Organization Behavior
Managing the Modern Workforce
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When an organization expands its operations into international markets, it hires individuals from different nations and cultures. These individuals are culturally diverse and need to be managed effectively. Numerous researches have been conducted to elucidate this important issue of the business world; each of them has some application for the modern management practices. Although workforce diversity is more an issue of the 21st Century, but massive of researches have been conducted in the late 80's and 90's.
The literature has some limitations which entice the modern researches to work on this issue and broaden the basis of knowledge for the future studies. The biggest limitation is the unclear definition of workforce diversity. Every researcher has given his own definition for this concept; however the most common definition is explained in the context of 'culture'. Most of the researches have tried to find a direct relationship between workforce diversity and organizational performance. On this point, all researchers agree that a well-managed diverse workforce contributes to an increased organizational performance and productivity. It can also become a competitive advantage for an organization over its competitors if the managers succeed in making them adopt the organizational culture. A diverse workforce can bring innovative ideas for the business, find solutions to the problems, and make better relations with the company's key stakeholders. A team that constitutes members from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and thoughts can perform better in a challenging environment.
The applications of the literature on Workforce diversity can be widely observed in the modern management practices. Today's managers are more knowledgeable and discreet in terms of managing employees from diverse areas and interests. The literature helps them in understanding the factors that affect the performance of such employees within the workplace.
INTRODUCTION
Globalization has brought significant impacts on the way organizations do business internationally. From Production, Marketing, and Promotion to Human Resource Management; each and every aspect of business operations is affected by the changes in the world's business environment. Now-a-days, workforce is quite different than it was in the past. Organizations, irrespective of their size and kind of business have to hire and manage individuals from culturally diverse and geographically dispersed areas; a phenomenon called Workforce Diversity (Seymen, 2006). Therefore it has become a big challenge for business organizations to manage this modern workforce in an effective and efficient way in order to enhance its productivity and financial performance (Ongori & Agolla, 2007).
This paper critically analyzes the relevant literature on 'Managing the Modern Workforce' in terms of its theoretical construct as well as contribution and effectiveness to the International Management practices. The critical assessment of the literature on 'Workforce Diversity' covers a variety of important topics; including evolution, definition, and significance of workforce diversity, the collectivism vs. individualism concept, workforce diversity and organizational performance, and workforce diversity as a competitive advantage. The contribution of this literature to the modern management practices has been explained in the light of the aforementioned critics. The paper concludes with a brief summary of the main findings.
MANAGING THE MODERN WORKFORCE
A. Critical Assessment of the available Literature in terms of its Theoretical Construct:
The evolution of the 'Workforce Diversity' Concept:
Workforce Diversity and Diversity Management have been among the most important issues in the Industrial Relations Management since 1980s (Janssens & Steyaert, 2003). Due to an increasing trend towards globalization, international business expansion, innovation, and competitiveness, organizations were seeking to hire individuals with excellent capabilities and skills.
To fulfill this demand, organizations started hiring minorities and female employees (Darmadi, 2010). This was the beginning of workforce diversity management. But a critic can be made on the literature that it is really unknown who introduced the workforce diversity concept? Was it the 'Workforce 2000' report or some other publication that first tried to explore this concept? This is unknown and may remain unknown forever (Janssens & Steyaert, 2003).
Critics on the Definition of 'Workforce Diversity':
Ongori & Agolla (2007) believe that there are masses of literature available on workforce diversity, but they are unable to define it effectively. This is the biggest limitation of the literature available on this topic so far. In most of the articles, workforce diversity has been defined as a process by which organizations provide an equal employment opportunity to every kind of individuals, irrespective of their gender, nationality, religion, race, background, color, physical ability, ethnicity, or common beliefs and thoughts.
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