Essay Example on Cultural Diversity: A Competitive Edge for Organizations

Introduction

With many organizations going global, cultural diversity becomes a challenge. Training of workers globally presents new ways through which management can mitigate ethical challenges in the workplace. Training on cultural diversity creates an organizational culture of learning and respect for others' beliefs. Therefore, organizational management should recognize that cultural diversity and inclusion is significant to organizational operations, which can help the company gain a competitive edge over the competition. Through careful analysis of evidence that supports cultural diversity training, the essay concurs training on a global scale is crucial. It also ought to be done with observation of the legal consequences of cultural diversity training, further explaining the effects of discussions on diversity to employees, the ethical implications to be considered before training, how the training can be globally standardized, and also provides recommendations for implementing the cultural diversity training.

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Legal Implications of Cultural Diversity Training

Before implementing a training course, it is crucial to research the laws and regulations to prevent legal issues. Creating a training program on culture training should emphasize compliance with legal regulations such as social justice, procedural fairness, equity, and equal opportunities (Alhejji et al., 2016). There are federal regulations that prohibit discrimination against race, religion, disability, and age. Creating a training program for cultural diversity can educate employees on cultural events, values, and language of a people, which in turn can save the organization from hefty lawsuits. Federal regulations and state laws prohibit discrimination against workers based on their color, religion, physical abilities, or age. The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission is against the discrimination of employees for the above-stated reasons. Observing legal laws and through provision of training increases employee productivity, encourages cultural diversity, and decreases employee turnover. Fines can be levied on an organization when allegations of discrimination are founded on evidence. Some of the training topics for cultural diversity to prevent legal battles include general skills such as literacy, technical skills, and training sessions designed to prevent lawsuits and fines such as matters on sexual harassment, safety, and ethics. The organization, therefore, needs to conduct an assessment of the laws regarding employee safety, ethical considerations, and training on the channels for reporting sexual harassment as stipulated by the federal law. The social justice perspective asserts that organizations have to take note of the number of employees promoted from marginalized groups, how the assimilation is, and addressing issues of racism, gender exclusion, religion, and LGBT employees (Alhejji et al., 2016)

The US Supreme Court rules that organizational management can be prosecuted for sexual harassment for not put measures to prevent or punish harassing behavior in the workplace (Ramirez, 2018). This shows the significance of implementing sexual harassment training. The training should involve all levels of management and employees. The training sessions should be done after a while and for new employees. It should follow the laws that prohibit sexual harassment in the workplace. Training for preventing litigations against discrimination should also take note of the laws that prohibit unequal treatment of people based on their age as documented by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, disabilities, pregnancy discrimination, occupational safety, and health, and aged employees benefit protections.

Compliance of safety regulations is mandatory in organizations as job-related accidents, and injuries can cost the organization high bills for compensations or litigations. In the US, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires organizations to train employees on the health and safety aspects of their employment (Ramirez, 2018). An organization should keep a record of all the training activities which can be used to fight litigations or prevent them from being sued. Training involves educating employees on the need for protective gear, hazardous areas or materials, what information is critical on labels, and where the employees can find materials for safety and emergencies.

How Demographic Diversity Affects Discussions on Cultural Diversity

Demographic diversity constitutes the visible characteristics of employees, such as age, sex, race, physical abilities, and sexual orientation. The Categorization-Elaboration Model (CEM) asserts that diversity is the differences between people on the attributes that make a person perceive others as different (Guillaume et al., 2017). Before conducting cultural diversity training in organizations, it is essential for the organizational management to understand what constitutes diversity, its benefits, the challenges of managing a diverse workforce, and understanding the cross-cultural issues associated with diversity. Discussions on cultural diversity can influence the demographic diversity of individuals by increasing innovations, influencing decision-making, creating a larger talent group, and increasing customers. The discussions of cultural diversity will be influenced by the demographic characteristics such as diversity type, operationalization, team type, team longevity, interdependence, team size, and type of task (Guillaume et al., 2017). Such demographic aspects can define the diversity climate and discussions that can take place about cultural diversity in an organization.

The demographic characteristics of people in the organization, such as age, gender, and ethnicity, affect organization-level outcomes. Essentially, organizational aspects, such as group performance and innovation, are dependent on social integration and employee well-being. The employees will work more effectively when there are discussions of cultural diversity to ensure that everyone's opinion is heard and valued. There needs to be a fit between what the environment can provide and organizational capabilities to enhance operational performance (Guillaume et al., 2017). Discussions of cultural diversity for different demographic characteristics is needed to effect change, prevent instability, uncertainties, and complexities within the workings of an organization. Training on cultural diversity is significant as employees can be trained to respect the language, dress, and expression of people demographic backgrounds. This action can prevent discrimination of people based on their demographical backgrounds.

The demographic diversity of individuals affects the decisions on cultural diversity by giving all employees a voice in organizational decisions. In a diverse team, people will bring different opinions and perspectives (Guillaume et al., 2017). People will think outside the box and can, therefore, make novel solutions to organizational problems. Demographic diversity is essential in understanding the service of customers. A diverse workforce will create products that appeal to a wider range of customers. A more diverse workforce will also have better discussions concerning cultural diversity, which can increase employee satisfaction.

Ethical Implications to Be Considered

Diversity and ethics are crucial aspects of every society. Employers embrace cultural diversity to create an inclusive workplace. Organizational managers need to know the appropriate courses of action to take to observe organizational ethics. People from diverse backgrounds are a vital resource for organizations. The human element is the most significant in every organization. Implementing cultural diversity deals with the human element and therefore, should observe business ethics to prevent harm and boost organizational effectiveness. Diverse groups have different sensitivity to ethical issues. The differences in risk perceptions in gender and ethnicity play a crucial role in compliance with business ethics and risk management (Ramirez, 2018). Ethics are the rules and moral values that govern decision making for individuals. Ethical responsibilities of organizational management constitute what the stakeholders and employees consider as fair and just. In implementing a cultural diversity training course, the organization can form an ethics committee which will oversee the training program and ensure management and employee behavior remains within the code of ethics of the company.

Some of the ethical implications that organizations need to account for include religious differences (Guillaume et al., 2017). Employee's religious beliefs may clash with the organization's policies. During such instances, the organization may be faced with an ethical dilemma of the appropriate course of action to take. A cultural diversity training course is, therefore, necessary to take care of such issues. Other ethical implications involve gender issues. Employees demand equal opportunities for promotions between genders. In some communities,' men may have an advantage over women, which creates ethical problems for the organization. The majority of business cultures agree that ethical factors such as integrity, self-control, courage, respect for human life, and self-sacrifice make a fair and just organizational culture. It is therefore crucial that these factors are integrated into the business culture. When implementing cultural diversity training, organizational management needs to incorporate business ethics, such as hiring people from a diverse pool. However, hiring decisions in an environment that values diversity may create tensions between organizational goals and equal employment opportunities. Another fundamental ethical issue is integrity and trust. Integrity involves conducting organizational practices with honesty and committing to treating every employee fairly. Respecting each other's differences between employees is an ethical response to diversity. Valuing other employee's contributions increases organizational effectiveness.

Compliance with governmental and environmental laws is an ethical response to cultural diversity. Compliance with employee health and safety standards, especially for marginalized groups constitutes observation of ethical implications. In some business environments, governments may require an organization to pay incentives for approval or requests and permits. Members of an organization may view this as bribing to get services which raise questions on business ethics. The organization should maintain openness about its business practices with employees as well as the surrounding environment (Ramirez, 2018). The management should be objective and avoid all being biased towards a certain group of employees.

How can Training be Standardized Locations in a Global Organization

Cultural diversity training is necessary for all locations for a global franchise. The training is significant for overall inclusion. The training process will provide tools, skills, and knowledge that make members of the organization stand out. The training initiative will be important for creating sustainable change that advocates for the inclusive, respectful, and productive organization. The diversity training should be flexible to fit into the schedules of workers. The move of an organization to new locations requires cultural diversity training to incorporate the consumers of the new environment and understand the business culture of the environment. Diversity is linked to increased sales, profits, and attraction of more consumers.

Standardizing diversity training for all locations of a global organization should be ex...