an Indian employee might argue
with each other over a cricket match lost by India to South Africa. Likewise,
workers may have historical and regional reasons to conflict with each other. For
example, a Japanese employee and an American employee might disagree over
the Battle of Pearl Harbor. Reasons can vary from very serious to trivial.
Whatever the cause, the interpersonal conflict results in lost productivity and
development of negative emotions among employees, which can be detrimental
to the organization.

The impacts of cultural diversity in the workplace can be both favorable and
unfavorable. Some negative effects include dysfunctional conflicts, lost
productivity, and difficulty to achieve harmony in group settings.

Positive effects include a strong knowledge base created by a variety of cultural

experiences, an in-house resource of cultural trainers and informers, and a
greater tendency to expand the business in foreign cultures. For the most part,
the effects of cultural diversity in the workplace depend upon how well they are
being managed by theorganizational leaders. With proper strategic planning, top
management can enhance the positive effects and reducethe negative effects of
cultural diversity in the workplace.

it is important to be sensitive to a variety of different cultural backgrounds and to

understand how to adapt the behavior when dealing with providers from other
cultures. Individuals often do notrealize that they communicate differently, have
different understanding of the same subject, or hold differing beliefs about
appropriate and inappropriate behavior, until they actually experience the
impact of those differences to the final result.

Cultural differences are named to be one of the biggest reasons why outsourcing
deals are experiencing problems.Physical obstacles to successful outsourcing
such asinfrastructure and facilities have been mostly resolved, but the soft
issues, cultural differences, will continue to be the main challenge.By its very
definition, offshore outsourcing involves interplay of different companies,
countries, regions etc.

That evidences, that representatives of different nations will expect different

results and will have different expectations from business relationships. Culture
is difficult to assess, as it embraces so many aspects. Awareness of cultural
differences in all the dimensions, mentioned in the paper, between outsourcing
partners would be very helpful in reducing communication gaps and

to understand the reasons of misunderstanding. Cultural compatibility in existing

outsourcing country selection models is treated just as one of the multiple
subcriteria.

Cultural differences are not marked as one of the Top features to be considered
and therefore cause many outsourcing deals to fail, because they were not
properly evaluated and addressed. There are certain cultural criteria, which are
very important in selecting the site. The results of the empirical survey are
presented in the article. Some authors assigned cultural differences only to
companys culture differences and that is not exactly correct. There should be
distinguished between Nationscultural differences and companies cultural
differences. In onshore outsourcing arrangements the key is companies cultural
differences, while in nearshore and offshore outsourcing Nations cultural
differences are far more important.

Often cultural hurdles can be overcome, when approached with a non

judgmental, open mind and with preparation in advance. The goal of both parties
should be: making the most of both cultures to add value to outsourcing
relationships much beyond cost reduction. Requirements for the nations around
the globe to work so close, so dynamic and at such scale as today have never
been presentbefore. We are at the stage of major cultural shift: not only
embracing extreme diversity but also enabling this diversity to synchronize and
deliver results effectively.

Different communication styles was identified as the key factor causing problems
between onshore and offshore workers by over three-quarters (76 per cent) of
the managers questioned.Different approaches to completing tasks, different
attitudes toward conflict and different decision-making styles were cited as the
other main cultural factors that frequently cause upsets when managing an
offshore outsourcing relationship.

Culture solution

cultural awareness and culturally compatible resource deployment. Cultural

awareness involves conducting workshops and sessions both offshore and
offshore to make both sides aware of each other's cultural practices. In fact, such
sessions are now included as a freebie in many large outsourcing programs.
Culturally compatible resource deployment involves having local, native onsite
persons manage the onshore client relationship or even having a culturally
compatible offshore workforce (example U.K. and South Africa). The two things to
be kept in mind while doing this are firstly whether the cultural barrier is
addressed internally within the service provider's organization and secondly if
the erosion of cost advantage is worth it.

Beyond the above, obvious solutions, companies need to keep three principles in
mind to fully address cultural barriers. The first principle is that it is a two-way
street. A director of a leading cultural training institute in U.K. once told me of an
incident where his (not yet then) client in U.K. was complaining "the Chinese
don't know how to work with us. The Indians don't know how to work with us".
The director retorted, "Have you ever considered that you may not know how to
work with them?" So it's as much about the buyer understanding the supplier's
culture as the other way round.

The second principle is that it takes conscious effort, intention and patience for
cultural awareness to show up in our behavior. There are two systems in our
mindSystem 1, the intuitive part, and System 2, the reflective part. Our native
cultural factors are in System 1, and when we learn about a new culture, it gets
slotted in System 2. So unless we practice and reflect about the new culture, the
intuitive aspect of our own culture will still be the only driver. Scientists have also
found that our childhood cultural experience plays a major role in shaping the
way we think and as we grow older, the neuroplasticity of our brain actually
reduces, making change much harder.

The third and most important principle is that addressing the cultural barrier
requires a shift in individual thinking. Each culture brings in its unique
perspective, and that's what is required to solve today's complex problems. But
we listen to other cultures through our own judgments and prejudices. We have
to be willing to let them go, to accept another. How we see other people and
their differences is merely a point of view.

Training staff
Even before you begin recruiting people from different backgrounds, it is
imperative to train paid staff and existing volunteers in cultural awareness and
offer ongoing cross-cultural training. Cultural awareness and cross-cultural
training helps avoid misunderstandings between clients, staff and volunteers
from diverse backgrounds.

While conducting training, it is important to make the training relevant and

practical. Ask staff to share their experiences and invite community leaders from
culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to share their stories and
perspective. Don't be afraid to hire an interpreter. There is a link to a list of
accredited translators in the Tools and resources section of this page.

It is also a good idea to train staff in how to use an interpreter. It is not intuitive
to stop speaking after every point for someone to translate. Speakers who do not
have training in how to work with interpreters often speak without a break for too
long and some of their information can be lost.

Culturally sensitive practices

When involving people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds into
your organisation, you have to be respectful of their religious and cultural beliefs.
This may mean rethinking whether events will serve alcohol, thinking about what
types of meat are served, being flexible around prayer times so you don't plan
meetings or events which will disrupt proceedings, and being mindful of
volunteers who are participating in Ramadan.

Other things that can be distressing to people from different cultures include:

Referring to people by their first names may be disrespectful to some. Make

sure you ask people how they want to be addressed. This can be included in the
interview stage or on a registration form for induction

Women supervising male volunteers

Young people supervising older volunteers

Touching another person

Holding a person's gaze when they are speaking

Coughing and blowing one's nose

 Dress codes

Different ways of greeting people

Another cultural difference which can cause a lot of frustration is the when you
realise people who say yes actually mean no. This is a common dilemma when
working with cultures that favour politeness over frankness. Particularly in Asian
countries, it is common for people to agree to do a task even when they dont
know what they're supposed to do rather than ask for further instructions.

To avoid not really knowing whether a volunteer understands what you are
asking of them, ask them to repeat back the instructions. This way you can work
out whether you need to change what you are saying to get your message
across. It is also worth remembering that politeness over frankness generally
means you will find it difficult to have discussions and feedback.

Another thing that can cause confusion when working with groups from different
cultures is the varying importance of time. In Australia, we value time. Generally
we work 9 till 5, meetings start on time and we expect everyone to be present. In
other countries, time is more flexible. You arrive to work when you have finished
getting the children off to school and meetings start when the important people
arrive. When scheduling events and relying on volunteers, it is important to
reiterate to volunteers that it is important to arrive on time and if they are late,
asking them why they are late rather than making assumptions.

The full force of globalization has hit today's organizations, and it is clear that
there are many cultural and human problems. International human resource
management (IHRM) is being asked to better understand and develop
multinational organizational leaders to meet the challenges