Examining research methods and perspectives on a central problem statement

workforce of today is marked by a general realization that the traditional work arrangements have known are inadequate to address the challenges that business organizations encounter today. This essay explored a pragmatic worldview and how it links to a study on the effects of firm features and contextual characteristics on workplace diversity. Additionally, this essay aligns this worldview with a mixed research method and describes how the proposed study uses the research method. The essay concluded that because the study of multicultural workplaces is aligned with a pragmatic worldview, a mixed method approach was best suited to ground the research.

How does the pragmatic worldview link to a study on the effects of firm features and contextual characteristics on workplace diversity?

Hypothesis: The pragmatic worldview links to the study on the effects of firm features and contextual characteristics on workplace diversity by demonstrating how diversity can lead to a company's success.

2. How does workplace diversity interact with a corporation's characteristics in order to contribute to success?

Hypothesis: Workplace diversity can create a wider target audience, because as the company becomes more diverse, it can reach out to more individuals.

3. What are the drawbacks of including diversity in a corporation and why?

Hypothesis: The drawbacks of including diversity in a corporation could be a lack of misunderstanding and cultural communication. Companies will need to be prepared for this possibility.

Problem Statement

Globalization has intensified business diversity; in 1990, the number of multinational firms was 6,000; today, it's well over 60,000 (Seyed-Mahmoud, 2004). In the years to come a diverse workforce will be a key to operating even for non- multinational organizations (Seyed-Mahmoud, 2004). As talent mobility strategies become highly strategic, with more companies expanding abroad, "managers can improve performance by thinking differently about the problems that they face." (McGahan, A.M., 2007). The rate at which multinational firms will increase is expected to be around 300% for the next 10 years (Seyed-Mahmoud, 2004). The general problem is to include diversity management in organizational strategies, unleashing and channeling the workers' diverse creativity on the new challenges posed by globalization rather than perceiving diversity as a burden. However, companies will need to be prepared for the possible negatives of diversity, like miscommunication. The specific focus of this study uses a qualitative approach to explore leadership theories, methods and practices that are needed to lead multicultural workplaces while analyzing how companies that include workplace diversity in their corporate strategy are able to achieve sustainable growth.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this study is to explore the necessary diversity management in organizational strategies that are reacting to globalization as multinational corporations continue to grow. As such, this study will take a mixed methods approach, focusing on interviews and responses from multinational firms and their discussions on the way they tend to handle this issue. After doing a case study on the results provided by the organizations, the research will be analyzed. Research variables will include the experience of the organizations themselves, and the way the economic recession has affected these corporations. The study will be geographically located where each firm is located, using mixed methods to study the approach. This study may contribute to social change by helping businesses better prepare for the increased levels of globalization in the current corporation trends. The research question will serve to validate survey responses received. Trends and anomalies observed in the survey data will be validated through interviews with accounting firm managers. Outliers in the data can be appropriately addressed by interviewing accounting firm personnel.