문화다양성과 기업의 시너지
Synergies out of Cultural Diversity
by
Jun 20. 2020
연구공간 자유 (www.TheInstituteForLiberty.com)
문화다양성이 시너지를 내기 위한 3가지 조건
Three Requirements to Generate Synergies out of Cultural Diversity
Sang Hyuck LEE
(Ph.D. in International Law / MBA)
(sanghyuckleephd@gmail.com)
[Source: The Chronicle of HIgher Education (2019)One of the most notable academic debates in the 21C over the impacts of ‘cultural diversity’ or ‘multiculturalism’ was held between late Samuel P. Huntington, former professor at Harvard University and Amy Chua. Professor at Yale Law School. The former contended that cultural diversity is bound to lead to conflict and war[1], while the latter argued for the possibility of coexistence and prosperity.[2] Even in business circle, this issue has been rigorously discussed, nowadays a majority of companies being positive toward cultural diversity. Then, why should companies be concerned with cultural diversity? In the past, many managers passively responded that discrimination is not acceptable legally and morally. However, today, a lot more managers emphasize that more diverse human resource is highly likely to incur organizational effectiveness—e.g. bringing greater access to new marketplace and enhancing productivity.[3] In order to generate such synergies out of cultural diversity in companies, the following three requirements need to be satisfied.
To begin with, in order to expect synergies out of cultural diversity, managers must start with eliminating any kind of explicit and implicit discrimination against certain groups and guaranteeing fairness among all the employees in their companies. So-called “discrimination-and-fairness perspective” is still the most dominant and basic way of pursuing cultural diversity. For examples, in the United States, companies usually try to guarantee equal opportunity and fair treatment for all employees, especially pursuant to The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and The Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972.[4] Historically, a prejudice or antipathy has prevented members of certain demographic groups—e.g. ethnic ones—from joining the companies. In order to eliminate such prejudice and discrimination, managers must prepare for established managerial processes to ensure that all employees are treated equally and some are not given unjustifiable advantage/privilege over others.[5]
In addition, managers need to exert themselves in order to go beyond the passion for “fit” or a pre-determined type of human resources for their companies. In general, companies plan to hire the right person for the job. However, what does the term “right” or “fit” really mean?[6] In many cases, due to the passion for fit, managers tend to create an unwanted situation where their companies superficially appear to be diverse but essentially homogenous. Companies tend to recruit only the same profile or the same fit of people despite their seemingly different backgrounds.[7] Consequently, even though those companies appear to be diverse, that appearance is simply a deception without generating synergies out of the seemingly cultural diversity. In the future, it is highly likely that the biggest threat to cultural diversity in business circle comes from not discrimination against certain groups but the passion for fit.
Most importantly, not only managers but also all the other employees must make steady-fast and consistent efforts to build trust among all the members of the companies. In a business environment, it is really difficult to create and maintain trust, especially in the case of multicultural companies or teams. In reality, there are a lot of cases that multicultural companies or teams go into friction due to perceptions of ethnocentrism, those in the minority groups feeling ignored or undervalued. In order to achieve synergies out of cultural diversity—i.e. achieving higher performance, it is a must for all the employees and employers to be able to trust each other and to be committed to the overall interests of the companies as a whole. Trust is a glue that makes companies or teams be organic entities, which are essentially different from simple collections of separate individuals. Trust does not build up magically. It takes time and efforts.[8]
[Louis V. Gerstner (1942-)] [Source: Wall Street Journal (2008)]