Cultural Differences in the Health

Cultural Differences in the Health Care Industry

Cultural diversity is an issue of great importance to companies. Individuals are different, and the differences between them refer to gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, color, and others. There are several articles that address the issue of multiculturalism at the workplace in different business fields.

Such an article is titled Individual Differences and Workplace Spirituality: The Homogenization of Corporate Culture. The article is written by T. Winters Moore and was published in 2008 in Journal of Management and Marketing Research. The main topic addressed by the article refers to workplace spirituality, its importance to employees, and its relationship to diversity (Moore, 2008). Workplace spirituality is influenced by several factors, like discrimination, ethical problems, accommodation, and others. In addition to this, the article links organizational culture to spirituality.

The intended audience of the author is represented by several target segments. These segments refer to researchers that are interested in developing the issue in case, by employers, and by employees. Companies should read this article because it provides importance insight on how to approach cultural diversity in the workplace. Although the article is rather theoretical, it can be used in order to develop strategic actions that companies can use in reaching their objectives.

The article reveals the fact that religion, spirituality are of great importance to individuals. Their behavior is influenced by how they choose to express their spirituality interests. This also refers to their behavior within the workplace. In my opinion, this is a valid issue. I agree with the author's assertions regarding how companies should increase their interest in providing a workplace environment that allows employees to reveal their religious and spiritual interests.

Cultural competence refers to individuals' ability to successfully interact with people of different cultures within their workplace. Professional groups have members of different social, economic, and professional backgrounds (Transcultural Nursing, 2012). They have different education and upbringing also. This significantly influences the cultural differences between people in such groups. Therefore, it is important that individuals understand and accept the differences between them and their colleagues. By accepting these differences, conflicts in the health care industry can significantly reduce.

In the health care industry cultural tolerance is very important. This means that professionals in this industry must deal with different categories of patients with different types of cultures. All of these patients must be treated equally alike, regardless of their cultural background. However, this is not always the case. There are situations where professionals in the health care industry make discriminations against members of minority groups.