IBM (Managing Diversity Within And Across Culutures)

1. Managing diversity within and
across Cultures
IBM ASSIGNMENT

2. Managing diversity within and
across Cultures
 From our increasingly diverse domestic workforce to the
globalization of business, cultural competence is arguably
the most important skill for effective work performance in
the 21st century.
 Cultural competence, in brief, is the ability to interact
effectively with people from different cultures. This ability
depends on awareness of one’s own cultural worldview,
knowledge of other cultural practices and worldviews,
tolerant attitudes towards cultural differences, and cross-
cultural skills.
 The more different cultures work together, the more
cultural competency training is essential to avoid
problems. Cultural problems can range from
miscommunication to actual conflict, all endangering
effective worker productivity and performance.

3. Managing Cultural Diversity in
the Workplace
 Developing cultural competence results in an ability
to understand, communicate with, and effectively
interact with people across cultures, and work with
varying cultural beliefs and schedules. While there
are myriad cultural variations, here are some
essential to the workplace:
1. Communication
2. Team-Building
3. Time
4. Schedules

4. To develop cultural
competence, training should
focus on the following areas:
1. Awareness
2. Attitude
3. Knowledge
4. Skills
 for an organization to actually profit from the
“diversity of thought” of its diverse workforce the
following factors have to come together:
 Commitment to the diversity development process by
top management and all employees
 Diversity promoting and supporting companywide
structures and processes
 Development and training of the workforce’s cross-
cultural (leadership) competencies and conflict
management skills

5. Steps needed achieve this goal
1. Select a cross-culturally competent
team leader

6. 2. Select the team members

7. 3. Make the kick-off phase personal
4. Take the time to build relationships and
trust
5. Learn about differences
6. Clarify expectations
7. Communicate

8. 8. Set and respect deadlines
9. Be alert to signs of trouble
10. Assess the team’s work

9. Reap the Benefits
 A multicultural team, like any other team,
needs room and time to get to know each
other, experiment, and build trust. To create
room for the diversity of thoughts, multicultural
teams need to find the balance between time-
tested (cultural) practices and the
development of novel ideas. Team members
need to commit fully to the process, and be
willing to go beyond their comfort zone. If they
do, the diverse team offers each member a
chance to bring his or her personal and
professional expertise to the table, and to be
recognized and valued for it.