Managing Diversity, Research Paper Example

Five dimensions for analyzing cultures by Hofstede

Technology has led to globalization, which in turn has allowed people from different countries and backgrounds to interact and even work together. This can pose a problem because people bring different traits and cultures to this mutual working place. When a person is unaware of a colleague’s culture, he/she might do something that is offensive to the other, therefore, causing problems in the workplace. In the 1970s, a psychologist by the name of Doctor Geert Hofstede came up with a way to overcome these differences by formulating dimensions to help manage cultural differences in the work place.

Dimension 1: Power/Distance.

According to Hofstede, this is the accepted level of inequality existing among those without authority. When the Power/Distance scores high upon assessment then it shows that the people involved in the assessment accept the inequality of power. When it is low, then the people in the identified organization see themselves as equals. The USA has people from different cultures and education levels working. This leads to a high score in power/distance as people are given unequal positions in their places of work and they accept it.

Dimension 2: Individualism – Hofstede defined this as the strength of ties shared between people in a common setting. When it is high the sharing of responsibilities is little, and the connection between people from different cultures is nonexistent. On the other hand, a community with low individualism practices the courtesy of being responsible for others and caring about each other. In the United States, individualism can be lowered by carrying out campaigns to encourage interrelations.

Dimension 3: Masculinity (MAS) – this based on the society as a whole rather than an individual. It is based on the concept of equal treatment of both genders in the society by ensuring equality. A culture gives different values to men and women with others giving more priority to one gender than the other. There are even taboos that are against the dimension of masculinity. In the United States of America, most companies try to register low masculinity in a bid to ensure equality in the organizations.

Dimension 4: Uncertainty/Avoidance Index – Hofstede describes this as the level of anxiety that people feel when faced with unfamiliar situations. A society with a low uncertainty/avoidance index is most likely to appreciate their differences, which encourage them to find their own truths. People in the United States of America can try to assess risks they might face and know them in detail to avoid uncertainty.

Dimension 5: Long Term Orientation– This is the valued cultures that people are bound to hold. They are otherwise known as the long-term orientation because the peoples mind will be oriented in a certain way for a long period. People in the United States have long term Orientation because they are open to new ideas and cultures. This makes it a little bit easy to associate with others.

Task focused and social emotional relationship models

The task-focused model shows the relationship between ones given tasks and its influence on the culture he/she is conversant. It maintains the fact that cultures can be changed by the day-to-day activities we carry out. On the other hand, the social emotional model entails the influence of one’s emotions and societal impact on culture or norms. Unlike the task-focused model, the social emotional model is what an individual grows up with and is used to as what should be or should not be.

When combined, the carried out activities are in line with what one is used to or what one understands as being right. When differentiated, the tasks one carries out is considered to be wrong as they are against what one is used to or what one understands as being normal. An example of a task focused model is seen when a man who believes that women belong in the kitchen taking a job in a restaurant as a chef. The task forces him to change his culture and fit in the new society. Social emotional model can be seen when a man is given a job that is considered manly in his culture. This will be in line with his society and his emotions.

Corporate social responsibility

This refers to the self-modifiable methods integrated into a business representation. They ensure that a society functions according to the laws and ethics that are considered as normal. It practices liability for those they are involved with, for instance the employees of the company make the company liable to their actions, and try to encourage a helpful contact to the community at large. Therefore, a corporation must be careful about social responsibility in order for them to remain afloat. Helping the society will help gain publicity for the corporation and ensuring one works in accordance with the law will help in doing the same. Examples of social responsibility include payment of taxes and carrying out recycling exercises in the company to avoid environment degradation.

Globalization of the workforce

Level IV inclusion entails giving more responsibilities while level III inclusion has less of the same. Globalization allows people from countries outside the United States to get well paying jobs, which would have otherwise been offered, to American citizens. Limiting trades and other factors involving global business transactions and job hiring to Level III will ensure that American citizens get jobs and contracts. For instance, people have been offered green cards into the United States, and this has given them opportunities in the American job market. This is so although there are American citizens who lack jobs although they are qualified for them. The existence of jobless natural citizens shows a negative impact to the workforce globalization.