Managing Cultural Conflicts in the Workplace, Essay Example

One of the hottest topics in the workplace is how to best manage conflicts that arise as a result of cultural differences. The challenge for a culturally diverse workforce in the 21^st century is to figure out how to make it possible for culturally diverse employees to coexist. For purposes of this assignment assume that culturally diverse refers the broadest range of differences that people bring to a situation that contribute to misunderstanding and miscommunication. These are often the qualities that go to the heart of our identity.

For this assignment, you are asked to draw from an interesting concept introduced by Greg Mortenson in his book, Three Cups of Tea. While the author of this book has been accused of fabricating portions of his experience depicted in the book and of misusing funds collected for his charity Foundation associated with his work in Pakistan, he did introduce an interesting approach about building relationships over time. When meeting with the village chief of Korphe, Pakistan, he was told:

“The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die.”

For this assignment, you have been asked by a large company that is merging its operations in different communities to help members of its very culturally diverse workforce to get to know each other. Assume that you have 3 sessions to bring its employees together for tea. Your job is to come up with an agenda for each of these sessions for these employees. By the end of the 3^rd cup of tea session, the goal is to have the employees feel comfortable with each other. Hopefully, your proactive plan for employees to get to know each other will help them to manage their differences creatively in the future.

For detailed info on Three Cups of Tea or its author, do a google search. A detailed summary of the book is available at http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/three-cups-of-tea/