Managing Diversity

MANAGING DIVERSITY

As a short definition managing diversity is when someone has suffered from discrimination, not only by race, but also because of gender, abilities, physical appearances, and others. Diversity is much more: social, physical, environmental, cultural...
Since we are born, with gender, and ethnicity membership, we acquire identities, other values: religious affiliation, professional affiliation, and others.
In the 1990's there were two theories that tried to explain how diversity could be managed. These were: MELTING POT THEORY, in which many cultures share a common place without forgetting their own culture, and the ASSIMILATION THEORY where is expected that after some time people leave their culture behind and take the other culture as their own.
The managing diversity evolution went from Acculturation (accommodate to the local culture), passing by Acceptance (accept that in a culture there is a wide variety of people with different cultures), Accommodation (accommodate to the different cultures), Appreciation (appreciate differences that could give me certain benefit), and finally Integration...what we are leaving in the present. If we understand the multicultural understanding levels (individual-family-community-culture-global influences) it would represent a higher negotiation power when doing business.
After learning all this, I wonder if there is a specific method to study diversity and try to understand all that comes after. This is what I found...

Based on Renato Ortiz' (professor of the Social Science Department of the Estadual de Campiñas University, Unicamp, Brasil) research about cultural diversity and cosmopolity, there are two disciplines that help in the diversity study.
1. Anthropology: Born in the late XIX century.
It considers that symbolic and geographic borders must be respected to maintain cultural integrity. Thus, dispersed cultural organizations around the world will constitute a series of diversified cultures, each one with its own characteristics.
2. History:
It tells us about the quantity of cultural organizations and civilizations that have appeared with time.
When talking about Civilization it is important to understand that each culture with its beliefs, languages, and others, become attached to a specific place. This means that cultural diversity means diversity of civilizations.
This information was taken from: Diversidad cultural y cosmopolitismo, Renato Ortiz. 1998. http://www.nuso.org/upload/articulos/2680_1.pdf


1. ¿Is diversity management at IBM a source of competitive advantage? ¿why?
Managing diversity is an advantage for everybody, we must be aware that everybody is different, and we must learn to deal with it. IBM and the HR department set a strategy where focused on an each groups blacks, Hispanics, Asians, disable people, women, native Americans, and others, each group has to be studied separately, it gave IBM growth and progress. According to Gerstner managing diversity understands the market which is diverse and multicultural; the goal was to minimize the differences to amplify them in order to seeing business opportunities. Managing diversity is a strategic goal, it would make a huge an impacting impression on customers and employees, women began to play an important role on the company, it can be consider a competitive advantage because the company is acknowledging the diversity of the society, gives the company an advantage because it wont limit the employees or even the customers, as a customer when you see a company with diversity and that takes into account everybody no matter the culture, race, religion, background, it gives you confidence and even you feel identify with it.
2. ¿Do you think the IBM case reflects a strong organizational commitment to diversity? ¿why?
According to the reading managing diversity was a priority for the company, they committed to deal with diversity and even they care and are aware that we live in a world that is multicultural and you must think of that when you have a company specially as big as IBM, diversity and multicultural gives you hints about the market. Managing diversity implies some challenges but IBM overtook them. IBM states that workforce diversity was the bridge; greater diversity in the workplace will help the company to attract more diverse customers. They even develop groups and for each group some strategies and work for them to be successful.