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Creating diversity in companies is essential for management in globalizing work situations. This is easily exemplified by large multinational organizations from CEO right down to middle management and support staff with Spanish CEOs running French companies, to Germans running American conglomerates. Few sectors have been spared and even some of the most resistant organizations require the forward thinking of creating multicultural teams. This could be considered a global phenomenon where a parallel can be drawn in sports. Top tier sports clubs, hungry to win, are willing to recruit from wherever the top talent is. A basketball champion or a football star must be had at any cost. What is the price? Back to the office. These new multicultural offices are becoming essential for successful organizations although it is not all that easy to put these teams together. The work environments become a double-edged sword. Perhaps the advantages seemingly outweigh the disadvantages but a closer look will reveal the complexity of the dynamics in multicultural teams. It goes without saying, that there are many different perspectives that can be argued in this circumstance but there is a predominant point of view.
“Diversity trumps. Hiring and promoting multicultural environments isn't optional anymore-- it's essential. (Fortune Magazine 2009”)
The Benefits of Multicultural Teams
Creativity: Perhaps one of the greatest advantages in working with multicultural teams is the dynamic between the members regarding creativity. Having teams originating from various experiences will expand significantly in the following ways:
Originality: Various backgrounds contribute to positive brainstorming results. Perhaps the idea that thinking out of the box is more advantageous than the status quo. Originality is a key element for a positive outcome.
Imagination: Various backgrounds also contribute to imaginative solutions. When a managerial or operational result requires the team to explore uncharted territory, answers are more imaginative with culturally varied work groups.
Ingenuity: Multicultural teams are clever regarding inventiveness and resourcefulness. This creates a knowledgeable team. It is known that the more varied the intellectual diversity of the teams the more ingenious the results, so the stronger the outcome.
Inventiveness: A stimulated and well-rounded imagination transforms into inventiveness. Inventiveness leads to solutions that are out of the ordinary. This will stimulate stronger team dynamics. The associates can no longer anticipate the solution whether they be managerial or solution orientated.
Resourcefulness: Original solutions can give competitive advantage. Work teams have a tendency to look for answer to our challenges in the same areas if they have the same backgrounds. Our perceptions are different so our resourcefulness varies.
Vision: Leadership is founded on vision. Vision is paramount to for effective results and for the most appropriate vision, global recruiting is fast becoming the norm. One could say that vision equals leadership which in turn produces outstanding results.
- Innovation
“The main argument for having a diverse workforce is the increase in innovation,” says Rosalyn Taylor O’Neale, the former CDO of MTV Networks.
One of the most effective means of realizing the impact of a word is to look at the words that are associated with it. Here are some typical synonyms that can be associated with the idea of innovation.
A list from the thesaurus:
Consider the following dynamics regarding innovation: modernism, perfection, progress, originality, novelty, development, uniqueness, diversity, improvement and advancement.
Assuming the word innovation can be directly associated with multiculturalism, consider the impact of these words on the performance of an organization.
Modernism: Modernism is essential for organizational growth. Imagine the proper functioning of a company without the typical elements associated with being modern. The computer is one.
Perfection: Perfection is the attainment of the ultimate goal. Even if it is not realized, it should be strived for. It is the benchmark.
Progress: Progress is best defined by the creator of IBM Thomas J. Watson:
“Once an organization loses its spirit of pioneering and rests on its early work, its progress stops.”
And it could be concluded with an ultimate demise.
Novelty: Novelty could be best defined through the famous quote by Henry Ford who said:
"If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse."
The question to ask at this point is how profound is the impact of multiculturalism on novelty. Remember some of the most profound engineering results are now being produced in India, Brazil and China. How can culturally diverse work teams work with these elements to create advantage?
Development: Development is a powerful idea with consequences in management as well as production. An organization void of development will soon falter. R&D, marketing, sales, and organizational strategies are all experiencing development. What is the impact of a multicultural environment in these circumstances?
Uniqueness: Uniqueness provides essential character to a group which eventually transmits into innovation further moving teams to new heights.
Diversity: Diversity is perhaps cleverly defined by Malcolm Forbes, the creator of Forbes Magazine and a former presidential candidate:
“Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.”
Perhaps this is the key element to a multicultural approach to working with teams. It is truly the idea of powerful group solutions through innovative individuality.
Improvement: Improvement can be summed up by the Japanese miracle of the post war era defined as constant and never-ending improvement and also known as Kaizen.
“When applied to the workplace, Kaizen activities continually improve all functions of a business, from manufacturing to management and from the CEO to the assembly line workers.” (wikipedia)