Doing Business in the UK

The United Kingdom (UK) is comprised of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It is important not only to be aware of these geographical distinctions but also the strong sense of identity and nationalism felt by the populations of these four countries. Pay Day Loans The terms 'English' and 'British' are not interchangeable. 'British' denotes someone who is from England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. 'English' refers to people from England. People from Scotland are referred to as 'Scots'. People from England are not likely to take offence at being called "English", whereas a Welsh, Scots, or Northern Irish person will.

Cultural Diversity
Formerly a very homogenous society, since World War II, Britain has become increasingly diverse as it has accommodated large immigrant populations. The mixture of ethnic groups and cultures make it difficult to define British as looking or acting in one particular manner. People may sound British and retain the cultural heritage of their forefathers while others may become more British than someone who can trace his/her lineage to the 5th century. The fact that the nation's favorite dish is now a curry sums up the cultural mish-mash that is modern day Britain. Doing business in the UK The British are rather formal. Many from the older generation still prefer to work with people and companies they know or who are known to their associates. Younger businesspeople do not need long-standing personal relationships before they do business with people and do not require an intermediary to make business introductions. Nonetheless, networking and relationship building are often key to long-term business success. Rank is respected and businesspeople prefer to deal with people at their level. If at all possible, include an elder statesman on your team as he/she will present the aura of authority that is necessary to good business relationships in many companies.

British communication styles The British have an interesting mix of communication styles encompassing both understatement and direct communication. This will equally apply if you are using a business mobile phone. Many older businesspeople or those from the 'upper class' rely heavily upon formal use of established protocol. Most British are masters of understatement and do not use effusive language. If anything, they have a marked tendency to qualify their statements with such as 'perhaps' or 'it could be'. When communicating with people they see as equal to themselves in rank or class, the British are direct, but modest. If communicating with someone they know well, their style may be more informal, although they will still be reserved. Read More ...

Cultural Diversity in London UK

Culturally, London comes into its own; it would be difficult to find any culture not represented somewhere in the busy streets and quiet suburbs of London. The streets swarm with a multitude of people of different ages, races and cultures. Moody Goth teenagers with their electric pink striped hair and black clothes mingle easily in the markets of Camden Town and Covent Garden with wrinkly Japanese grandfathers, enthusiastic tourists and local Londoners. Tired businessmen walk the same streets as new-age hippies and chattering groups of excited Asian school-girls. More than three hundred different languages are spoken in London on a daily basis, and every sub-culture in the city is represented by its own speciality shops, restaurants and fashion stores. Not only is there a variety of contrasting races and nationalities living in London, but different generations as well. The disparity in culture between classes and generations of the same nationality are as great, or even greater than the cultural distinctions between diverse .. Read More ...

London UK - An Amazing Cultural and Social Melting Pot

I am still surprised, after more than twenty years on this turntable, that they are not more frictions amongst the various groups of people and social backgrounds. Multi-coloured skins, national costumes, hundreds of sometimes-mysterious languages, religious symbols proudly displayed add to the widely differing living conditions and magically varied cuisines. This cohabitation occurs peacefully and with surprising tolerance, at least on the surface.

Churches, mosques, synagogues, catholic, coranic schools neighbour each other; saris, boubous, chadors are brushing against one another; the veiled Muslim woman is integrated in the work force and the ambitious Indian reaches the peak of his/her profession. Medicine, journalism, finance are becoming coloured and provide the most ambitious with high-ranking jobs where all skins are tolerated. And, for the amateurs, London offers an orgy of restaurants and spicy cosmopolitan foods. Curry, sushi, tagine, mezzes, fajitas, tapas, poule au pot are on the menu...How can we resist this blending of traditions and customs and to this cultural richness? Musicals, concerts, movies also show a diversity catering for all tastes; everyone can find exotic entertainment or a film in one's own language. Read more ...

London's Multicultural Experience

Being one of the largest and most populated cities of Europe, London, the United Kingdom's capital is a cosmopolitan area in which a highly diverse range of peoples, cultures and religions coexist today. According to a Guardian newspaper editorial, "London in 2005 can lay claim to being the most diverse city ever." With more than 300 different languages spoken in London's streets by its permanent residents, such a claim seems at least reasonable. During my last London visit, I was astonished by the multicultural experience a tourist like me could have, just by visiting different neighborhoods and talking to a variety of people. In fact, the city is considered today to be an international transport hub, it has excellent business mobile broadband facilities and is an extremely popular tourist destination, making London one of the most visited world's capitals; a fact that tremendously promotes its multicultural character. London's metropolitan are has considerably grown over the centuries, especially during the 19th and early 20th centuries increasing industrialization that led to rapid population growth. England's capital was the most populated city of the world until 1925, when New York overtook its immense number of citizens. London continued to grow until World War II and the Green Belt legislation which led to its population largely remain static. .. Read more ...

Managing Cultural Diversity - A Key to Organizational Success

Organisations around the world have been realising that cultural diversity within an organisation is not a negative aspect, rather, it can facilitate an organisational aspiration for glory (Papers4you.com, 2006). However it is not an easy task to manage employees with different cultural backgrounds. Nevertheless there are many policy guidelines that can make the task easy. On a broader perspective, cultural diversity can be managed through communicating (creating awareness among all employees about diverse values of peers through communication), cultivating ( facilitating acknowledgement, support and encouragement of any employee' success by all other workers), and capitalizing (linking diversity to every business process and strategy such as succession planning, reengineering, employee development, performance management

and review, and reward systems) strategies ( Cascio, 1995). There are many different innovative ways that organizations have adopted to manage diversity. For instance Tabra Incorporation, a small manufacturer of jewellery and accessories in California comprised of a modest workforce is comprised of Third World immigrants from Cambodia, China, El Salvador, Ethiopia, India, Laos, Mexico, Thailand, Tibet Vietnam and other nations. To acknowledge the importance of their cultural association, at least 10-12 different flags are always hung from the ceiling of its main production facility which represents the countries of origin of the employees. The owner's view point is 'I would like for this to be a little United Nations everybody getting along and appreciating each other's culture instead of just tolerating it'. (Bhatia & Chaudary, 2003) If cultural diversity can be managed effectively, there is a potential to use a diverse workforce for organizational benefits. Cox and Balke (1991) asserts that multi-culturism is directly linked to organizational success as: Effectively managed multi culture companies have a cost effective competitive edge. It helps in promoting a minority friendly reputation among prospective employees. Diverse cultural corporations help to get better customers which have a variety of people. Diverse groups of employees are perceived to be more creative and efficient in problem solving as compared to homogenous group. The ability to manage cultural diversity increases adaptability and flexibility of an organization to environmental changes. Many organizational examples can be taken in this regard. In Australia, for instance, Hotel Nikko in Sydney has a unique edge that staff members in direct guest contact areas speak a total of 34 different languages. Similarly Qantas Flight Catering has sixty-six nationalities on their staff, with various overseas-born chefs. So dedicated diverse 'ethnic' kitchens gave Qantas a huge competitive edge that offers food based on customer's ethnic taste and requirements. Moreover Don's Smallgoods through literacy, language and cultural training increased cross-cultural communication and increased profits while lowering costs at the same time. Similarly The Cheesecake Factory had put special effort to understand Japanese quality and packaging culture as Asian employees assist management to understand Asian tastes so that they can target exports to Asia (Nankervis et al, 2002) Hence the discussion suggests that it is imperative to realize that cultural diversity should be taken as a tool for better organizational progress rather than a managerial problem and if effectively managed, it can be a key to gain competitive edge and success.

References Bhatia, S., K., & Chaudary, P., ( 2003),'Managing Cultural Diversity in Globalization- Key to

Business Success of Global Managers- Insights and Strategies', New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publication Pvt Ltd Cascio, W., F., (1995), 'Managing Human Resources' International Edition, US: McGraw Hill. Cox, T. H., & Balke, S., (1991), 'Managing Cultural Diversity: Implications for Organizational Competitiveness' Academy of Management Executive, Vol 5, Issue 3, August 1991 Nankervis, A. Compton, R., & Baird, M., (2002) 'Strategic Human Resource Management'. 4th Edition. Victoria: Nelson Australia Pty Limited Papers For You (2006) "P/HR/188. Views on diversity management", Available from Papers4you.com [19/06/2006]

Copyright 2006 Verena Veneeva. Professional Writer working for http://www.coursework4you.co.uk.

The UK Coalition for Cultural Diversity, UKCCD, is the UKs leading civil society forum of creators and cultural organisations promoting the Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005). This groundbreaking treaty champions cultural policy and values in the context of international law, and commits signatories (currently 109) to seek greater exchange and support for creative industries in the developing world. The UKCCD is a consultative partner to the UNESCOs UK National Commission and to the UK government on the implementation of the aims of the Convention. It is a founding member of the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity, and a member of its regional European group. Through this network it has access to over 600 creators organisations internationally.

Categories: Society The UK has a long history of ethnic and cultural diversity. Recent decades have seen substantial immigration of different ethnic groups into the UK from around the world. This has created a society so diverse in the 21st century that concepts such as super-diversity have emerged in an attempt to convey the diversification of diversity. Long-term immigration of non-British citizens into the UK has almost doubled between 2000-2010 [1], figures which have prompted the coalition government to introduce much stricter controls (see immigration). The most recent estimates suggest that people identifying as anything other than White British has risen to about 16% in England & Wales (up from 12.5% in 2001 [2]), however these figures vary widely across the country - 48% in inner London compared with less than 4% in parts of the South West and Wales [3]. In 2010 11.4% of the total UK population was born outside of the UK [4]. Managing diversity is a complex and difficult challenge. Government policies aimed at promoting multiculturalism over the past decade have failed to encourage social integration and cohesion to the degree envisaged. The coalition governments localism agenda may strain social cohesion in some areas and lead to increased fragmentation of certain ethnic group. This is because the devolution of power to communities in order to personalise services may result in groups that do not actively participate becoming left out from decision making and therefore further isolated. Managing diversity therefore remains a central challenge to 21st century society.

What are the implications?

Individuals increasingly have a variety of affiliations, defining themselves through multiple and overlapping criteria such as ethnicity, religion, kinships, regional and/or local identities. This means some level of commonality between people is more likely. There may be an increase in religious affiliation and spirituality as there are higher levels of religious practice amongst some ethnic groups. Issues surrounding integration as new and existing members of minority communities have varying equal opportunity and employment experiences as well as social interactions. Disparity (mostly negative) in economic conditions and quality of life amongst some ethnic minority communities. The state may increasingly look to the sector to manage diversity. Approaches to multiculturalism and policies of assimilation and integration have been aimed at encouraging a shared national identity. Within a family this process of assimilation into a shared cultural identity is likely to be more prominent with each future generation.

Moving forward
Does your organisation have a good understanding of the multiple and overlapping identities of its client groups? How can you engage with your beneficiaries to get a better understanding of this? Are there any changes that may need to be made to your service provision to respond effectively to the specific needs of different and diverse client groups for instance providing language

support and appropriate food? Could other organisations support you to be more responsive to the needs of a diverse community? The Big Society Agenda, the move towards localism, and a reform of public service delivery may lead to changing dynamics of social cohesion and integration of ethnic groups.

How can your organisation ensure aspirations to engage local people (particularly in disadvantaged and marginalised communities) in decision making have the required resources for implementation and monitoring. Could you identify small and niche groups that do not participate? As a devolution of power to the local level means more personalised local services how can you prevent these groups that do not participate from becoming isolated further?

Would your organisation benefit from a more diverse workforce and trustee board, perhaps bringing in new skills and fresh perspectives?

Want to know more?

A shared vision for the future of the BME voluntary & community sector New Complexities of Cohesion in Britain: Super-Diversity, Transnationalism and Civil-Integration Institute of Community Cohesion Focus on Ethnicity and Religions References

1. 2. 3. 4.

Provisional IPS estimates of long-term international migration - ONS, 2010 [back] Census 2001 Ethnicity and religion in England and Wales - ONS, 2003 [back] Population Estimates by Ethnic Group Mid-2007 - ONS, 2010 [back] Population by Country of Birth & Nationality 2009-2010 - ONS APS, 2011 [back]

United Kingdom/ 4.2 Specific policy issues and recent debates

4.2.4 Cultural diversity and inclusion policies The most recent official statistics on ethnic minorities within the UK population are from the

2001 Census (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=273). The size of the minority ethnic population was 4.6 million, or 7.9 per cent of the total population of the United Kingdom at that time (54.153.898). Half of the total minority ethnic population were Asians of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or other Asian origin. A quarter of minority ethnic people described themselves as Black - that is Black Caribbean, Black African or "Other Black". Fifteen per cent of the minority ethnic population described their ethnic group as "Mixed". About one-third of this group were from White and Black Caribbean backgrounds. The remaining minority ethnic groups each accounted for less than 0.5 per cent, but together accounted for a further 1.4 per cent of the UK population. The Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 requires public bodies, including the UK's four Arts Councils, to demonstrate that they are promoting racial equality via their policies and practice.The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) created a National Cultural Diversity Network for the sector, delivering support, advice and training through regional Cultural Diversity Co-ordinators and other initiatives, such as the Cultural Diversity Checklist, a toolkit for a basic audit; a literature review of evidence of cultural diversity activities in the sector (New Directions in Social Policy Report), and an email discussion list on the subject. In addition, the MLA Workforce Development Strategy includes a major strand, "Diversify", which funds positive action traineeships and researches the barriers stopping Black Asian and Minority Ethnic young people from entering the sector. A Museum Association survey revealed that the proportion of Black, Asian and minority ethnic people working in museums almost trebled between 1993 (2.5%) and 2008 (7%). However, the numbers of these minorities in the population as a whole increased from 5.5% to 12% during the same period. See http://www.museumsassociation.org/home. Other positive action employment initiatives include a coalition of television broadcasters and the UK Film Council - the Cultural Diversity Network - with a focus on diversity, inclusion and employment in the sector, and which has led to action plans with targets and measures to integrate ethnic minorities into television at all levels. Membership of the Network also includes PACT (The UK Trade Association that represents and promotes the commercial interests of independent feature film, television, children's and animation media companies) and Skillset (the Sector Skills Council for Creative Media). Similarly, the UK Film Council set up a Leadership on Diversity group for film to improve diversity and inclusion in film in the UK. Another example is EQ, a national equality and diversity agency working in the creative industries. EQ was established following a GBP 5 million programme called Creative Renewal, funded by the European Social Fund. England Arts Council England has a Race Equality Scheme, which seeks to both embed diversity into the organisation itself, and also to encourage and support all regularly funded organisations to develop good practice in relation to race equality. The scheme has also established targets for Arts Council England's Grants for the Arts programme regarding Black and Minority Ethnic

artists and arts organisations. "Decibel" - raising the voice of culturally diverse arts in Britain was a GBP 5 million Arts Council England initiative aimed at raising the profile of, and developing infrastructure for, culturally diverse arts, defined as African, Asian and Caribbean artists. It sought to place diversity in the forefront of the Council's work, reinforcing professional practice and mainstreaming art works from diverse communities. The work was continued by "decibel legacy" through to 2008, including "decibel showcase" in 2007, a performance platform that helped assist artists and companies to sell their work, expand their touring potential and develop new projects. Further showcases were planned for 2009 and 2011. An evaluation of decibel's initial year found that some gains had been made by the initiative - nearly 60% of all respondents said their knowledge of African, Asian and Caribbean artists had increased and 80% of the 130 organisations that responded said they planned to develop their programming of culturally diverse artists as a result of decibel. However, criticisms included: confusion about the overall ethos and delivery, and performance targets not being in place when the initiative commenced. During 2005-06, the Arts Council worked with an Advisory Group of Black freelance artists and consulted widely into race equality within the theatre sector to produce Whose Theatre...? Report on the Sustained Theatre Consultation (http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication_archive/whose-theatre-report-on-the-sustainedtheatre-consultation/). The report made recommendations to ensure the further development and long-term success of Black and Minority Ethnic artists, including focusing on the need for a network of buildings, cultural leadership, critical debate and archiving, international work and the role of the Arts Council. The Council welcomed its findings and set up a working group to develop action plans for implementation by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic artists. Scotland The Scottish Arts Council (SAC) prioritised three main areas of activity within its work to promote cultural diversity: visibility, capacity-building and mainstreaming. This included a variety of initiatives, e.g. funding of specific festivals such as the Edinburgh Mela and the North Glasgow Festival at Sighthill, home to many asylum-seekers and refugees. Mainstream organisations have also been encouraged to programme diverse work and take on minority ethnic trainees. Creative Scotland will take on SAC's responsibilities in this area. Northern Ireland The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) has been developing a minority Ethnic Arts strategy in recognition of priorities in its 2006-2011 strategic plan. ACNI seeks to foster a diverse arts programme, strengthen dialogue and promote understanding between local communities with the aim of tackling inequality and social exclusion.

Chapter updated: 15-04-2011

UK Findings

The highest activity in cultural competence were reported in Public Sector (specifically healthcare sector and academia) Limited cultural competence experience was found within independent organisations In both public and independent sector we found a general level of misunderstanding and confusion in terms of terminology e.g. difference between: o cultural competence, o diversity, o cultural diversity, o cultural awareness, o cross-cultural competence, o trans-cultural awareness, o cultural identity Cultural competence/cultural competence terminology is not as widely known and utilised as in for instance the US Main area of focus amongst UK providers: o 50% cross-cultural awareness o 28% cultural diversity o 17 % other o 5% cultural competence The relatively high level of cultural diversity activity can be explained through UK equality & diversity legislation and the prevalence of diversity practised in UK organisations compared with other countries The significant presence of organisations offering cultural awareness/ cross-cultural awareness is due to Britains longstanding history of overseas business/expat services Limited levels of direct cultural competence provider experience was found within UK commercial providers In summary, most cultural competence knowledge was identified in the public sector (predominantly within healthcare and academia).

US Findings

The term cultural competence is relatively well known Whilst cultural diversity and cross-cultural terminology is used, cultural competence is a well-established area in itself Commercial and public sector providers refer to cultural competence in equal measure Commercial providers service both public sector and private organisations This is significant as most commercial providers in the UK service private organisations with only a recent trend to cross-over to public sector

General Findings

Both countries increasingly refer to the business case for cultural competence This is particularly the case with regards to commercial providers

Academic Research
International documents were sourced from the web and publications. Criteria applied included:

Publication date of research Ideally peer reviewed Contained a definition for cultural competence Made references to evidence of success Relevant to the health care sector

Of the 28 final documents reviewed:

53% were published in the period 2005 2008 96% were published in the period 2000 2008 57% of them contained a definition for cultural competence 50% provided evidence of success 96% of them were written by/within the health sector/academia.

A summary of findings is below:

No consensus: approach and definitions Training: format and content varies Strategic approach is recommended Popular models: assess an individuals or organisations cultural sensitivity Business case: moral, legal and business case evolving Appropriate definition of cultural competence is required Lack of funding Misunderstanding, lack of buy in and sustainability Under-prioritisation amongst practitioner and organisation

Overview of the academic findings

Mixed evidence of success

Minimal evidence to evaluate effectiveness Majority of evaluations claim success and are self-reported Minimal quantitative data; patient experience or health outcomes Assertions about effectiveness of cultural competence premature Little in the way of serious attempts made to evaluate the effectiveness Quantitative v. qualitative debate in terms of evaluation methods: quantitative (Bhui 2007) vs. qualitative (Bean 2006) Guidelines available on evaluation strategies versus acknowledgement that what they are trying to measure is an outcome which has many contributory factors and that is something that gradually changes over an extended period of time Large amount of resources put into the provision of training and development over many years

General findings

Little in the way of consensus approach Many different recipes Some training needs analysis has been undertaken but limited Some well informed contributing factors research which draws on theoretical frameworks, e.g. Hurtado et al (1999) UK reviews of training, development and evaluation activities find considerable variation Format and content of training, development and evaluation varied considerably. Methods include: reflecting on own cultural identity, role play/drama, self-directed, distance and computer based General agreement that cultural competent care needs a strategic approach: commitment, self-reflection, broad definition of culture, involve clients of BMEs understanding of own and others beliefs, values and attitudes, implementation at every level, research initiatives, language and communication differences Models to assess a persons or organisations cultural sensitivity are popular Challenges include: defining cultural competence and how it is different due to lack of protected time, funding, expertise, sustainability, priority, gaining buy-in, bad press, lack of understanding of culture and its invisible nature The moral, legal and business case is evolving No accepted distinction between race relations, race awareness, equality and diversity and cultural competence more a continuum of terminology from the 60s to 00s

Summary

No consensus: approach and definitions Training: format and content varies Strategic approach required Popular models: assess an individuals or organisations cultural sensitivity

Business case: moral, legal and business case evolving Appropriate definition of cultural competence Lack of funding Misunderstanding, lack of buy in and sustainability Continued under-prioritisation by practitioner and organisation