Introduction
Research demonstrates that leveraging diversity is a necessary skill set that an organization must acquire to succeed in its mission in today's global business setting. However, the question that remains an important area of inquiry is how to leverage diversity. The article "Business Schools Expand Global Reach" recounts how businesses have looked to schools to fill the need for expertise in the use of business intelligence (Walker, 2006). Diversity refers to making use of and leveraging human differences toward organizational effectiveness and productive business goals (Stevens & Ogunji, 2011, p. 530). The author of Workforce America! (as cited in Stevens & Ogunji, 2011), states that managing employee diversity is a vital resource that outlines categorical differences as primary and secondary dimensions.
Since there is a great deal of conversation, intellectual thought, and research regarding diversity dynamics in the workplace, in-depth resources are needed. The changing 21st-century globalization movement and the influences management need to create effective change, critical thinking, and deeper implementation regarding global socialization. The World Trade Organization (WTO) adopted the position during its 2004 debate that globalization poses a grave threat to cultural diversity. Many argued that cultural goods and services should be treated as an exception to the free trade application since it had been considered restrictive and protectionist, thereby exchanging the word exception to cultural diversity. There was a call by the international community to adopt as a principle of international law which France proposed under the aegis of UNESC for a cultural diversity international agreement (Moreau & Peltier 2004, p. 123).
Employees' shared perceptions regarding the diversity climate are thought to utilize fair employee policies and socially integrate underrepresented into the work setting. Mor Barak, Cherin, and Berkman (1998) stated this concept has validity suggesting that many employees are underrepresented groups (e.g., minorities, women). Therefore, it is commonly felt that they are marginalized, excluded, or discriminated against, contributing to organizational functioning by limiting their motivation and ability (McKay & Avery, 2009). There is a primary means for management to understand whether employee expectations gained from recruiting are realistic is to measure the diversity climate (Knouse 2009). One of the problems found with internal live recruiting sources is that the applicant from underrepresented groups may not identify with typical insiders, white males (Knouse 2009).
In 1991, Roosevelt Thomas published "From Affirmative Action to Affirming Diversity" (as cited in Stevens & Ogunji, 2011, p. 529) argues that companies can use effective management for achieving competitive advantages and gaining strategic benefits in an increasingly global economic setting and marketplace. The study found that while ethnic minorities, immigrants, and women comprised more than half of the workforce, prejudice in the workplace practices remained a widespread problem, even to this day. The study at the time argued that the push for assimilation should be avoided as most immigrants wish to retain their cultural heritage and identity even as they embraced pursuing their organizational goals of achieving and maintaining competitive advantage (Stevens & Ogunji, 2011, p. 529). The United States is more divisive across cultural and racial lines more than ever in 2021.
Although countries like South Korea (as cited in Choi 2010) find similarities between cultures more appropriate than merging different cultures into one primary culture, South Korea focuses on cultural assimilation in its current multicultural education and the accommodation of minority groups in the mainstream culture. Balancing cultural diversity, cultural unification, and multicultural education should be a two-way proposition (Choi 2010 p. 177). Research has suggested that companies should adopt an approach that diversity values all differences (differentiates). Companies that take a "we are all the same" approach (assimilation) do not see a positive impact on the bottom line (Stevens & Ogunji, 2011, p. 529). However, suppose you combine the two approaches (integration) to achieve and enjoy the resulting issue of integrating new groups with the existing group and achieving a healthy balance between diversity and national unity (Choi 2010). In that case, this becomes a positive impact on the bottom line as reflected by their increased innovation, profitability, and value creation.
Visualization and Perception
If organizations have a sincere interest, they will recruit diverse management personnel, enabling the company to improve performance, strategy, strategic change, management turnover, and organizational innovations (Stevens & Ogunji, 2011, p. 528). The view of Diversity in the United States is one of two ways; the perception that diversity is a way to assure legal compliance. This limitation doesn't allow organizations to reap the benefits of diversity and is better suited to areas of equal opportunity and affirmative action. On the other hand, some organizations depict diversity as sensitivity training. So organizations that take this view of diversity are undervaluing themselves, and it's viewed as being soft and as not contributing to the bottom line (Stevens & Ogunji, 2011, p. 528).
Globalization has many effects, but one of the most important is the dramatic increase in the opportunity and need to interact with culturally different people (Trina, Garcia & Colella 2010). A review of literature by Avery and McKay (2006) shows that targeted diversity recruiting is effective when diversity pictorial displays occur, ad messages emphasizing valuing diversity, and the recruiters are diverse. Also, impression management techniques, such as ingratiation, can project likability. Promotions to project pictures for competence enhances diversity recruiting (Trina et al., 2010). Essentially, impression management is attempting to control the image individuals present to others.
In this context, recruiters try to present a positive image of the company to women and minorities (Trina et al., 2010). Although impression management techniques may enhance diversity messages, they may also create problems once recruits are hired. Realistic Expectation Theory (also termed Realistic Job preview, Wanous 1992) states that job candidates typically have unrealistic inflated expectations about the organization they are considering joining (Popovich & Wanous 1982). Especially if the recruiting process emphasized only background diversity (race, gender, and age), then unrealistic expectations may occur.
Media used as a Communication Tool
The use of diversity in the film as an effective teaching tool for education is valued because of the dominance of visual culture in modern society. Students of today are immersed in visualization and navigate effectively and efficiently in this format. The film is like no other medium, including documentaries, journalistic broadcast movies, and the internet. These visual applications of visual and auditory rendering bring a behavioral phenomenon into clarity of the human interaction. Even though research is minimal, there is evidence that films have a positive reception and proactive classroom behavior. It also brings about increased participation, promotes critical thinking, discussion of topics, the enthusiasm of learning, and recall. It's so dynamic that this powerful medium has the ingredients to encourage diversity sensitivity training. Another example, different in scope, is that of Turner Broadcasting System in 2005 defined diversity as one of their core operating principles.
Their commitment influenced programming and is credited with the highly acclaimed documentation Black in America and Latino in America, allowing Turner to increase their view reach and attract an array of new advertisers (Stevens & Ogunji, 2011, p. 537). The use of journalistic content highlighted such shows as ABC news discrimination series that aired in 1993. In 2021, the world deals with a pandemic across the planet, with systemic racism highlighted by social movements such as Black Lives Matter. In addition to the anti-social and political rhetoric and cultural wars from country to country. However, what is relevant and not outdated from past issues television episodes covering racism in America ("True Colors"); gender bias ("The Fairer Sex?"); ageism ("Age and Attitudes"); profiling ("Under Suspicion"); appearance bias ("The Ugly Truth"); same-sex harassment ("Man to Man"); and accent bias ("Linguistic Profiling"). Somebody can still use these segments today to begin discussions about the historical context of current issues on race, age, and other preferences (Tejeda, 2008, p. 434). Due to discrimination, visual media can significantly enhance diversity education, especially with vast resources available today (Tejeda, 2008).
Even today's climate, diversity in the workforce does not automatically ensure positive outcomes (Cheng, Portnoy, & Liu, 2012), with unemployment skyrocketing along with stock market uncertainties and new financial markets being created. Numerous studies have demonstrated the negative effect of demographic, psychographic, or cultural diversity on individuals, work teams, and organizations (Cheng et al., 2012) are still finding their way into the media. When there is a breakdown in communication between these groups, then problems arise. The most common negative consequences at the individual and team level include misperception, miscommunication, increased tension, conflict, mistrust, process loss, and lower psychological commitment. Additionally, the organizational level found a negative relationship between racial diversity and corporate profits (Cheng et al., 2012).
Conclusion
Assimilation is not effective at the cultural level through the primary dimension, but assimilation is more effective and processed at the second dimension with groups and organizational level. Thereby the individual does not have to assimilate and lose their identity. Consistent with the broader usage of classical organizational theories, diversity refers to variability in structural, institutional traits within and across dimensional borders of organizations. Encompassing other features of interest comparable within fields and population of organizations. However, concerning demographics and cultures that
Whether it is an individual, a group, or an organization is the second dimension of diversity elements of control. Examples of these traits include organizational form and practices, corporate age and size, organizational identity, and inter-partner diversity (Saz-Carranza & Ospina p. 331). Teachers play a pivotal role in creating learning global business settings for students to learn and think. We are all students of the world with diverse opinions on sociocultural issues reflecting our points of view. Thereby developing an increased tolerance for the emerging understanding of diversity through various interpretations is compatible with citizenship education. Students become more interested and involved in their society, understand multiple perspectives, and cooperate to solve problems (Choi 2010). Education has various uses, inclusive and intertwined with the knowledge of the global business setting, the educational framework, and structure to develop a clear thought pattern to work within structural patterns of society. The socialization of individuals and its fragmentation through our cultural groups on a local and global level fosters a spiritual understanding of diversity as a multi-plural definition.