To facilitate effective communications, organizational managers must understand the social dynamics of all of these employee communications networks. 7. Understanding Cultural Diversity

Cultural diversity has emerged as one of the most significant social issues in the contemporary workplace. That is largely attributable to the increasing cultural diversity in society and especially to the increased globalization of business in general. Today, it is no longer possible to assume that business partners and other stakeholders will necessarily share the same cultural perspective. In many instances, the failure to appreciate and respond appropriately to cultural diversity can make the difference between success and failure of business negotiations, particularly those conducted across international borders.

8. Promoting and Inclusion by Acknowledging Dissimilarity

While the purpose of cultural sensitivity awareness training is always to reduce or entirely eliminate tensions resulting from cultural differences, the road to achieving that goal often starts with an open and frank acknowledgment of differences. The failure to acknowledge obvious differences actually promotes intolerance; conversely, the open recognition of differences allows organizational management to outline protocols defining expected behavior and organizational values in relation to tolerance of diversity.

9. Diversity of Lifestyle

Whereas cultural and racial diversity have been the focus of significant attention in the realm of vocational environmental...

In that regard, same-sex couples are one example of diverse lifestyle arrangements that are becoming more common as well as more socially acceptable in contemporary society. In previous generations, these types of lifestyle diversity issues often generated prejudice and discrimination in the workplace. Today, modern business organizations recognize that all types of diversity enhance the quality of society in general and the workplace environment in particular, provided management establishes the appropriate organizational values that promote respect for all people and lifestyles.
10. Transformation Management Example

One of the more common transformations in contemporary business organizations has to do with the manner in which work performance is evaluated and rewarded. That is especially true in organizations where management by exception has been the traditional approach, whereby only employees performing exceptionally well or unacceptably poorly draw managerial attention. This particular management style has earned a reputation for encouraging complacency and a culture in which employees work only hard enough to avoid being flagged as underperformers. Because of the detrimental effect on productivity, many organizations that have traditionally relied on management by exception have transformed into merit-based performance evaluation in which all personnel reap compensation rewards-based directly on their productivity and on the quality of their work.