Cultural Diversity in Policy & Governance Systems - Free Research Paper Sample

Introduction

Discourse on cultural diversity as a common phenomenon in policy and governance systems has drawn diverse perspectives in organizational management. Consequently, many concepts have arisen concerning managing a cross-cultural workforce, particularly in USAID projects and programs. As it pertains to the corporate governance of culturally diverse teams, it is imperative to comprehend that it incorporates the various cultural diversity models that address behavioral management. Often, definitions of inter-cultural, diversity, and identity keep changing since many discourses tend to be subjective.

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Diversity addresses both different and similar attributes that are observable either on individuals, organizations, or structural levels and tend to influence all persons, not given teams. It is noteworthy that cultural diversity aims to integrate beliefs and racial differences within persons and simultaneously fosters a cohesive unit, incorporating the diverse models as useful tools towards achieving efficient communication and sustained management in a cross-cultural workforce.

Literature Review

The concept of diversity management entails managing the high-level cross-cultural workforce in development projects while simultaneously exploiting the potential of diversity. The characterization of diversity follows social categories such as gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and physical and mental abilities (Gardenwartz & Rowe, 1998). Previous studies have demonstrated the positive and negative illustration of diversity, such as its cons and drawbacks.

The benefits of the integration of diversity often exceed the challenges associated with management and those that emanate from cross-cultural differences in states and organizations (Barkley, 2017). (Chen & MacMillan 1992) reported that diversity might reduce performance efficiency (Zahra et al., 2000). Cross-cultural workforce helps in advancing ideas and expertise in both local and international business frontiers (Devoe, 1999), the disharmony in cultural values often trigger destructive conflicts that reduce the efficiency in the cross-cultural workforce. Cross-cultural diversity is a significant constraint to organizational human resource docket organizations (Martín et al., 2013).

Often, cross-cultural teams comprise persons from different socio-cultural settings such as traditions, race, culture, and ethnicity that regularly contribute to prejudice, stereotypes, and ethnocentrism (Shen et al., 2009). There is a need to integrate cultures skillfully to bolster the management that, in return, would effectively discriminate, foster inclusivity, and embrace the need for diversity (Devoe, 1999). (Barkley, 2017) reported that cultural integration exhibits the socio-economic advancements and benefits

In brief, most of the available literature has focused on the emphasis to explore the pro and cons instead of examining the possible approaches that are effective in managing a cross-cultural workforce. As (Thomas & El, 1996) argued, it is crucial to comprehend cultural diversity's perspective to ensure success while implementing diversity management. As a result, the current study aims to fill this gap since it revolves around the possible ways through which project team management can use to offer oversight and guidance to the workforce while simultaneously picking up the rewarding effects of team diversity and mitigate against the adverse impacts.

Study Design

The study utilized a descriptive study design to ensure relevancy, credibility, and reliability of collected information, particularly personal data and phenomena. Besides, the study adopted an exploratory approach to capture new data and probe for answers while evaluating occurrences and situations that would inform study objectives. Moreover, to strengthen the exploratory approach and produce reliable and credible findings, the study uses existing information on available literature and interviews only individuals who directly linked to research goals.

Target Population

The study's target population was USAID development projects in the United States, while the samples were project managers. Thirty selected project managers answered the questionnaires. The sample size selection followed the need to represent all study subjects accurately, and as a result, inform the actualization of study objectives.

Data Collection

The study used questionnaires as the primary tool for the data collection process due to its credibility and suitability when collecting practical information. (Mugenda & Mugenda, 1999) argued that questionnaires were efficient in providing intricate and valid answers to complex phenomena. The researchers conducted a pilot test on five persons, which followed the refining of the resulting issues. The author administered the refined questionnaires to the selected respondents to collect subjective personal information. It is noteworthy that the questionnaire had both closed and open-ended questions and comprised of 3 sections. The researcher assured the respondents that the collected data would be treated with the utmost confidentiality.

Data Analysis

The initial step of data analysis was recording the collected data. Subsequently, coding and editing of the data followed to ensure completion and consistency. The researcher used descriptive and inferential methods to analyze the survey data. The Likert Scale was useful for responses from questions that followed ordinal scales. The tools for data visualization used were tables. All the data analysis procedures were performed using the Statistical Package Social Sciences (SPSS).

Results

The study showed that an equal representation of both male and female (50 %). Further, the study demonstrated the age category of 40-49 years of age had the highest representation in USAID top-level management. The age bracket of 20-29 years and those above 65 years had the least number of number of project managers (0%) The highest level of education in the population that reported the high representation in project management was the bachelor's degree (36.7%) followed by masters and doctorate degrees both at 30%. It is noteworthy that the majority of the project managers (36.7%) were Native Americans.

Owing to their working experience as leaders in the USAID projects, the managers were asked about the number of years they had worked as project managers. Most managers were in charge of a workforce for over ten years (56.7%), followed by up to 5 years (30.3 %) with the least number having a working experience of upto 3 years (13.3%).

The respondents had worked with varying number of nationalities with the highest number of managers having worked with more than ten nationalities (60 %), followed by Up to five nationalities (26.7%), with the least amount of managers have worked with up to three nationalities (13.3 %).

Discussions

The USAID project team managers originated from different ethnic backgrounds with majority of them reporting to have worked with various nationalities. Prior studies have reported that having multicultural teams is imperative for conflict resolution and creative awareness (Jehn et al., (1999). (Fernandez, 2013) argued that enhancing workforce diversity results in enhanced individual, team, or organization performance.

The respondents were highly educated, with the least having attained a vocational training. As a result, the managers were highly knowledgeable and skilled in running a multicultural workforce. According to (Macnamara et al., 2014), individuals with high levels of knowledge are more adept at accomplishing duties that need a particular skill set.

There was gender balance at the USAID top-level project management. According to (Nakagwa & Schreiber, 2014), gender diversity in teams enhances innovation and provides top-notch solutions. (Browaeys & prince, 2011) posits, mismanagement of cultural diversity may lead to reduced productivity. USAID project managers have incorporated strategies to help in the management of cross-cultural teams such as promoting team building, analyzing the workforce strength and weaknesses, understanding language barriers, and adopting flexibility and knowledge in the management process.

Respondents reported that language was a barrier towards cross-cultural team interaction and performance. Prior studies have shown that language is a significant constraint in the workforce (Mambert, 2001); (Welch, & Piekkari, 2005). Previous studies reported that similar findings argue that the lack of a common language is a significant challenge for communication (Worman, 2006). Further, language is essential for policy and decision making since it helps in the articulation of strategic approaches meant to scale the organization into higher heights (Brannen & Doz, 2012).

The study respondents reported there is a need of ensuring transparency, honesty, and effective communication in the workplace. According to (Levinson et al., 2002), effective communication fosters the relationships and links between an organization and relevant stakeholders while simultaneously strengthening interactions among the workforce. Besides, (Bartel, 2001) emphasized the need to have effectiveness in both verbal and written dialogues.

Conclusion

In the wake of globalization, for any organization to be successful in the global scene, it has to involve individuals from diverse cultures rather than relying on the traditional workforce (Steers & Nordon, 2006). Multicultural teams use decision-making and problem solving due to various social, business, and cultural perspectives from the workforce.

Therefore, the study envisages investigating the nexus between the diversified cross-cultural team interaction and workforce performance and the underlying constraints inherent in USAID projects. The following hypotheses guided the research study (i) Team diversity does not influence team interactions and performance in the USAID projects, (ii) cross-cultural workforce is more efficient than homogeneous teams.