Managing Cultural Diversity: Implication on Organization Competitiveness

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1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Cultural diversity has been a growing phenomenon and the world has witnessed increased attention and discussion on its importance in the recent past. There are major facts and trends that have influenced this discussion in the beginning of the 21st century, the first being the globalization of economies with rise of Asia, where it was predicted that 50 percentage of the worlds’ GDP expected to be represented with time; the second trend is the involvement of international teams as a key driving force of innovations; the third being the critical concerns of this century such as global warming, pandemic diseases, terrorism and weapons which has a global effect; finally the fourth being the changes in demographics via globalization and international trade accelerated international migration and diversity across borders (Stewart, 2007: 9). One of the critical impacts of migration and globalization is the “dramatic increase in the opportunity and need to interact with people” who are diverse in culture (Thomas & Inkson, 2009). Europe with its shift in workforce, economic and political changes within the European Union has paved way to highly mobile and diverse society living and working within the European economic area (ibid).

It’s fast becoming a fact of life where intercultural interactions take place regardless of an individual’s interest in acquaintance of another person from a culturally different background.

Some predict that globalization and the liberalization of the goods and services market will lead to cultural standardization, reinforcing existing imbalances between cultures. Others claim that the end of the bipolar world of the Cold War and the eclipse of political ideologies will result in new religious, cultural and even ethnic fault lines, preluding a possible ‘clash of civilizations’. Thus the thinking has changed on cultural diversity from being a “melting pot” to “multiculturalism”, accepting it as an essential part of a society (Parvis, 2003:37). These inferences the fact that organizations will increasingly require internationally accomplished workforce and it goes without saying that their ability to manage the cultural diversity plays a major role in their success in the future (Stewart, 2007:9; Parvis, 2003:37).

Zambia’s society is characterised by tribal ties where the clan is at the centre of life. Interaction between the different groups happens on a friendly and regular basis creating a national culture which is characterised by a unique fusion of tribal customs and traditions. Diversity issues are now considered important and are projected to become even more important in the future due to increasing differences in the population of many countries. Companies need to focus on diversity and look for ways to become totally inclusive organizations because diversity has the potential of yielding greater productivity and competitive advantages.

Due to globalisation, every company today, large or small faces increased competition at home from foreign companies, at the same time as they confront the need to be competitive in the international market. In order to prevail, companies have found themselves in need to adopt the new ways of doing business, with sensitivity towards the needs of different cultural practices. They have to compete for the best talents they can find, and search for ways to get the best from the employees they now have (Thomas, 1991). Moreover, these employees will have to be located in different countries as many organisations move to a global way of doing business. Finding out the implications of a culturally diverse workforce in today’s organisations is therefore of great importance.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

With the growing realisation on the importance of cultural diversity around the world, many organisations in different countries of the world have taken keen interest to incorporate diversity in their workplaces. The interest among many organisations in cultural diversity has risen in order to ascertain how this diversity in culture in the workplaces affects the effectiveness of organisations. The issues of cultural diversity are now considered important and are projected to become even more important in the future due to increasing differences in the population of many countries. Companies need to focus on diversity and look for ways to become totally inclusive organizations because diversity has the potential of yielding greater productivity and competitive advantages. However, it is also worth to be noted that the issues of cultural diversity can sometimes be to the disadvantage of the organisations. It is important to note here that a number of studies have been conducted on issues of cultural diversity around the globe. It could be established from the previous discussion that a study on cultural diversity in an organizational scenario and how it’s managed within and its implications on the organisation competitiveness, is of importance at this point of time. The aim of this study was to fill the unfilled gap left by these studies which have been conducted in the past on cultural diversity and its importance on the organisation`s future. The purpose of this paper therefore was to assess the implications of cultural diversity on organisation competitiveness in Zambia.

1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this research were two-fold; the general objective and the specific objectives.

1.3.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this study was to investigate the implications of cultural diversity on organisation competitiveness in Zambia.

1.3.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

- To evaluate the impact of cultural diversity on organisational performance.

- To research on the relationship between cultural diverse workforce and competitive advantage.

- To explore the benefits and limitations of culturally diverse workplaces.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

- What are the impacts of cultural diversity on organisational performance?

- What is the relationship between cultural diverse workforce and competitive advantage?

- What are the benefits and limitations of culturally diverse workplaces?

1.5 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

The majority of companies