Tuesday, May 5, 2020

International Transfer of Diversity Management Practices Samples

Question: Discuss about the International Transfer of Diversity Management Practices. Answer: Introduction The case study presents that CERA has a strong Human Resource Management function in place. The good thing with CERA is that the management realizes the fact that these days HR plays an important role in any organisation and after board meeting Mark French is interested to recruit new employee(s) in the organisation. Question is now should they continue with the old HR tradition for recruitment or do they initiate something new. Ozbilgin Tatli (2012) argued that human resource department play very good role in screening the candidate and this will be first step of the new recruitment. At the same time, it is important that CERA must realize the importance of diversity management at workplace. The case also presents the viewpoint of Israel Topin. As a Human Resource Manager Israel Tobin is right on behalf of relationship based recruitment but each person, who is involved with CERA has only one goal and that is how to maximize revenue of organization. It can be done only when CERA has a neutral culture in place that in turn can be achieved with effective diversity management in place. Mark as CEO think right because he needs to focus on revenue of a company. In addition, he is always task focused to increase profit margin. However, as a human resource manager, they have to balance work-productivity and satisfaction of employees, and for that it is a necessity to choose and plan a diversity management process, which is beneficial for both organization and employees, and fair to everyone (Mahadeo Soobaroyen, 2012). The objective of this paper is to discuss the business rational for diversity management. The paper would discuss the arguments in favour of diversity management and it could be used as arguments to convince Mark French towards diversity management. CERA may require some change management to adhere to new principles of diversity management; however, in long term, it should be beneficial for the organization. It is expected that this report would help Mark French to understand the various aspects of diversity management and then take the decision about di versity management at CERA. Business case towards diversity management In a way, diversity management is a very open and subjective terms. Some people can link diversity management with the inclusion of diverse workforce and some people can consider diversity management to be ant-discrimination workplace. The business case towards diversity management for CERA can be broadly discussed under following headings: Simply defined, Diversity managementis the strategy of using best practices with proven results to find and create a diverse and inclusive workplace. Successful strategies linkdiversity progress directly to business results (Leslie Gelfand, 2008). Every person has a different perspective regarding their work. Apart from that, role of a person makes them capable to think according to their job objective. It is important that organizations and human resource managers should think from both sides like for betterment of organization and employees as well. It is important to mention that diversity management should not be practiced at the cost of gender discrimination. On the other hand, deeper issues such as race, sexuality, cultural differences, religious beliefs, personality and behavior, traditions and so on have equally contributed to the anti-discrimination attitude as well (Syed Ozbilgin, 2009). There is so much awareness in the west surrounding such topics. In the past it was difficult to openly come out as gay for instance but it is currently easier and bills/ laws are being passed in parliaments for voting and so forth. Similarly, people were being discriminated based on race and other aspects but this is no longer acceptable. There are numerous campaigns against discrimination, fuelled by human rights and the media/ freedom of speech (Nakata Im, 2010). This awareness and openness has in itself contributed to anti-discrimination. Granted there is still some level of discrimination based on these exact issues discussed but o ne must applaud the achievement so far in fighting such evils. There is still a long way to go but in due course one can only hope there will be an end to it. Secondly, as western cultures and societies are more open to diverse groups of people; gays, lesbians, goths, punks, emos as well as diverse ethnicity as well religious beliefs they would need more laws and stringent regulations to monitor. Also, due to the economics of these countries, migrants to these countries also add to the diversity and therefore making it necessary to have anti discriminatory laws. For example, Indians migrate to the UK but a UK national will not migrate to India, therefore Indian legislation might have a more relaxed legislation around ethnic discrimination but would need stronger legislation for religious discrimination as there are multiple religions in India (Richard Roh, 2013). With all the western countries having some sort of democratic government, that gives its citizens who might be culturally, ethnically and religiously of varying backgrounds the same rights makes it important to have anti discriminatory legislation. In a non-democratic country, th e rights of citizens are not the same therefore, anti-discriminatory legislation would be pointless. It is recommended that the management of CERA must realize the importance of anti-discrimination policies at workplace. Economically, these and numerous other reason have stirred up the anti-discrimination attitudes because it is no longer simply about a specific society, that operates in a collective way but is currently Individualist and has evolved to include others beyond the comfort zones (Rivas, 2012). Culture and diversity management As case study presents, CERA is a dynamic company and their strength is agility. Hence they want to attract and select the right candidates who will adopt to rapid change and CERAs culture. I have always believed in hiring fully-formed adults and A-grade performers. But the same old predictable recruitment process followed by the majority in the industry will not assist in selecting the right fit for CERA. The focus on diversity management is something that would create a unique positioning of CERA in the market. CERA will do something different in the recruitment process as compared to its competitors. With the focus on diversity management, the intention is to differentiate CERA from its competitors based on its service orientation and innovation. However, cost and professional competency would be similar to its competitors. As the company grown, CERA has more focused on cost competitiveness. There is a shortage of qualified engineers in the construction industry (Stahl Makela, 20 10). Every engineer needs skills and competencies to do work in CERA. Job description for each vacancy has four parameters such as skills, knowledge, behaviors and expectations. The model of cultural diversity management can be shown as: In the classical sense, diversity management is the practice of addressing and supporting multiple lifestyles and personal characteristics within a defined group. Management activities includes educating the group and providing support for the acceptance of and respect for various racial, cultural, societal, geographic, economic and political backgrounds. The recruitment process can be considered as the entry door to diversity management (Klarsfeld Tatli, 2012). HR will not only contribute in recruitment process but also in strategy implementation and evaluation. Personally, I agree with Tobins views regarding the organizational culture. Undoubtedly, new recruits should fit in to the companys culture, but this can be overcome by benchmarking competitors with similar characteristics. According to my point of view, Mark should not be involved in the recruitment process. Mark sees his staff as a resource for completing a job at CERA. He is tended to focus more profits. He followed the stringent policy for hiring. I will follow changeable hiring policy depending upon the skills and experience of the potential candidate. I will more focus on internal recruitment instead of external. It is important that companies shouldnt blindly follow the recruitment strategies employed by their competitors because recruitment function of HR can be highly context dependent and has a strategic importance for the business. Theres nothing wrong in observing what competitors do, but HR practitioners should personally look into recruitment scenarios before deciding how to do that and whom to benchmark (Bjerregaard Lauring, 2013). Diversity management model for CERA For CERA, the key thing would be not to differentiate the employees on the basis of caste or religion. The key aspects of diversity management that CERA should focus on can be shown as: The business case for diversity is an organizational discourse that connects workforce diversity with a set of organizational outcomes. The business case for diversity management operates at four levels. At each level, there are different sets of justifications for adopting diversity management practices. These four level can be discussed as: Shareholder value: The shareholder value for diversity management focuses on single bottom line. This pillar states that diversity management should be practiced by organizations if there are benefits from diversity management in the areas of revenue, profitability, etc. Stakeholder value: While the shareholder value focuses only on single bottom line, the stakeholder value focuses on triple bottom line. This pillar states that diversity management should be practiced by organizations if it can support the triple bottom line of people, profit and planet (Chatman Sherman, 2015). Regulatory context: It is important that organizations must also practice diversity management as the part of regulatory requirements, if any (Syed Ozbilgin, 2009). For example, CERA must consider the legal requirements around gender, age, religion etc. while making new recruitments. Global value chain: At this level, the business case argument connects the management of diversity to transnational and international differences. Suggestions for CERA CERA must use different recruitment methods to achieve desired results and goals because they are going to get new projects with government bodies as well as private sectors which require innovative and creative people. As CERA would have smart building construction projects they need person with technical civil background as well as a person with good software development experience. It can be inferred from the case study that they want be different from others in this field and would like to create new unique design (Meier-Pesti Penz, 2008). It is possible only when CERA can recruit the people without thinking about their background. Other specific reason for which CERA cannot follow the competitors as their goal is to provide innovative building structure to the clients and they can begin with new era of smart construction. It is suggested that CERA should have their own recruitment techniques for the company. It is suggested that the leaders of CERA should practice servant leadership style for diversity management. The servant leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feelings that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The principles of servant leadership cross religious and cultural lines by being universal actions, attributes, and styles that leaders exhibit in leadership in different cultures and religions. For example, building community, conceptualization, and commitment to the growth of people are all servant leadership principles that are used by many leaders in non-religious organizations and leaders from multiple cultural backgrounds whom implement these principles. The management of CERA should also realize that the path towards diversity management may not be the easy path as there could be few resistance in the path. Therefore, it is important that the leaders of CERA should be ready to handle change management that can by practicing diversity management at workplace. Resistance to change is one way to express the perception of this challenge, although the opportunity open in thismoment is unique and we need to take with everything including, mistakes and winning points, then the HR manager are encouraging every level of the company with the main purpose of creating an organization able to fulfill the customer needs lack of knowledgeand opening innumerable fields never exploited by any other company. It is also suggested that CERA should bring the match between the recruitment process in the organization and the policies around diversity management. According to my point of view, Mark should not be involved in the recruitment process. Mark sees his staff as a resource for completing a job at CERA. He is tended to focus more profits. He followed the stringent policy for hiring. I will follow changeable hiring policy depending upon the skills and experience of the potential candidate. I will more focus on internal recruitment instead of external. Conclusion The above paper discusses the business case of diversity management for CERA. From the above discussion, it can be said that CERA must practice business diversity across the organization. It would also be correct to say that the HR manager can have a tough time ahead to establish the culture of diversity management. As the above paper discussed, the focus on diversity management is essential so that CERA can achieve its objective of triple bottom line. The leaders of CERA should realize that the focus should be not only on profitability or revenue but also on planet and sustainable development. The management can achieve the objectives of triple bottom line only when it has the support of talented people. It can happen only when the organizations has a strong policy around recruitment, training and development. The experience and knowledge that the CERA team is important to build this company, support the ideas it doesnt mean be agree all the times but support with real evidence his process will reward the company performance. With the above discussion, it can be said that Mark French must establish a culture of diversity management. The focus on diversity management would enable CERA to get the best talent from the market. It is also important that CERA should use benchmarking as a tool to get the maximum benefits of diversity management. The inputs from employees and internal and external stakeholders would help CERA to have a flexible culture in place where the employees form different cultural backgrounds can work together. References Bjerregaard, T. and Lauring, J. (2013), Managing Contradictions of Corporate Social Responsibility: The Sustainability of Diversity in a Frontrunner Firm. Business Ethics: A European Review, 22 (2): 13142. Chatman, J. A., Sherman, E. L., Doerr, B. M. (2015). Making the Most of Diversity: How Collectivism Mutes the Disruptive Effects of Demographic Heterogeneity on Group Performance. Klarsfeld, A., Ng, E. and Tatli, A. (2012), Social Regulation and Diversity Management: A Comparative Study of France, Canada and the UK, European Journal of Industrial Relations, 18 (4), 30927. Leslie, L.M. and Gelfand, M.J. (2008), The Who and When of Internal Gender Discrimination Claims: An Interactional Model, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 107 (2): 12340. Mahadeo, J.D., Soobaroyen T. and Hanuman, V.O. (2012), Board Composition and Financial Performance: Uncovering the Effects of Diversity in an Emerging Economy, Journal of Business Ethics, 105: 37588. Meier-Pesti, K. and Penz, E. (2008). Sex or gender? Expanding the sex-based view by introducing masculinity and femininity as predictors of financial risk taking. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29 (2), 180196. Nakata, C. and Im, S. (2010), Spurring Cross-functional Integration for Higher New Product Performance: A Group Effectiveness Perspective, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 27(4), 55471. Richard, O. C., Roh, H., Pieper, J. R. (2013). The link between diversity and equality management practice bundles and racial diversity in the managerial ranks: Does firm size matter?.Human Resource Management,52(2), 215-242. Rivas, J.L. (2012), Diversity and Internationalization: The Case of Boards and TMTs, International Business Review, 21: 112. Seierstad, C. (2011), The Use of Quotas in the Most Equal of the Regions: Politics and Corporate Boards in the Scandinavian Countries, Equality, Inequalities and Diversity: Contemporary Challenges and Strategies (London: Palgrave Macmillan). Stahl, G.K., Makela, K., Zander, L. and Maznevski, M.L. (2010), A Look at the Bright Side of Multicultural Team Diversity, Scandinavian Journal of Management, 26 (4), 43947. Syed, J. and Ozbilgin, M. (2009), A Relational Framework for International Transfer Of Diversity Management Practices, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20 (12): 24353. Tatli, A. and Ozbilgin, M.F. (2012), An Emic Approach to Intersectional Study of Diversity at Work: A Bourdieuan Framing, International Journal of Management Reviews, 14 (2): 180200.

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