Managers' Forum ~ Book Reviews
 

     The diversity within organization is one of the primarily aspects that should be study in an International negotiation. Globalization has been the concept that has guided the strategies and activities of most of the companies that has established the internationalization of their products and services like the vision. Each more time are more companies opening offices overseas, using employees from the origin country and from the country where the offices will be operated.

     Different cultures converge in the same workplace with the same objective in mine, work. Planning, organization, direction, execution or control are some of the functions that people usually do at work, planning actions to increase the production, for example, can be an easy task between people that speak the same language and have the same culture, but can be equally easy between people that speak different languages and have different cultures? The answer to this question probably is negative, but if we work to take advantage of the diversity within the organizations the answer will be surely positive.

     This analysis is based on the book "Successful Diversity Management Initiatives" by Patricia Arredondo who shares with us her learning of many organizations over the past two decades. This book has been designed to demonstrate the practical, day-to-day considerations that go into planning and managing successful diversity
initiatives. The book is divide in fifteen chapters, each of which is dedicated to explain each one of the parts of the process that the author recommended to success managing the diversity.

     In this book we have an alternative process that we could use to planning the actions necessaries to manage the diversity. The principal elements that the process contain are:

a) Preparing for an Initiative.
b) Recognizing the motivation factors
c) Creating Vision and Mission statements.
d) Building knowledge by assessing needs.
e) Articulating goals and strategies.
f) Implementing diversity-related strategies.
g) The role of education and training.
h) Evaluating progress and chance.
i) Identifying Enablers and pitfalls for diversity initiatives.
j) Modifying strategic plans.
k) Recognizing and rewarding progress.
l) Developmental stages of a diversity management process.

     According to the author " The history of humankind is a story of multiculturalism and diversity. It always has been and always will be". In spite of admonitions about the harm of cultural differences, individuals and group has found ways to participate and contribute to the global success of the multicultural nations on many levels.

     Finally, about the future of the Diversity Management the author opinion is that the focus on diversity in the workplace is here to stay, what's more, many predict that diversity management will expand into new settings. "Continued success relies on employing talent people. In the context of the world community, people are very different. Employing culturally sound practices that surround these human and cultural differences is essential".

     In my opinion this book give us a clear idea about the diversity in the workplace and how we can manage it, this is a good reinforcement to the acknowledge that we have been acquired in our Intercultural Skills in International Business classes.

Source:
Arredondo, Patricia, (1996) "Successful Diversity Management Initiatives" A
Blueprint for Planning and Implementation, SAGE publications, Thousand Oaks,
California, USA.

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