Introduction
Multinational organizations are currently faced with a new belief: that diversity increases efficiency in an organizational setting, and hence improves productivity. Because of this, a number of multinational companies have taken the initiative of setting locations in different countries across the globe.
But the main question is whether such a move obviously yields successful results. This question emanates from the fact that a company’s culture is normally founded on a number of perspectives, making it complex to define the term “diversity,” at least on common ground. But what is diversity? What ways should be put in place while defining diversity in an organizational setting? What ways should be adopted to develop a culture that is congruent with the organizational goals of a multinational organization?
Definition of Diversity
Diversity encompasses taking account of people’s differences with regard to their social values, educational status, ethnicity, as well as their culture, and working patterns (Mor, 2011). This is normally achieved through knowledge on diversity, which helps in carrying out a number of assessments, including the amount of support that should be provided to people from different cultural groups, the efforts implemented while building a cohesive relationship with workers from assorted cultural groups, and the expectation of workers from various cultural groups. In turn, this provides the management with comprehensive knowledge that helps to provide a clear way of doing the job, hence helping to create grounds for solutions to challenges that affect the market as well as the human capital.
Ways to Develop a Common Definition of Diversity within the Organization
It is essential to note that diversity is highly practiced by multinational companies by embracing the differences that exist between the workers and then nurturing them in order to find a common ground. The formation of strong company culture is facilitated by constantly taking an assumption of what constitutes “right” or “wrong” cultural practices, thus accommodating all kinds of beliefs.
A persistent acceptance of different beliefs and values is attributed to the fact that multinational companies constantly experience new members from various countries. Hence, the different cultural views within multinational organizations help in the formation of a company culture that is derived from different perspectives and thereby designing a way of coming up with a common definition of the term “diversity” (Mor, 2011).
Ways to Develop a Culture of Performance That Would Support the Achievement of Organizational Goals
Even though the multinational organizations should create room for different cultural views, they should only concentrate on views that contribute positively to organizations’ goals. Therefore, developing a successful culture can only be derived from carrying out a number of assessments, including identifying the main problems that prevent workers from diverse backgrounds to work harmoniously, identifying the extent to which the management encourages multicultural training, and identifying how the international labor laws challenge diversity in multinational organizations (Cummings & Worley, 2009).
Thus, the multinational companies should adopt a culture that upholds moral concepts, which reflect directly as well the indirect organizational behavior. More so, the organizational behavior should focus on how the management behaves while implementing the company’s mission (Cummings & Worley, 2009). With the help of all these analyses, the management should hence provide an ideal safety culture that is geared toward driving the multinational organization to achieve resistance to diversity hazards.
For instance, the management can reduce the level of misunderstanding between companies in different locations by coming up with a central storage area, which should play a critical role in formulating universal language standards in order to facilitate the achievement of the organizational mission.
References
Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2009). Organization development & change. Australia: South-Western/Cengage Learning.
Mor, B. M. E. (2011). Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Thousand Oaks, Calif. [u.a.: Sage.