Action Research Paper
Your Name (First M. Last)
School or Institution Name (University at Place or Town, State)
Problem identification:
With the advancement of time, it has been seen that numbers of business and organizations are increasing at high speed as capitalism is taking over the world. This fact cannot be denied that as the number of organizations and employees is increasing, the number of problems faced by these organizations is also increasing at the same time. There are many issues that organizations are facing, but as it is a good time for the spread of capitalism, it has been seen that the problem of diversity is getting into the limelight. Diversity in the workplace has become a challenge. This fact cannot be denied that as companies and organizations are evolving more, they started reflecting more diversity of perspective and culture that creates an additional problem. By taking a look at the latest work of researchers, it won’t be wrong to say “Diversity” has become a hot word that has taken the working world by storm.
Description of the organization:
The organization that has been taken under consideration is an electronics company where there is a need for consultation. According to the reports, the global consumer electronics industry has reached a total forecast of around US $ 932 billion by the year 2017, but still this organization is facing problems that are effecting its growth in the industry of electronics (Sekaran,et.al,2016). Though there are many issues, still this company is trying its best for planning effective business strategies that are going to help it for focusing on the technological innovation strategies so that the requirements of the customers could be meet at its best and this organization could stay at the front foot whenever it comes to electronic industry.
The context of the problem:
It is an electronic company where employees are great in numbers. The management is trying to make sure that all the members who are working in this company are going to have a friendly environment, but the present situation has depicted that diversity at the workplace has become a significant issue. The efficiency of the company was declining for the last six months, and by taking a look at the report proposed by the consultant, it was clear that people who are belonging to various races, cultures, and ideologies are having many issues among them. Coordination and cooperation are one of the most important things that are needed at any workplace but if people are going to have a difference between them that would affect the overall performance of the organization. The working environment of any organization is going to shape up the outcome report.
How do you know it’s a problem?
Being a consultant, first thing is to identify a problem correctly, and after being hired by this electric company, after observing the working place, it has become clear that the main issue is there with the people who are working in that company and there is a need to promote and inculcate cooperation among people. So initially by visiting and observing the attitudes of people, it becomes obvious that people who were there in that organization, were becoming a victim of social diversity that included culture, ideology, perceptions and many other things as well. Corporation and the way people were treating each other gave a clear reflection of the diversity issue at this organization. It was quite evident from the attitude of people that there exist many differences between them that lower their level of cooperation and most of the people are becoming victim of inferiority complex that is ultimately casting negative impacts on the overall performance of this company. Differences and boundaries that people made between them, depicts the problem of diversity. Mainly it was seen that there were people of various races such as black and white Americans who were having some conflicts among them. The distinction among people made me sure that diversity was the problem. The way this distinction was casting negative impacts on the reputation of the company made me realized that it was a significant problem that needs to be sorted timely.
Specify the problem (Diversity):
The problem that has been observed in this electronic company is diversity. Diversity is there at various points, and these points involve the factors that may cast positive or negative impacts on the repute of this organization. It has been seen that people belonging to various demographic areas are working in this organization. These employees belong to different races. There have been seen white, black, Mexicans, Hispanic and people of other races that are working in this organization under one roof (Chang,et,al,2018). This fact cannot be denied that if people who are from various races and areas would show diversity among them at higher level, such as society makes up the personality of an individual and if people who came from different societies or areas would be working together, there may arise many issues.
People are challenging each other on the basis on their culture, races, and ideologies, as it has been seen that white people claim that they are superior to the rest of the people who are working in that organization. People have conflicting ideologies that are creating more problems for the management who has to manage all the workers who belongs to various cultures and areas. Racial difference is one of the most important issues that is making the workers more insecure. By considering the history, it could be seen that black people have always been oppressed since old ages and still there is no visible difference in the attitude of white people who consider blacks as their slaves.
People who belong from various regions or areas have different ideologies and there comes a difference in the way of their thinking about a particular thing. When a scenario comes in which there is a need to get a typical response of the worker, it will become difficult for management to get the final and collective response as it would become difficult for the management to gather them at one platform. One of the main things that is creating the issue for workers of this organization is that there have been some people who harbor unfair and unjust prejudices against those who are different from them in any way, no matter whether the difference is about race, age, faith or any other thing.
Organization development interventions/strategies:
Many strategies could be used for improving the environment of an organization where both people and that organization are suffering because of diversity. Following are a few of the main strategies suggested for overcoming this issue of diversity for turning its negative impact into positive.
Educate the employees:
One of the primary things is education that changes the mindset of people and makes them think positively, so the employees should be educated about diversity. Employees should be exposed to the positive aspects of diversity. Education is the only thing that makes people more civilized by forcing them to follow ethics that teaches them that all the people are equal no matter what race, culture or religion one belong to. Equality should be given more importance everywhere.
Stop following social stereotypes:
One of the most important things for becoming a successful organization is that there is no need to follow social stereotypes. Today as it’s the modern age so, every organization should break the set norms and stereotypes that are harming the performance of an organization.
Promote flexibility:
There should be provided a flexible atmosphere in all the organizations to the employees so that if they have any concern regarding any employee, they could share their issue with management openly. Flexibility would help in minimizing the issues of diversity that the employees would be having among them.
Respect different career goals:
Not all the employees are going to have the same skills and thoughts about their career goals so each employee should be respected and encouraged for the career he/she is interested in. Respect should be given to all the members without considering diversity.
Highlight personal uniqueness:
The management has to play a vital role in this entire scenario by highlighting the positive side of a picture. This thing should be kept in mind that there are always two sides of a picture, negative and positive. All the positive aspects of diversity should be promoted. It could be seen that as people would belong to various cultures, races, and regions so they all would be unique in their experience, behavior, and knowledge so they should keep in mind, all the positive sides of diversity and this personal uniqueness should be used for enhancing the performance of an organization.
Develop policies that would promote company goals:
Employees should be realized that they are working for a professional organization where their ideologies and differences would not be appreciated. Such policies should be made by the management that would promote all the interests of the organization. Goals of the company should be given the prime importance not the issue of diversity.
Hold people accountable:
Not all the employees are going to be involved in poisoning the working environment, so all the companies must introduce a way of holding those people accountable who would promote diversity for spoiling the healthy and friendly environment.
Team building and better communication:
One of the best interventions that could be used for minimizing the issue of diversity and conflict among various people could be resolved by inculcating a team spirit among employees. Promoting healthy communication is also going to help the organization in achieving the best outcome.
Provision of orientation:
Orientation is another dominant strategy that could be used for minimizing this issue of diversity as each new employee is going to be made familiar with the environment of the company and workforce. Orientation is a way to make the newcomers feel at home that would produce a positive impact on all employees.
Train workers to overcome the issue of diversity:
Companies facing the issue of diversity must have the diversity sessions for the employees in order to reinforce and encourage the behavior that would be appropriate for the organization. Proper training and professional learning would be the only way through which the employees would learn to deal with such issues.
Required resources:
Following are the needed resources:
Well-educated management
Educators and psychologists to teach employees.
Friendly environment
Employees belong to diverse groups.
Timeline:
Thinking could be mold, but this thing takes little time. There is no fixed timeline in which the negative attitude of employees regarding diversity could be changed into positive. Timeline for bringing about this change depends upon the employees who are having the issue with diversity as not all the employees are going to have same mentality or capacity of absorbing things, so timeline could not be defined as a whole.
Anticipated resistance:
There is no doubt that while dealing with an issue, one has to face resistance showed by the others who would be educated. It cannot be expected that when there would be diversity issue in any organization, people who would make efforts for reducing this issue are not going to face resistance from the other side. So, it is quite understandable that there would be resistance and this resistance would be:
Personal resistance of the employee like the individual does not want to look at the positive side of diversity.
Society does not allow the employee to break that social stereotype.
Egoistic issues of employee do not let him overcome this issue of diversity.
The extreme level of hatred against people who belong to other cultures makes an employee reluctant for accepting the positive side of diversity.
Benefits:
Reducing the difference among the employees of organizations would have numbers of lasting benefits as it could be seen that employees who work in an organization if are not happy with their co-workers, this would directly affect the productivity of that organization. So the primary benefit of reducing this issue of diversity among employees of an organization would be that the efficiency or productivity of the organization is never going to be compromised.
Another significant benefit of reducing diversity would be, individual would realize his/her mistake and would start cooperating with other employees. It would teach that individual a life lesson that would make his/her life much better as he/she would be having no conflicts with the co-workers.
The most important benefit would be at the social level, as it has been witnessed that if there is negative thinking about a thing and if a person changes his/her thinking into positive, then this person would start playing his/her role in social reforms (Packer,et,al,2018). So it could be asserted that when every individual is going to take responsibility for correcting himself/herself, then there would be no conflict between two individuals. One greater benefit would be, when all the workers are going to work on them for improving their attitude, ultimately the whole society would improve. This could make a society flawless when every individual would be correcting himself/herself for making this world a better place to live.
Evaluation approach:
There should be an evaluation after teaching peoples how they could reduce the diversity among them. Employees who are being discriminated from each other from their race, culture, ethnic background and sexual orientation should be appropriately trained even by arranging sessions for them. Many approaches could be used for evaluating how far the strategies worked in favor of the organization (Potkány,et,al,2018). One eminent approach is critical thinking, that educators or scholars would use for detecting loopholes and suggest authorities the applicable strategies that would make things better.
Conclusion:
By taking a look at the above-mentioned scenario and circumstances faced by various people, it could be said that organizations that manage a diverse workforce and have differences of opinion create many difficulties for the whole organization. This negative approach and attitude of taking diversity in a negative direction would have a drastic effect on the overall businesses and other organizations as well, so it is important to realize that things need to be resolved in time before they get worst. It has also been witnessed that things could be make better by implementing specific approaches (Maitland,et,al,2018). Experts and scholars have proposed many strategies that should be put into practice so that diversity could be turned into positive perspective. So as a whole it could be concluded that people should be made aware that their diversity could work best in the interest of the organization as it would bring out creativity, unique skills, experience, and knowledge of people belonging to various cultures and regions.
References:
Chang, T., Hwang, B. G., Deng, X., & Zhao, X. (2018). Identifying political risk management strategies in international construction projects. Advances in Civil Engineering, 2018.
Maitland, I. (2018). Why the Business Case for Diversity Is Wrong. Geo. JL & Pub. Pol'y, 16, 731.
Packer, D. J., Miners, C. T., & Ungson, N. D. (2018). Benefiting from diversity: How groups’ coordinating mechanisms affect leadership opportunities for marginalized individuals. Journal of Social Issues, 74(1), 56-74.
Potkány, M., Gejdoš, M., & Debnár, M. (2018). Sustainable innovation approach for wood quality evaluation in green business. Sustainability, 10(9), 2984.
Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2016). Research methods for business: A skill building approach. John Wiley & Sons.
