Cultural diversity management

The process of cultural diversity management in organizations is crucial to growth and sustainable development. Application of a strategic approach to change implementation in a cross-cultural team enables the company to adapt to the new shift in managerial activities. Understanding the dimensions that present diversity and inclusion needs should be viewed through the lens of objectives and targets of the firm. Focusing on the external and internal needs provides the baseline for identifying key performance indicators associated with operating in and with a multicultural market and workforce (GSA – USA, 2006). Setting a new office in Miami, Florida, is critical to the organization based on the present significant culture differences from the current office in Topeka, Kansas. Such a scenario presents the need to prepare the workforce on how to handle the changes in line with the religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity that will characterize the change. This report presents essential considerations as well as benefits and opportunities for the organization linked to the establishment of the new office in Miami.

Executing Change Strategies: The Role of Innovation

Creation of competitive workplaces depends on the level of innovation, which is subjected to the managerial competencies and performance targets. Working with a diverse workforce calls for innovative approaches to sustain human resource performance for market and product advancement. Workplaces are the heartbeat of organizational success; however, innovation is critical to the management, improvement and sustainability of the work environment. Therefore, the focus of the organization should be centered on the creation of enabling an environment that can attract high performance from the full potential of employees.

Innovation in workplaces as well as during the implementation of diversity-based changes is essential in creating a cost-effective tendency, sustainable, and flexible environment for the workers and the management. Having an enabling working atmosphere generates a high level of collaboration in line with the inclusion approaches within the structure of the firm. Through innovation, the organization stands a chance of incorporating long-term control and coordination of employees to enhance performance, commitment, and productivity, which is critical for sustainable revenue and profitability (GSA – USA, 2006). Innovation in change management makes it possible to combine technology, space, people, processes, and structure to guarantee progressive, balanced, and integrative business development. 

Furthermore, setting a new office in Miami is essential to product and market innovation. The extension of services of the organization is an avenue for enhancing the scope of the segmented market. Innovative and strategic planning makes the new office another domain for customer acquisition and retention. Through extensive customer service, the firm is in a position to attract high performance through product development, which emanates from comprehensive market research. Worth noting is that innovation provides well-designed workplaces that correlate to the organizational functionality and diversity, which is a platform for short-term and long-term market performance, customer satisfaction, product development, and cost efficiency (GSA – USA, 2006).      

Sommunication integration in workplaces

Establishment of an office in Miami comes with a new shift in workforce composition. The region has an equal representation of Hispanics and non-Hispanic residents. With over 5.5 million people, the city is composed of over 70% foreign-born citizens. Miami is characterized by about 128 different languages, according to analysis carried out in learning institutions, which presents a challenge of communication integration in workplaces. When compared to Topeka, which is dominated by white non-Hispanics, Miami presents a different composition both in long-term and short-term perspectives because of the high rate of population increase at 11.1%, mainly influenced by immigration compared to a relatively low value of 4.1% in Topeka (Diversity Data, 2015). 

Table 1: Diversity Indicators: Miami vs Topeka (Diversity Data, 2015)

INDICATOR	MIAMI, FL	TOPEKA, KS
Total Population (By 2012)	5,762,717	234,566
White (non-Hispanic)	34.3%	79.3%
Hispanic	42.0%	9.3%
Black (non-Hispanic)	20.0%	6.3%
Asian or Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic)	2.4%	1.1%
American Indian or Alaska Native (non-Hispanic)	0.2%	1.3%
Two or More Races (non-Hispanic)	1.1%	2.8%
Population Growth Rate	11.1%	4.1%

Moreover, Miami is a home for diverse cultural heritage where the assimilation and diversity reflect within the human resource of most organizations with subsidiaries in the region. Cuban, Brazilian, Argentinian, French, Chinese, and Russian cultures are the most conspicuous in the region; however, other foreign-born native cultures can be traced. Such a conglomeration presents the forces of multicultural societies, which is an external factor in the corporate sector that alters internal operations. On the other hand, Topeka is associated with limited culture composition with a bias to non-Hispanic, which presents assimilation as the major tendency to culture management (Gundling & Zanchettin, 2010; Yafai, 2016).

Furthermore, religious diversity is a dimension that cannot be ignored in Miami. Religion is a critical factor in Hispanic and Latin American lifestyle. The Hispanics and Latin Americans are majorly Catholic or Protestant. Family values are central to social life where big and close-knit families are common for Hispanics, and the contrary is associated with non-Hispanics. Therefore, the management of employees’ social life is critical based on the balanced percentage of the two primary groups in Miami, which is not witnessed in Topeka since non-Hispanics dominate the region at 79.3% (Umpierre, 2016).       

Managing Diversity in the Workplace

Based on the current variability between Miami and Topeka, it is essential for the business to consider several dimensions, key metrics, and ascertained approaches to ensure the incorporation of change is effective. The firm should emphasize the important of communication and set measures to ensure timeliness, relevance, and effective feedback and response management. The organization should establish mechanisms that will ensure new employees understand the existing and new policies, managerial procedures and hierarchy, rules, and objectives associated with the company. Such a move will assist in overcoming both the language and the cultural barriers. Every employee should be viewed as an individual based on duties and obligations to eliminate chances of stereotyping, which can be achieved through the individual-based approach to success and failures of an employee (Ivanova-Gongne, 2015). For example, if the organization is seeking the high-level commitment of employees, then policy review and teamwork training will be an essential part of rejuvenation programs for Miami subsidiary. 

Furthermore, the firm will need to encourage multiple perspective approaches to issues as a requirement for all workers. Such a strategy will ensure that a specific culture is not viewed as the priority when handling processes and activities of the firm. Understanding and valuing the existence of different backgrounds, experiences, and capabilities is critical for relationships and teamwork within the organizational framework in Miami. The leaders and representatives should remain open-minded, set examples in associating with workers from different backgrounds, recognize different talents and efforts, and prioritize the aims and vision of the organization. Moreover, decision processes should be founded on objective criteria, which generates a uniform standard of measure to be achieved by all workers irrespective of the background (Gundling & Zanchettin, 2010). For example, achievements and failures should be measured collectively or individually in line with the performance scorecard characterized by the specificity of the indicators. The management should make it a commitment to creating an enabling environment for all employees by integrating shifts and emerging trends, which should incline to the internal and external capacity of the organization in Miami.  

Technology in Change Implementation

The move by the firm to set a new office in Miami, which is about 1,500 miles from Topeka, presents several possible challenges in the managerial structure and process. The business stands a chance to suffer from the complexity of integrating business operations within the two offices to depict concurrency. The communication efficiency, accountability, and coordination of processes will be difficult because of the distance. However, the use of technology will be an essential component in enhancing the operations of the organization. Setting the strategic procedures and policies will not be enough to guarantee the success of the diversified human resource composition; therefore, technology presents an interface for the mutual balance of progress, unified tracking of performance, and correlated quality control (GSA – USA, 2006).

One of the essential technology approaches that the business can adopt to enhance operations irrespective of the distance is the use of interconnected systems. Interconnection of the processes in an organization involves the linking of the workforce, resources, and the capital together through integrated technology. The approach will ensure that the Miami and Topeka offices depict the highest level of efficiency and accountability even though they are located far apart. Through interconnected systems, the management will be able to link the operations such as the workforce and job functions in Miami and Topeka, which will eliminate the complexity arising from keeping distinct tracking mechanisms. The netting effect from the managerial technology will assist the two offices to work independently but contribute concurrently to the cumulative success (GSA – USA, 2006). Unified business communication and supply chain management are an essential component of the system, which will assist in controlling the externalities of diversity in workplaces. For example, the departments in the organization can review their progress and compare with the individual subunits at different offices through interconnected software.       

Benefits of Diversity and Multicultural Environment

The move by the firm to open an office in Miami presented a new platform for the employees to take advantage of the diverse workforce and working environment. Through integrated culture, employees can learn from each other and enhance their skills through teamwork and group involvement. Having the understanding of the another person’s perspective increases the level of efficiency in the workplace. The enterprising culture in Miami has an influence on employee commitment; therefore, the workers at Topeka can acquire essential skills from the subsidiary office and enhance their competitiveness. 

Moreover, working in the multicultural environment will enable the employees to have different viewpoints of the performance targets of the firm and the set procedures for achieving the performance targets. Such tendencies and possibilities are essential for brainstorming and decision-making. The desire to eliminate stereotypic bias enables each member of the workforce to be committed and work towards high productivity. In such case, the cumulative efforts improve the performance of the business, which will be depicted in growth and profitability. 

Furthermore, customer management, product development, and marketing approaches will change when the current workforce embraces a different set of coworkers. Having a team of workers with different culture background is essential in enhancing the customer satisfaction and management. For example, integrating the tastes and preferences of customers in production process requires a multidimensional experience. Different views and perspective enable employees to have a clear picture of the market requirements to be incorporated in product development. Cultural assimilation is critical for the marketing team to design the best approach to the segmented market and the targeted population. In fact, the organizational competitiveness and success in Miami correlate to the integration and engagement capacity of employees.      

Benefits and Opportunities of Diverse Workforce to the Organization

The current shifts in the management of corporate organizations seeking to expand their operations are the management of the diverse and inclusive workforce. A critical assessment of the human resource practices indicates the need for competencies aimed at efficient culture management in the workplaces. The success of the organization in Miami and Topeka will greatly depend on the managerial expertise and employee commitment and flexibility. Significant opportunities exist for the firm when the decision to set an office in a multicultural society of Miami.  

Worth noting is that the business is standing a chance to benefit from the growing population rate of 11.1% against 4.1% in Topeka (Diversity Data, 2015). Through the multi-cultured workforce adapting the business to the diverse society composition will be easy. The contribution of the employees will ensure that the organization’s strategic plans include the market trends and ethos, which will favor the product offered. The ability of a diverse workforce in transforming the product and market approach presents an important baseline for the organization to benefit from the huge population in Miami. In fact, the company’s competitive advantage can be improved through culture-based teamwork and coordinated business operations. Nevertheless, the company should consider the challenges associated with the operating in the multicultural market as well as manage a diverse workforce (Seifzadeh, 2017). However, adopting a change and review approach to human resource management will ensure that the organization overcomes the drawbacks associated with culture management.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, the administration of a diverse workforce in critical to the success of corporate organizations. The move to set up a new office in Miami presents the need for a strategic approach to the management of employees. The focus of the firm should be centered on the best approach to capitalize the new cultural mix to improve market efficiency and product development. The firm has the potential to benefit from a highly competitive, motivated, and competent staff who will enhance the effectiveness of the organization. The new workforce will not only benefit the company but also will improve the capacity of the employees located in Topeka though interconnected management of the organization.  

References

Diversity Data. (2015). Data for diverse and equitable metropolitan areas. Available at: http://www.diversitydata.org/Data/Profiles/Show.aspx?loc=1364

GSA – USA. (2006). Innovative workplaces: Benefits and best practices. GSA Office of Government-wide Policy. Available at: https://www.gsa.gov/graphics/pbs/Innovative_Workplaces-508_R2OD26_0Z5RDZ-i34K-pR.pdf  

Gundling, E. & Zanchettin, A. (2010) Global diversity: Winning customers and engaging employees within world markets. Nicholas Brealey Publishing: United States. 

Ivanova-Gongne, M. (2015). Culture in business relationship interaction: an individual perspective. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 30(5): 608 – 615.

Seifzadeh, P. (2017). Corporate controls, geographic dispersion, and their effect on corporate financial performance in related diversified corporations. Journal of Strategy and Management, 10(1): 102 – 117.

Umpierre, C. (2016). Miami’s cultural diversity boosting local economy. Miami IRE. Available at: http://www.miamire.com/miami-blogs/miami-blog/2016/09/13/miami-s-cultural-diversity-boosting-local-economy

Yafai, N. (2016). Latino and Hispanic culture in the United States. InterExchange. Available at: https://www.interexchange.org/articles/abroad/2015/08/17/latino-hispanic-culture-in-us/