Derby Haberdashery Diversity Case
Introduction
Diversity is the differences that occur among the employees in the organization. These differences are in terms of race, gender, ethnicity and intellectual capability (McMillan-Capehart, 2005). Diversity is common in most of the organizations and this diversity is referred to as work force diversity. The organization does not encourage work force diversity since it has no equal opportunities in the organization management. Work force diversity is important in Derby Haberdashery’s because it helps the organization achieve competitive advantage if managed well. Diversity also has a negative effect if it is not managed well in the organization. This is because it leads to misunderstanding in the work place and also conflicts among the employees (Bassett-Jones, 2005).
The negative effects result in employees being absent, poor quality of work and lack of job satisfaction among the employees. It can also lead to low morale among the employees and loss of competitiveness in the organization. If the organization is seeking to achieve a competitive advantage then it should manage diversity well to avoid negative effects of diversity and also to achieve competitive advantage. Diversity is important in the organization since it leads to the firm achieving competitive advantage (Bassett-Jones, 2005). This is because diversity leads to increased creativity in the organization because the work force in the organization is diverse and the employees bring different views to the organization and also to the tasks. The employees are able to make their contributions which are diverse and this helps in handling tasks in the organization effectively since the employees are able to work together and combine diverse intellectual capabilities.
Diversity also helps the organization in solving problems. This is because a diverse workforce has diverse views that can be used to solve organization problems. The diversity in the organization helps the organization in making clear decisions since the employees contribute to the decision making process using their diverse cultures (McMillan-Capehart, 2005)… Through the diversity in the organization the organization is able to make clear decisions, solve problems and increase creativity and innovation thus being able to achieve competitive advantage. For Derby Haberdashery’s situation the organization can achieve competitive advantage if it encourages diversity in the organization and also manage the diversity well. This is because diversity will lead to creativity and innovation, problem solving and decision making (McMillan-Capehart, 2005).
Recommendations
Derby Haberdashery’s should use the following steps to improve diversity in the organization. The organization should change the organizational culture so as to create diversity and accommodate each employee regardless of the diverse issues like race (McMillan-Capehart, 2005)… The organization should develop an individualized socialization and a collectivistic organizational culture. Using individualized socialization the organization will allow the new employees to be provided with specific situations so as that they can develop diverse responses. By doing this the organization will encourage the employees to socialize with other employees and this will help in making the employees feel part and parcel of the organization. Individualized socialization encourages diversity because it encourages diverse ideas and problem solving (Bassett-Jones, 2005).
The diverse ideas are important to the organization as they help in solving problems, improving creativity and in decision making thus the firm being able to achieve competitive advantage. Individualized socialization includes the following groups’ individual and informal etc and this socialization does not use guidelines to introduce employees into the organization and it leads to a heterogeneous organization that encourages innovation. The individualized socialization and collectivistic culture have limitation in that they do not eliminate the problems that are associated with diversity in the organization (Bassett-Jones, 2005). These problems include conflict and turnover. But the methods are important as they have more advantage than disadvantages since they encourage diversity and competitive advantage in the organization.
The organization should change the organization culture to collectivistic culture as the culture encourages the employees to share ideas, objectives and to cooperate in doing tasks. The employees also sacrifice their interest for the sake of achieving goals in the organization and they are also rewarded according to team work but not individual accomplishments. This culture allows the employees to adjust their behavior incase of conflict (McMillan-Capehart, 2005). The organization can also encourage diversity in the organization and retain the employees by eliminating barriers to diversity in the organization. The organization should treat all groups equal. This is through development of mentors in the organization, avoid stereotyping against minority groups, and improve communication in the organization. This program is important because it helps the minority group to feel part and parcel of the organization as the organization recognizes them. Problems like lack of mentor and role models in the organization, stereotyping and poor perception makes the minority group to feel out of place and these forces them to look for other jobs(Bassett-Jones, 2005).. This leads to low turnover in the organization since the organization does not support diversity. The organization should provide mentoring programs, minority programs and equal recruitment for the employees. Though the programs are expensive the benefits are more. This is because the organization will achieve diverse workforce and retain the workers and it will also achieve competitive advantage (Bassett-Jones, 2005).
Evaluation
The use of individualized socialization and collectivistic culture will help the employees change their behavior (McMillan-Capehart, 2005). This is because the employees will be able to work together, share ideas and cooperate. The change can be measured by the productivity of the employees. The change of perception about minority group, provision of mentor and good communication and equal employment will help the employees improve their behavior as they will care for each other, cooperate in carrying out tasks, respect each other and other employees views. This can be measured by employee retention as employees will not leave the organization, equal position in the organization and equal recruitment for all (Bassett-Jones, 2005)
Conclusion
Diversity is important in Derby Haberdashery’s as it will help the organization achieve competitive advantage through improved innovation, increase in creativity, improved decision making and problem solving (Bassett-Jones, 2005). The organization should use the individualized socialization and collectivistic culture to encourage diversity in the organization. It should provide mentoring programs and individual support programs for minority (McMillan-Capehart, 2005).
Reference
Bassett-Jones, N. (2005). The Paradox of Diversity Management, Creativity and Innovation. Creativity and Innovation Management, vol 14, IssueNo.2, page 169-175.
McMillan-Capehart, A. (2005). A configurational framework for diversity: Socialization and culture. Personnel Review, vol 34, IssueNo.4, page 488-503.
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