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management considers society as an important background
against which it can work. It realizes that the
demographic of the society directly affects the
demographic within organizations in a particular
culture. On the basis of the demographic make
up within a society and organizations within that
society, one can say that strategies to avoid
conflict would be similarly applied to both.
Depending upon where an organization has been
located and the type of people who are on the
staff, an organization develops a culture of its
own. The type of management involved also influences
the culture to a great extent. These two factors
are similar to sociological perspectives of the
society and the ruling bodies. For the smooth
running of the organization, the management needs
to be aware of the various cultures that its employees
belong to. Through understanding an employee’s
background and acting appropriately working conditions
are found to be more favorable.
As an example of how effective diversity can
be it is worth considering multiethnic societies.
In a multi ethnic society, it may be easily said
that there are fewer chances of clashes if the
governing bodies are unbiased. No single group
has more power if the governing bodies deal with
them all equally. Similar to governing bodies
having this effect on their societies, managements
too could have a positive influence (Ivancevich
& Gilbert, 2000).
In a diverse working group, problems such as
racism can become a problem for the management
and the rest of the staff, making the working
atmosphere uncomfortable. This kind of problem
can also result in lower output of the organization,
which means that it is the job of the management
to solve the problem quickly. In order to prevent
such problems that can easily affect the productivity
of an organization adversely, the management may
implement human resources frames. These frames
enable the management to control organizational
behavior passively and prevent any kind of ill-feeling.
In order to implement such frames, there are particular
panels set up for the. Each of these panels sees
to particular activity within an organization.
Having asserted the importance of implementing
these frames, it must also be mentioned that they
are to be implemented with great care, keeping
in mind that reverse discrimination can also take
place. As this has been the case, one should be
on the look out (Bolman & Deal, 1997).
By managements making sure tat racism and discrimination
does not take place, they may tend to be biased
towards the discriminated groups in their organization.
In order to prevent such a situation, the management
must adopt a fair means for employment and other
opportunities in their organizations.
Besides racism there are many other problems that
organizations may face in diverse work forces.
Singular employee output may not be at its greatest
due to the fact that employees might feel like
fish out of water in conditions that are different
to what they are already used to. Put in better
words, this kind of situation is one in which
the management may not intentionally make an employee
feel left out (Bergen, Soper, & Foster, 2002).
This kind of situation often arises due to the
management’s unawareness of what back ground
an employee has. They may well be aware of it
at the time when the employee is appointed, but
with the passage of time forget it altogether.
Larger organizations tend to be more prone to
this situation in which the employee feels left
out or alienated. However, more serious than alienation
are issues of racism and other forms of discrimination,
as these are ones that severely mitigate organizational
output. In order to prevent such a situation,
it is better for one to avoid bias, which can
be again achieved through human resource frames
for work force diversity. It must be particularly
noted that not only is racism to be prevented
but also ‘reverse racism/discrimination’
(Affirmative action, 2004). In light of the manner
in which an unbiased stance can ameliorate employee
relations one can say that diversity may be used
to the management’s advantage. Having asserted
this, it must also be noted that having a diverse
working group together under one roof could result
in a great variety of skill. This is true because
of the fact that people of different origins tend
to differ in their skills (Bergen, Soper, &
Foster, 2002).
Directly as well as indirectly, laws have aided
in ameliorating conditions of discrimination against
employees. Laws like Affirmative Action have significantly
ameliorated the discrimination faced by many groups
in society. Groups such as African Americans,
gays, etc. have gained a great deal since the
enactment of affirmative action.
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