Organizational Behavior
Diversity as the key towards achieving a highly-cohesive and high performance teams in business organizations
Increasing diversity and cultural differences among individuals in the society has affected the manner in which the business sector has dealt with the issue of multiculturalism in its social environment. Where before, organization members are dominated by one race, nationality, and culture, the influx of new cultures in American society has made it possible for people from various cultures and societies to be integrated with the dominantly white American culture of the country.
Diversity presents a challenge to the business sector at present. On one hand, diversity is detrimental to establishing easier social ties and relationships among members of an organization, primarily because these differences are, more often than not, contradictory in nature. On the other hand, diversity can also be an opportunity that organizations should take advantage of, mainly because increased diversity means there is also an increased opportunity for the organization to generate new ideas and propositions that will prove to be beneficial to the performance and productivity of the organization.
It is in this note that this paper posits that demographic differences and cultural diversity in the organizational setting and level are advantages and factors that contribute to the creation...
In the texts that follow, examples of these demographic differences and cultural diversity are given, with an analysis of how these factors serve as catalysts for the development of high performance within a (business) team.
Demographic differences, primarily in terms of race and nationality, age, gender, and educational attainment are ultimate determinants that increase an organization's diversity. Differences in terms of demographic characteristics are generally considered detrimental, and in fact, a hindrance towards achieving cohesion and high performance in teams. Differences are detrimental especially if opposing groups want to assume control within the team. A senior member of the team would, naturally, want to assert control and leadership within a team composed of new and younger members of the organization. A female team member may also assert control to her team if she feels that resolutions and decisions formulated benefit only the male members of the team. Furthermore, members of different races and nationalities may clash with each other as they try to introduce ideas that are unique and sometimes, understandable only to their culture and society.
Despite these inherent conflicts within a team that is highly diverse, Kreitner (1995) asserts that this kind of team has the potential to become high-performing. Demographic differences should be treated…
