Cultural Diversity in Business :: essays research papers

In their eagerness to avoid the courts and editorial pages, most firms in America, and increasingly in Europe, now pay close attention to the sex and race of the people they recruit and promote, For example, Harvard Business School has just announced that they will go out of its way to include women in its case studies, which are used in business-school classrooms around the world. In other words, schools and businesses, in order to stay out of trouble, are taking the easy way out, quotas. (Kole, MacDonald.1997.1) Although some women and minorities are hired to fill quotas, the majority of them are needed to create a cultural diverse workplace. Cultural Diversity can have a positive effect and be profitable but only for some firms. A well considered strategy must accompany Cultural Diversity if profit is to be made. There are at least two reasons to expect a policy of diversity to yield profits. One difference is communication. Because many people find it easier to understand others of the same sex, or nationality, it helps to have employees from the same cultural background as your customers. It’s not only a matter of language, but understanding the customer’s needs, tastes and the earning of their trust is vital. The recruiting of people from a different cultural background can not only improve communication with outsiders, it may also bring fresh ideas to insiders (Kole, MacDonald. 1997.2). Businesses don’t only need cultural diversity in order to relate to customers, they need women and minorities in management. Smaller banks have traditionally selected their directors from among those who live and work in their communities. Their reasoning is to hire people who cannot only tell the banks what the people want, but also spread the word about their products. However, many banks surveyed by the Business Times have local natives on their boards, few women are represented and almost no minorities can be found-even in areas where there is a large minority population (Kole,MacDonald.1997.2). Many bank CEO’s feel that the lack of minority and female representation needs to be corrected (Cochran.1997). â€Å"Jack Anderson, chairman and Chief Executive of Johnstown-based BT Financial Corp.- the holding company for Laurel Bank, and Johnstown Bank Trust Co. states â€Å"Any right-thinking person understands the need for diversity,† he said â€Å"I think it i s something we need to work toward.†(Neiser.1997.1)† Anderson also recognizes that there hasn’t been a large pool of candidates to choose from.