Managing cultural diversity and how to manage it within an organisation (ePub)

The topic of diversity has raised significant attention over the past decade (Marx 1999; Kandola et al. 1998; Connerley 2005). Changes in the demographic composition of the workforce in the direction of increasing representation of minority groups - mirrored by changes in other parts of the world - have created the need to understand how ethnically and culturally diverse individuals respond to managerial practices (Warner et al. 2002). Human beings come in all shapes and sizes, colours and forms, but we do not seek to be different, rather we seek to be with our own kind. We are a visually oriented species so perhaps it is somewhat natural that we tend to notice differences.
We describe ourselves as Christian, Jew, Democratic, or even as a Manchester football fan. These categories do not refer to natural biological attributes or necessarily to a particular geographical region, but they have an enormous impact on our behaviour (Denton 1997). This report highlights the benefits and problems referring to diversity management and investigates strategies to gain competitive advantage.
The hospitality industry is an international and global industry, many companies and organisations are working international and their employees are from many different countries. The hospitality industry is becoming increasingly 'internationalized'. Indeed, we can say it is 'globalised', where a common global experience is taking place.