1. Chapter 11 Managing cultural diversity
Lucy Taksa and Dimitria Groutis
Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity
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2. Intercultural approaches
Assimilation – one culture dominant over all others
Multi-culturalism – no culture inferior to dominant culture
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3. Multiculturalism Multiculturalism:
gave ethnic communities the right to retain and cultivate their different cultures
did not go beyond the realm of communication and cultural dissonance
did not address discrimination on the grounds of difference.
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4. Legislation
Anti-discrimination is designed to provide equal access for individuals and to address growing incidences of ethnic stereotyping and sexism.
Equal employment opportunity encourages strategies to provide equal access to and equal opportunities for employment, and to recognise, manage and maximise benefits of diversity and improve the absorption of migrants.
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5. EEO and MD EEO and MD share critical ideals. They both:
decry discrimination and extol virtues of inclusiveness
rely on individual solution of systemic problems
have similar focus on policy development, law and changes to regulatory practice
assume valuing cultural difference enhances the management of such difference
Both strategies share a homogenising orientation failing to appreciate not all cultural groups respond in the same ways to strategies designed to encourage inclusivity.
Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity
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6. Social capital Social capital: focuses attention on networks
identifies ways in which cultural differences, language and communication skills, and group norms intersect in practice
is an avenue for teasing out interconnections between the above phenomena and their influence on EEO and MD initiatives.
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7. Diversity in the railway industry
Despite 20 years of EEO, sexism and racism is widespread.
Reasons:
Concern about deficient English-language skills
Diverse range of migrant workers
Increased occupational health and safety concerns
Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity
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8. Building equity at the railways
Cultural awareness training (paid attendance)
English classes
Access to community support programs
Resistance to all initiatives
Group sanctions for those few attendees
Explained by social capital concept – evidence of preference for informal networks based on individual ties
Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity
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9. Implications for MD
While training remains the preferred approach for preventing sexual harassment, for preventing discrimination and promoting appreciation of diversity a shift in attention to structural issues is also required
Requires diagnostic investigation of workplace culture
Consult with employees from different cultural backgrounds
Devise new structures of collaboration that reallocate organisational authority and ‘crack’ old informal power bases
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Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity