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How can managers prepare their organizations to accommodate diversity in the future? First, organization leaders
and managers must come to terms with their own definitions of diversity and should be encouraged to think beyond race
and gender issues to consider such factors as education, background, and personality differences.
Once a vision for a diverse workplace has been created and defined, the organization can analyze and assess the
current culture and systems within the organization. This assessment is followed by a willingness to change the status
quo in order to modify current systems and ways of thinking. Throughout this process, people need support in dealing
with the many challenges and inevitable conflicts they will face. Training and support are important for the people in
pioneering roles. Finally, managers should not de-emphasize affirmative action programs, because these are critical for
giving minorities and women access to jobs in the organization.
Once managers accept the need for a program to develop a truly diverse workplace, action can begin. A program
to implement such a change involves three major steps: (1) building a corporate culture that values diversity; (2) chang-
ing structures, policies, and systems to support diversity; and (3) providing diversity awareness training. For each of
these efforts to succeed, top management support is critical, as well as holding all managerial ranks accountable for
increasing diversity.
CHANGING THE CORPORATE CULTURE
For the most part, today's corporate cultures reflect the white male model of doing business. These cultures are not
conducive to including women and minorities in important decision-making processes or enabling them to go high in
the corporate hierarchy. The result of this mismatch between the dominant culture and the growing employee popula-
tion of minorities and women is that many employees' talents will be underutilized, and the corporation will be less
competitive.
There are approaches for changing corporate culture. Managers can start by actively using symbols for the new
values, such as encouraging and celebrating the promotion of minorities. To promote positive change, executives must
change their own assumptions and recognize that employee diversity is real, is good, and must be valued. Executives
must lead the way in changing from a white male monoculture to a multiculture in which differences among people are
valued.
To accomplish this, managers must be willing to examine the unwritten rules and assumptions. What are the myths
about minorities? What are the values that exemplify the existing culture? Are unwritten rules communicated from one
person to another in a way that excludes women and minorities? For example, many men may not discuss unwritten
rules with women and minorities because they assume everyone is aware of them and they do not want to seem patron-
izing.
Companies are addressing the issue of changing culture in a variety of ways. Some are using surveys, interviews,
and focus groups to identify how the cultural values affect minorities and women. Others have set up structured net-
works of people of color, women, and other minority groups to explore the issues they face in the workplace and to rec-
ommend changes to senior management. Corning, Inc., appointed a task force to tackle the problem of how to recruit,
retain, and develop talented minority workers.
T a s k 12. Before you read discuss these questions.
1. What impact are developments in information technology having on the way companies are organized, e.g. the
use of video conferencing, which means people need to travel less'? 2. How has the Internet changed the way you work
or study?
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