2. Managing Diversity
Any organisation that embraces diversity
could be considered to be behaving in a
socially responsible manner
Social responsibility is considered to be a
broader concept that relates to an
organisation’s impact on society
3. Management of Cultural
Diversity
Organisational culture - valuing
differences & practicing cultural
inclusiveness
Some of the factors that cultural diversity
can promote/assist:
Can offer a marketing advantage
Recruiting and retaining talented people
Unlocks the potential for excellence
Offers a creative advantage
4. Key dimensions of differences
in cultural values
1. Individualism vs collectivism
2. High power distance vs low power distance
3. High uncertainty avoidance vs low uncertainty
avoidance
4. Long term orientation vs short term orientation
5. Masculinity vs femininity
6. Informality vs formality
7. Urgent time orientation vs casual time
orientation
5. Individualism vs Collectivism
Individualism is a mental set in which people see
themselves first as individuals and believe their
own interests and values take priority
Collectivism is a feeling that group and society
should be given the highest priority
Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, German
and the UK are individualistic cultures
Japan, Indonesia, Korea, South American and
Middle countries tend to be collectivist in their
culture
6. Power Distance
This refers to the idea that different members of
an organisation have different levels of power.
High power culture - leaders make decisions and
group members comply
Low power culture - employees do not recognise
the power of leaders as readily
High power culture - France, Korea, Spain,
Japan and Mexico
Low power culture - USA, Australia, NZ, Canada
and Scandinavian countries
7. Uncertainty avoidance
People who accept the unknown, tolerate risk
and unconventional behaviour are said to have
low uncertainty avoidance- they are not afraid to
face the unknown
High uncertainty avoidance means that people
want predictable and certain futures
Low uncertainty avoidance countries include:
USA, Australia, Scandinavia and India
High uncertainty avoidance countries include
Japan, Italy, Argentina and most of Europe
8. Masculinity vs Femininity
Masculinity refers to an emphasis on
assertiveness, success and competition
Femininity refers to an emphasis on
relationships, caring for others and a high quality
of life
Masculine countries include: USA, Japan, Italy,
Italy and India
Feminine countries include: Sweden, Denmark,
Korea, France and Spain
9. Long term vs short term
orientatation
Long-term cultures take the long-range
perspective, are more thrifty and look at
investments in the long term
Short-term cultures take a short term
perspective, not thrifty and expect immediate
returns
China and Japan take long term view
USA, France and West Africa tend to be short
term
10. Formality
vs Informality
Formality attaches importance to tradition,
ceremony, social rules and tank
Informality places lower importance on
these
Latin and South America are very formal
USA, Australia and New Zealand are
much less formal (UK much more formal
than Australia)
11. Urgent time orientation vs
casual time orientation
Urgent time orientation is where time is
perceived as a scarce resource people tend to
be impatient
Casual time orientation is where time is not
perceived as being as important and people
tend to be patient
USA, Germany etc tend to be urgent time
orientation
South Sea islands tend to be more casual with
time as do Latin American cultures
12. How these effect leadership
These impact on leaders-followers in
many ways:
Rewards and recognition
Power relationships
Formality of dealings
Time orientation
Casual relationships