Further, it was clear to our management team that the Japanese manager must come to the U.S. On the next visit to alleviate their concerns of her competency. In addition, the Japanese managers would be able to learn how the processes and systems worked in the U.S., and also learn more about how the translation process worked. In short, it was decided to alternative ninety day meetings between Southern California and Tokyo. It was hoped that is would create a higher level of cultural intelligence in the process (Crowne, 2008) and appreciation for her role in our team. In addition, the critical review they had given the website and its content in Tokyo could be offset in the U.S. By providing additional examples on computer servers, in addition to having more of the staff attend. The approach to building greater levels of cultural intelligence also included introductions to the it staff and tech support organizations in the U.S., so the Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese management teams could see the processes used to publish, maintain, upgrade and replace websites. Ironically the director of client services in the it department is also a woman with over 20 years of industry experience. As the trading off of visits to offices was based on the need for our Asian counterparts to the development, writing and production processes, they would also need to meet with the director of client services. It was hoped that these visits would not only make them aware of our challenges and constraints in serving them, it would also give them an opportunity to see how taking a more open-minded approach to women in key positions on the website team would be enhanced. Ultimately the efficiency and speed of our team, and in broader terms, the success of these websites' time-to-market and project management was based on their changing their perceptions of women's contributions to these projects. The business case of diversity was very process-centric, and paralleled research on the why diversity is critical for companies attaining...
Our teams simply did not have the time to waste due to the Asian managers' clear bias regarding women's work on the websites.
Summary
In conclusion, by taking a process-based approach to the work involved in the website and including the key women leaders of our teams in the discussions, cultural biases were challenged. There continues to be mistrust of women in the role of key creators and writing of their websites and it is anticipated this will take quite a while to overcome. The bottom line is that the lack of tolerance for diversity cost our company precious time that cannot be regained, no matter how fast or how hard we work. We'll have to pay the price for stereotyping on these specific projects and potentially more. Our management, thankfully, refused to just rely on the men in our teams to write the websites and design them; they acknowledge that the lead designer, schooled in Hong Kong, is the best in the company at this task. Through the approach of educating our Asian managers to our processes in the U.S., it is our intention to also show how Asian women are making major contributions to all aspects of the website development, design and writing efforts of the company.
References
Monica P. Adya (2008). Women at work: Differences in it career experiences and perceptions between South Asian and American women. Human Resource Management, 47(3), 601. Retrieved September 17, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1551913631)
Kerri Anne Crowne (2008). What leads to cultural intelligence? Business Horizons, 51(5), 391. Retrieved September 17, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1538583981).
Stanley F. Slater, Robert a Weigand, Thomas J. Zwirlein. (2008). The business case for commitment to diversity. Business Horizons, 51(3), 201. Retrieved September 17, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1466169291).
