Introduction

Diversity is considered as understanding, recognizing and considering the differences among the people irrespective of their race, age, gender, ethnicity and physical ability. Primary differences such as age, gender and age among individuals can impact the initial encounters and can be recognized by the people. These differences can be served as filters by the people to view the world. The secondary dimensions of differences among individuals include religion, education, and country background and income level. In the initial encounters, these differences might not get noticed (Alnaqbi and Castillo 2017). Usually these differences get noticed after new encounters among the individuals. With the advent of globalization, interaction among different individuals has become common. Individuals today are considered to be more open minded with the increase in the level of competition in every sector. Diversity can have not advantage and disadvantage to a business organization. It is a challenge for the business organization to efficiently extract the essence of diversity and manage differences in the business organization tactfully for the betterment and improvement among the people in the business organization.

Discussion and analysis

Cultural diversity

As mentioned by Ayega and Muathe (2018), in today’s business organization, diversity has gained much importance. Human resources are considered to be one of the most important resources of the business organization. They are considered to be the basic foundation of the business organization and unit of change for the people. In the workplace diversity, culture is considered to be one of the most important dimensions which influence the flow of the communication. As stated by John and Roberts (2017), culture is considered as the beliefs, values, behaviours and communication patterns of the people belonging to the same social group. According to Goswami and Rangaswamy (2019), there is variety of human cultures within a particular region as a whole or in the world. This is considered as Multiculturalism within a particular business organization. There are different ways in which individuals organize themselves in shared mobility and their ways of interaction.

According to Harris (2017), workplace diversity in the business organization can bring forth various challenges as well have help an individual to benefit from each other by accepting and understanding the differences of the people. Cultural diversity has significant impact on the employee morale and motivation. Lambert (2016), suggests that cultural diversity in a business organization improces and develop the workplace as employees can gain knowledge and learning experiences by interactions with different employees within the business organization. However, according to Li et al. (2017), it is essential for the business organization to embrace diversity and consider its advantages to the business organization. It enables the employees of the business organization to increase their adaptability in the culturally diverse workplace.

Impact of cultural diversity on employee morale and motivation

The importance of employee morale is highly recognized by the business organizations in today highly competitive and dynamic business environment. As commented by, Modi (2018), it is essential for the business organization to build and maintain a string culture within the business organization to keep up the morale and motivation of the business organization. Cultural diversity in workplace plays an important role in the motivation and morale of the employees. Cultural diversity in the business organization is considered as cultural competence of the employees. Having diverse cultural employees within the business organization enables the business organization to have diverse set of unique solutions to particular set of issues and problems faced. It has been suggested by Roberson (2019), that cultural diversity boosts creativity among the operating teams within the organization. Research and surveys consistently suggests that exposing individuals to diverse experience with multiple perspectives can be valuable for the business organizations. According to Rojas (2018), the managers and the leaders of the business organization therefore, encourage cultural diversity in the business organization to inspire and motivate the employees and increase their ability to perform different activities. Increased motivation and morale among the employees and the individuals of the business organization can also increase the profitability and productivity of the business organization. As suggested by Sharma et al. (2017), cultural diversity in the workplace can improve and enhance employee engagement and ethnicity. Multiple perspectives in the business organization enable the employees and the individuals to build a trustworthy relationship among each other. Employee engagement in the workplace can increase employee motivation which is highly beneficial for the business organization. This can also reduce employee turnover, which in turn increases the productivity and performance of the business organization.

However, according to Shresha and Taylor (2017),cultural diversity in the business organizations can bring forth many challenges and issues if not managed in an effective and efficient manner. These challenges and issues can costs time and money for the business organizations if not managed properly. There are many consequences of diverse culture in an n organization, it includes unhealthy conflicts and tensions among the employees, loss of business performance, increases levels if conflicts, complaints and legal actions, loss of employees and loss of investment. Therefore, it is essential for the business organization to manage the conflicts and other challenges that can be faced by the business organization by diverse culture. As mentioned by Singh (2018), it is critical for the business organization to take full advantage of the diverse culture in the workplace. Diverse workplace might bring forth cultural and language barriers, which might be effectively dealt with. Ineffective communication is considered to be one of the main barriers to successful cultural diversity in the business organization. Despite the challenges, the business organization must consider it as an opportunity and manage effectively to develop cost advantage.

Impact of cultural diversity of workplace productivity

It has been argued by Alnaqbi and Castillo (2017), that cultural diversity in the workplace is beneficial to the business organization in various ways especially in terms of work performance and work productivity. As mentioned earlier, effectiveness and efficiency of the management in managing diverse culture can be valuable for the business organization in the long run sustainability and profitability of the business organization. The productivity of the business organization is highly associated with motivated employees due to multiculturalism within the workplace. As mentioned by Ayega and Muathe (2018), diverse culture in the business organization enables the employees to learn from different individuals with different skills and opinions. This initiates positive impact on the employees and improves their morale, thereby encouraging productivity and reduces of employee turnover in the business organization. Ability of the individuals to communicate with different types of people Ability of the individuals to effectively communicate with different parts of the world will enable the business organizations to built strong relationship and understand the differences in culture and in the ways of performing the business works.

However, it has been argued by Goswami and Rangaswamy (2019),that having too many different opinions can lead to conflicts and miscommunications which if not managed timely can have negative impacts on the productivity of the business organization. Excessive amount of opinions and ideas to simple problems might lead to reduction in productivity. Different culture people having different opinion and past experiences might have different viewpoint to certain issues and challenges. This can negatively impact the productivity of the business organization.

Impact of cultural diversity of workplace creativity

According to Harris (2017), cultural diversity of the business organization can boosts creativity in the business organization. Creativity and innovation are two most important ways of enhancing   the work performance and productivity of the business organization. In order to promote creativity in the business organization, cultural diversity is workplace is highly essential. Cultural diversity in the workplace can bring forth different ideas and opinions which can lead to creativity and innovation in the organization. However, as stated by Li et al. (2017), the company might also face challenges with communication, language barrier and differences in opinion. Lack of interaction and ineffective communication in the business organization can lead to negative impacts on the productivity and performance of the business. Diversity effectives on innovation can be negative.

Effect of cultural diversity on groups and teams

As mentioned by Modi (2018), cultural diversity in the business organization can lead to positive employee morale and motivation, enhances productivity and performance and boost innovation and creativity in the business organization. Diverse culture in the business organization brings forth new ideas and opinion from different individuals having different perspectives and experiences from the past. This can have positive impact on the operating teams with the business organization. As mentioned by Roberson (2019), having healthy competition among the teams or groups in the business organization can have positive impacts on the operations and boost productivity in the organization. The intercultural exchange in the teams can improve individual employee in the organization. However, it has been criticized by Sharma et al. (2017), that majority of the humans being undertake decision on biases rather than logic. This unconscious biasness can have negative impacts on the operating teams and decision making. Therefore, effective implementation of diverse workplace can be a challenge for the business organizations.

Responsibility of the leadership team to promote cultural diversity in the workplace

According to Shresha and Taylor (2017), it is the responsibility of the leaders and the managers of the business organization to initiate effective flow of communication in the workplace. Removing communication barriers is of vital importance of the success of diverse workforce. Communication is of paramount importance for attaining the value of workplace diversity. The employees of the business organization must understand the value of workplace diversity in the business organization especially during the process of implementation. As mentioned by Sharma et al. (2017), the leaders and the mangers of the business organization can organize diversity training and diversity plans to attain its goals and objectives. In order to overcome language barriers in the organization, the leaders must decide on a common language appropriate for all the employees. This can reduce the level of miscommunication. The leaders must consider the views and opinions of all the employees and identify the best opinion. The leaders must have the ability to understand the signs of hostility in the organization. The training can educate the employees and mitigate biasness among the employees.

Conclusion

Therefore, from the above arguments, it can be concluded that cultural diversity in the workplace is highly beneficial for the business organizations especially considering the highly competitive and dynamic business environment. Diversity in the business organization can bring forth many positive benefits to the organization along with potential challenges. These challenges are inconvenient for the organizations and have the potential to damage the reputation of the company and be counterproductive to the companies.  Therefore, it is the responsibility of the leaders and the managers of the business organization to combat the challenges and effectively implement diversity initiative in the business organization. It can be said from the above arguments and discussion that well managed corporate diversity is good for the business.

References

Alnaqbi, M.M.A. and Castillo, F.G., 2017. Multi cultural diversity at national hospital: is teamwork possible?. European journal of economics and management sciences, (4).

ANJORIN, R. and Jansari, A., 2018. Managing Cultural Diversity at Workplace.

Ayega, E.N. and Muathe, S., 2018. Critical Review of Literature on Cultural Diversity in the Work Place and Organizational Performance: A Research Agenda. Journal of Human Resource Management, 6(1), pp.9-17.

Goswami, S. and Rangaswamy, E., 2019. MANAGING CULTURAL DIVERSITY AT WORKPLACE: THE HR CHALLENGE AND ITS IMPACT ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE-A STUDY OF SINGAPORE. International Journal on Recent Trends in Business and Tourism, 3(2), pp.96-105.

Harris, R., 2017. Embracing DIVERSITY for a healthy workplace. Journal of the Australian-Traditional Medicine Society, 23(1), p.28.

John, M.T. and Roberts, D.G., 2017. Cultural adaptation in the workplace (Vol. 20). Taylor & Francis.

Lambert, J., 2016. Cultural diversity as a mechanism for innovation: Workplace diversity and the absorptive capacity framework. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict, 20(1), p.68.

Li, C.R., Lin, C.J., Tien, Y.H. and Chen, C.M., 2017. A multilevel model of team cultural diversity and creativity: The role of climate for inclusion. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 51(2), pp.163-179.

Modi, Y., 2018. MANAGING CULTURAL DIVERSITY AT WORK PLACE MANAGING CULTURAL DIVERSITY AT WORK PLACE.

Roberson, Q.M., 2019. Diversity in the workplace: A review, synthesis, and future research agenda. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 6, pp.69-88.

Rojas, R.R., 2018. Diversity and workplace spirituality. In Diversity and Inclusion in the Global Workplace (pp. 81-107). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Sharma, P., Cotton, T., Warren, A., Hosie, P. and Kingshott, R., 2017. Looking Beyond Workforce Diversity: Towards a Theory of Workplace Complexity. In 2016 British Academy of Management (BAM) Annual Conference.

Shresha, N. and Taylor, B., 2017. Cultural diversity in the workplace.

Singh, N., 2018. Prospective and Strategies Managing Cross Culture Diversity in Workplace. GST Simplified Tax System: Challenges and Remedies, 1(1), pp.166-168.