Cultural Diversity in
the Workplace
Analyzing Workplace Diversity in GCC Countries and its
Implications on Organizational Effectiveness
1
We do not see things
as they are; we see
things as we are
- Talmud Bavli
Ancient Book of Wisdom, Babylonia
2
The Challenge of Workplace Diversity?
• The challenge lies in the continuous
improvement of the integration and social
acceptance of people from different
backgrounds.
• Our differing human characteristics influence
the way we think, act, interact, and make
choices.
• Often, these differences interfere with our
ability to support, trust, and respect each
other, and thus to effectively function
together.
3
Workplace IntegrationNationalization
The “GCC Paradox”- a unique
phenomenon
Omanization, Saudization, Emiratization, Qatarization…..
Expatriate shaped workplace culture
Expat majority
Ignorance of “cultural diversity”
“Shadowing”
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Types of Diversity
• Gender
• Age
• Race
• Ethnicity
• Culture
• Religion
• Language/Accent
• Disability
• Height/Weight
• Sexual Orientation
• Education
• Job Title
• Job Function
• Job Skills
• Union/Non-Union
• Part-Time/Full-Time
• Marital Status
• Political affiliation
5
Valuing Diversity
Diversity does not pit one culture against
another for dominance; it only allows for
cultural differences to be employed to
solve business challenges.
Diversity acknowledges and uses these
inherent differences to drive innovation as
a way of creating better organizational
performance and competitive advantage.
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Understanding Workplace
Diversity
• The organization is diverse by default, and
employees must be able to deal with it.
• The goal is to fix, cover-up, and/or defer the
problem with a minimum of hassle.
• The effort is top management-driven, thus
forced throughout the organization.
• The concern is more for a change in
behavior than attitudes (=individual
culture).
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Layers of Organizational
Culture
Cultural
Symbols
Shared
Behaviors
Cultural
Values
Shared
Assumptions
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How Cultures Emerge
Top
Management
• Agrees on
shared
assumptions of
human behavior
• Develops a
shared vision of
cultural values
Behaviors
Results
Culture
• Employees
behave in ways
that are
consistent with
shared values
and
assumptions
• Financial
performance
• Strong culture
emerges
• Market share
• Traditions are
maintained
• Employee
commitment
• Socialization
practices for
new employees
9
Thoughts on Culture
• Everyone creates culture—every person, group, family,
organization.
• Culture is what everyone knows that everyone else knows.
It is a way of understanding and living in the world.
• Cultures are defined by their differences from other
cultures. The greater the difference, the more defined the
culture.
• The most important aspects of culture are those not talked
about.
• People from different cultures experience different
realities.
• Most cultures accept differences in power and status, and
consider it normal. Primates always rank order.
• Most cultures value conformity, reward compliance, and
punish descent.
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Culture provides its members
with…
• Self identity: Who am I?
• Belongingness and social support: Where do
I belong?
• Guidelines for behavior: What should I do or
not do?
• Sense of purpose: Why am I here?
• Predictability and security: What will happen
to me?
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Characteristics of Culture
• Culture is shared by members of a group
and sometimes define the membership of
the group itself.
• Culture is learned though membership in a
group or community.
• Culture influences the attitudes and
behaviors of group members (e.g.,
normative behavior).
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Definitions of Culture
• The collective programming of the mind that
distinguishes the members of one human group from
another. (Geert Hofstede)
• The collection of beliefs, values, behaviors, customs, and
attitudes that distinguish the people of one society from
another. (Clyde Kluckholm)
• Shared motives, values, beliefs, identities and
interpretations or meanings of significant events that
result from common experiences of members of
collectives that are transmitted across generations.
(Robert House and GLOBE associates)
• A toolkit of symbols, stories, rituals, traditions and
worldviews that help the people of a culture survive and
succeed. (Ann Swidler)
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The Ideal Work Culture
Strong cultures:
• Commit members to do things that are in the best
interests of the organization.
• Discourage dysfunctional work behavior.
• Encourage functional work behavior.
The best organizations have strong cultures that:
•
•
•
•
•
Are performance-oriented.
Emphasize teamwork.
Allow for risk taking.
Encourage innovation.
Value the well-being of people.
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What is organizational culture?
Diagnostic questions for assessing cultural
differences:
• How tight or loose is the structure?
• Are decisions change oriented or driven by the status
quo?
• What outcomes or results are most highly valued?
• What is the climate for risk taking, innovation?
• How widespread is empowerment, worker
involvement?
• What is the competitive style, internal and external?
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Cultural DimensionsGeert Hofstede
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Cultural Trends:
Central Europe and the GCC
Austria/Germany
GCC
• Low power distance
• High power distance
• High individualism
• Medium individualism
• Low “masculinity”
• High “masculinity”
• Medium uncertainty
avoidance
• High uncertainty
avoidance
• Long-term oriented
• Short to mid-term
oriented
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Avoiding Cultural Stereotypes
When describing another group, cultural descriptions…

Should provide accurate descriptions of the beliefs,
values, and social norms of a group.

Should be limited to objective characteristics and avoid
evaluative components (e.g., good or bad).

Should be considered a first best guess about the
behaviors of another group prior to developing more
specific information about individual members of the
group.

Should recognize that they contain limited information that
can mask other useful data about cultural diversity.

Should be modified over time as new information about a
group is discovered through observation and experience.
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Express your View on Cultural
Differences
1. Do you personally have any stereotypes about
people from other cultures?
What concrete steps can you take to:
o 1. Avoid cultural stereotyping (out-group
stereotyping)?
o 2. See cultural differences in neutral terms?
o 3. Go beyond the superficial differences
between people and understand the
motivational bases of individuals and groups
from different cultures?
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Culture Comparisons
What words describe your personal culture versus
another?
What….
• …is your most prominent personality
characteristic?
• …is your most positive characteristic and/or
contribution?
• …is your worst characteristic and/or contribution?
• …are your characteristics as co-worker?
• …would you like to better know about “them”?
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Cultural Complexities and
Contradictions: Group Discussion
1. Identify some ways in which managers can
prepare for such challenges prior to arriving on
site?
2. Once they have arrived and are confronted with
such challenges, how might managers respond?
3. Is there a “toolkit” here that can prepare managers
to cope with such seeming contradictions in the
field?
Students, please organize yourself in mixed working
teams of 4-5 persons per group, identify problems and
discuss possible answers. Nominate 1-2 speakers to
present (5 minutes verbal presentation per team)
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Levels of Mental Programming
Personality
(inherited and
learned; specific to
individual)
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Example: Culture and Normative Behavior
Western vs Islamic Banking
• In the West, bank customers expect to receive interest
on their deposits. In Islamic banking, the holy Qur’an
prohibits paying or receiving interest; this is seen as
taking advantage of others who are less fortunate.
Instead, bank customers entrust funds to banks in
exchange for profit-sharing (mudaraba).
• In the West, stock market transactions are open to
investments and speculation in almost anything. Under
Islamic law, only investments in economic activities that
are consistent with the values of Islam are acceptable
(halal).
What is the impact of such differences when doing
business across borders?
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Members vs Non-Members
Example: Perception of Foreigners
Definition: “A foreigner is a person born in another country;
an alien; a person regarded as an outsider or stranger.”
Xenophobia: A fear or dislike of strangers or foreigners.
All cultures differentiate between members and nonmembers or foreigners, and all countries have some
people who are xenophobic.
Consider:
1. In your world, does “foreigner” have a good or bad
connotation? Are foreigners threats or opportunities?
2. How can foreigners become members of your particular
culture or society?
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Does Culture affect Motivational Factors?
Discussion Question
One of the core principles that one needs to know when
working in teams or managing people is to understand
individual intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors:
What is motivating you?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Praise
Promotion
Financial Compensation
Recognition
Equity (feeling equal to peers)
Challenge
•
•
•
•
•
•
Challenge
Autonomy
Responsibility
Social Contacts
Self-Actualization
…
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Core Cultural Dimensions
Hierarchical
Power Distribution
Egalitarian
Individualistic
Social Relationships
Collectivistic
Mastery
Environment Relationships
Harmony
Monochronic
Time/work patterns
Polychronic
Rule-based
Uncertainty and social
control
Relationshipbased
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Power Distribution
Hierarchical
• Centralized
• Belief that power should be
distributed hierarchically across
society
• Belief in ascribed or inherited
power with ultimate authority
residing in institutions
• Emphasis on organizing
vertically and autocratic or
centralized decision-making
• Emphasis on who is in charge
• Acceptance of authority;
reluctance to question authority
Egalitarian
• Decentralized
• Belief that power should be
distributed relatively equally
across society
• Belief in shared or elected power
with ultimate authority residing in
the people
• Emphasis on organizing
horizontally and participatory or
decentralized decision-making
• Emphasis on who is best
qualified
• Rejection or skepticism of
authority; willingness to question
authority
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Social Relationships
Individualistic
Collectivistic
• Person-centered
• Group-centered
• Belief that people achieve selfidentity through individual
accomplishment
• Belief that people achieve selfidentity through group membership
• Focus on accomplishing
individual goals
• Preference for preserving social
harmony over individual rights
• Focus on accomplishing group
• Sanctions reinforce independence
goals
and personal responsibility
• Sanctions reinforce conformity to
• Contract-based agreements
group norms
• Tendency toward low-context
• Relationship-based agreements
(direct, frank) communication and • Tendency toward high-context
individual decision-making
(subtle, indirect) communication
and group or participative decisionmaking
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Environmental Relationships
Mastery-oriented
• Dominance over nature
• Focus on changing or controlling
one’s natural and social
environment
• Achievement valued over
relationships
• Emphasis on competition in the
pursuit of personal or group goals
• Embraces change and
unquestioned innovation
• Emphasis on material possessions
as symbols of achievement
• Emphasis on assertive, proactive,
“masculine” approach
• Preference for performance-based
extrinsic rewards
Harmony-oriented
• Accommodation with nature
• Focus on living in harmony with
nature and adjusting to the natural
and social environment
• Relationships valued over
achievement
• Emphasis on social progress,
quality of life, and the welfare of
others
• Defends traditions; skepticism
towards change
• Emphasis on economy, harmony,
and modesty
• Emphasis on passive, reactive,
“feminine” approach
• Preference for seniority-based
intrinsic rewards
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Time and Work Patterns
Monochronic
Polychronic
• Linear
• Non-linear
• Sequential attention to individual
tasks
• Simultaneous attention to
multiple tasks
• Single-minded approach to work, • Interactive approach to work,
planning, and implementation
planning, and implementation
• Precise concept of time;
punctual
• Flexible concept of time; often
late
• Job-centered; commitment to the
job and often to the organization
• People-centered; commitment
to people and human
relationships
• Separation of work and personal
life
• Integration of work and personal
life
• Approach to work is focused and
impatient
• Approach to work is at times
unfocused and patient
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Uncertainty and Social Control
Rule-based
Relationship-based
• Individual behavior should be
largely regulated by rules, laws,
formal policies, standard
operating procedures, and social
norms that are widely supported
by societal members and applied
uniformly to everyone.
• While rules and laws are
important, they often require
flexibility in their application or
enforcement by influential people
(e.g., parents, peers, superiors,
government officials) or unique
circumstances.
• Emphasis on legal contracts and
meticulous record keeping.
• Emphasis on interpersonal
relationships and trust; less
emphasis on record keeping.
• Low tolerance for rule breaking.
• Decisions based largely on
objective criteria (e.g., legal
constraints, data, policies).
• Moderate tolerance for rule
breaking.
• Decisions often based on
subjective criteria (e.g., hunches,
personal connections).
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Discussion:
Approaching Cultural Differences
•
•
•
•
Cultural differences often influence how we think and see
things, suggesting that different people may have different
understandings of the same situation, and may act differently
as a result.
As groups interact with one another, however, new
understanding and new behaviors can emerge. Over time,
managers learn to negotiate new ways to relate to others.
Cultural differences within a group can often lead to better
decisions. Under what circumstances and why might this be
the case? What are the stimulants?
When managers from two or more cultures come in contact,
the starting point for interaction is usually what the different
groups bring to the table, but the end result will likely depend
more on their interactions, the managers and their
organizations, power differentials, and the exchanges that
take place (cultural friction).
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Cultural Complexities and
Contradictions
On the one hand, cultures:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Are stable over time.
Typically reinforce holistic behavior.
Often exhibit defining
characteristics of its people.
Often help explain the past or
current behaviors of its members.
Highlight key characteristics of the
predominant group.
On the other hand, cultures:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Evolve over time.
Often tolerate fragmented behavior.
Often exhibit numerous exceptions to its
defining characteristics.
May not always help in predicting the
future behaviors of its members.
Often mask important subcultures (e.g.,
religious or ethnic, regional).
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Your Business Case
Multicultural Teams
You are the marketing manager of XYZ Construction AG, a
German head-quartered organization that operates
internationally, but has not yet been able to get foothold in
the Middle East. The company targets a market entry to
Oman, UAE and Qatar in the second half of 2012. XYZ is
specialized in marine construction, and upcoming port and
offshore construction projects in the Middle East coupled
with lower revenues from their European operations, have
attracted the attention of the company’s management.
You have therefore been assigned to compose a task team
(employee selection) and are requested to compile a
proposal (methodology) for a comprehensive market study
(focus on competition, buyers and suppliers) and suggest
an approach how to best enter the market by respecting
cultural differences and consumer/buyer patterns.
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Your Business Case
Multicultural Teams
1. You will lead the new task team (3 members
excluding you) and will first have to decide on the
selection of team members (technical, social skills).
You are requested to look for great cultural diversity in
your team in respect of the ethnically diverse culture
in the Middle East. Whom will you select?
2. At the launch meeting, your first order of business
is to insure that all team members understand their
cultural differences and similarities, as well as how
they can build on this to develop a cohesive and
effective work team. How are you going to organize
and run this meeting to accomplish your goal?
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Your Business Case
Multicultural Teams
3. You are requested to submit a proposal of how you
are going to approach the compilation of your market
research and will need to suggest what information is
important to make valid conclusions. What do you
need to know in order to ensure validity of your
findings?
(significant market potential and industry growth is
assumed!!!)
4. What, in your expectation, will be the best
approach to sensibly and effectively commence
marketing activities? What cultural differences are
most crucial to be respected? Consider a stakeholder
approach to marketing!
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New Markets
XYZ is planning to capture new market segments through an
offensive marketing strategy, therefore you will have to look at the
underlying forces in order to identify the market potential.
Industry Dynamics
Threat of New
Entrants
Bargaining
Powers of
Suppliers
Threat of
Substitutes
Bargaining
Powers of Buyers
Competitive
Rivalry
Strength and
weaknesses of
competitors
Porter’s Five Forces
Source: Macmillan & Tampoe, 2000, p. 248
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Marketing
DELIVERING
CUSTOMER VALUE
Choosing the Value
Providing the Value
Communicating
the Value
Improved
Competitiveness
Source: “SKS 7000” , 2011, p. 132
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Positioning- The External Environment of
Organizations
Companies may achieve competitive advantage
in many ways, including:
• Products
• Pricing
• Customer service
• Cost efficiency
• Quality
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Useful Managerial Skills
•
•
•
•
•
•
Self-awareness: Understand who you are and what you
stand for.
Empathy: Seek to understand the attitudes and
behaviors of others.
Information gathering and analysis: Seek to discover
some of the less obvious cultural assumptions of others.
Information integration and transformation: Work to
make sense out of new information about others.
Behavioral flexibility: Build a capacity to approach
problems and situations in multiple ways, using different
techniques.
Mindfulness: Pay attention to what is happening
around you, both with yourself and others.
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Food for Thought
"There is no better fertile ground for innovation
than a diversity of experience. And that diversity
of experience arises from a difference of
cultures, ethnicities, and life backgrounds. A
successful scientific endeavor is one that attracts
a diversity of experience, draws upon the
breadth and depth of that experience, and
cultivates those differences, acknowledging the
creativity they spark."
Dr. Joseph M. DeSimone
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Resources
• McCuddy, M.K. (1997). Cultivating organizational culture.
Retrieved from
www.mcm.edu/~lapointp/OBPowerpointslides13thed/Chapter
_15.ppt
• Steers, R.M, Sanchez-Runde, C.J. & Nardon, L. (2009). Culture
values and world views. Retrieved from
www.cambridge.org/resources/052151343X/8228_PPT3Culture.ppt
• White, B. (2004). Diversity in the workplace. Retrieved from
instructional1.calstatela.edu/wwhite/Bus200/Bus%20200-Diversity.ppt
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