Multicultural, And Multi-diverse Business Environment

Adaptation in an Intercultural, Multicultural, and Multi-Diverse Business Environment
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Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc3672175 \h 3Diversity and Multiculturalism in the USA PAGEREF _Toc3672176 \h 3Multiculturalism in Business PAGEREF _Toc3672177 \h 5Factors to Consider during Adaptation PAGEREF _Toc3672178 \h 6Language PAGEREF _Toc3672179 \h 7Taste PAGEREF _Toc3672180 \h 8Demographics PAGEREF _Toc3672181 \h 10Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc3672182 \h 11
Adaptation in an Intercultural, Multicultural, and Multi-Diverse Business Environment
Introduction
The increase in diversity across the American society continues to influence how businesses operate. The unique traits of diverse groups as well as their cultural differences call for a tailored approach to business in a way that caters to the needs of these groups, especially when a business operates in a diverse and multicultural community (Hanek, Lee, & Brannen, 2014). Businesses can embrace and manage diversity in a way that enables them to not only promote equality and inclusion, but also address the specific needs of the communities they serve while remaining profitable and influencing the embracement of multiculturalism at the workplace.
In the modern world, diversity has become both an asset and a necessity (Castaneda & Bateh, 2012). The continued increase of immigrant influx from all over the world brings with it an increased number of different cultures, beliefs, and practices that add onto the cultural diversity that the USA enjoys. Admittedly, this increased immigration has its fair share of challenges and benefits, both of which impact the way in which the society functions. One of the aspects in which this diversity has had increasingly significant impacts is business. The business landscape in the USA is changing with the influx of new immigrants and businesspeople as well as organizations must embrace this fact if they are to successfully continue competing in the market (Vora et al., 2018). With this influx of immigrants that brings about diversity, business have been forced to adapt to the cultural changes the society faces in order to survive and remain profitable.
Diversity and Multiculturalism in the USA
The growth of diversity in the American society in recent years has also directly influenced the way in which diverse communities interact socially. In many cases, these communities tend to maintain close ties within themselves and have little and superficial relationships with other communities, which is especially so small immigrant communities. The areas where these communities reside therefore often feel ‘alienated’ from the rest of American society due to a number of factors (Korzilius, Van Hooft, Planken, & Hendrix, 2011). These include language, cuisine, and even etiquette. When businesses remain oblivious to these unique traits of such communities, they are bound to fail miserably insofar as maintaining hold over their market share is concerned. As such, it becomes critical for businesses to leverage the strengths of said diversity and apply them in their own business processes and models to ensure success. Such approaches can involve having the staff learn basic communication in the language of the community, creating competency and awareness among the staff on the cultures of said communities, and even incorporating key figures and individuals within the community to better acquaint the community or communities with the business (Vora et al., 2018). In this way, a sense of inclusion, belonging, and cultural sensitivity is instilled not only into the staff members of the business in question, but also within the diverse communities that the business serves.
Similarly, the aspects of leadership that contribute towards embracing and leveraging diversity cannot be ignored (Parhizgar, 2013). The leadership of the business must remain observant of their communities and how they evolve over time. No community is static (especially multicultural and diverse ones), and as such, businesses need to continually evolve to match the needs of the core demographics that they serve (Korzilius et al., 2011). For example, an influx of Asian immigrants into a neighborhood should prompt a local business to quickly adapt and train their staff on basic etiquette and communication in Asian cultures. In this way, cultural sensitivity and awareness is constantly growing to meet the needs of the community without compromising the operations of the business (Castaneda & Bateh, 2012). In doing so, business staff develop skills such as cultural awareness, critical thinking, and adaptability to meet the needs of their markets, which in this case are diverse and multicultural (Hanek at al., 2014). These skills are quintessential in business leadership. They enable one to not only address present needs using culturally competent approaches, but also to prepare businesses and their staff members for evolving future needs. This is significant to business leadership and plays a core role in promoting active pursuit, acceptance, and leveraging of diversity in a multicultural and diversity-rich community.
Multiculturalism in Business
The diversity in the business world setting has numerous advantages. First off, it enables businesses to broaden their cultural and linguistic horizons as they embrace new customers and partners with different cultures and traditions from all over the world. They not only learn about the cultures of said communities, but also begin to embrace their practices and in some cases languages as well (Vora et al., 2018). This results in a more composed and integrated business ecosystem that provides a sense of value to consumers regardless of whether they are immigrants or not. It essentially facilitates the celebration of numerous cultures and values, which is essential to all businesses that seek to operate profitably in a multicultural setting (Korzilius et al., 2011). Similarly, the adaptation to an increase in diversity within the consumer base essentially compels businesses to improve their marketing and operational practices to incorporate the rich diversity of consumers. Staff members, and even partners. In order to effectively interact with a diverse set of consumers, businesses have been forced to embrace the diverse sets of cultures that they are exposed to locally, regionally, and internationally without necessarily forgetting their core business culture in the process (Hanek at al., 2014). This increases their capacity of interaction, marketing, and effective communication, all of which significantly improve the ability of a business to remain profitable in a diverse and multicultural setting. It allows businesses to effectively reach their consumers while also promoting the cultivation of a tolerant and accommodating society where all cultures and ethnicities are accepted and considered equal. This plays a central role in shaping the trajectory taken by the society in terms of cultural acceptance (Castaneda & Bateh, 2012). By ensuring that businesses embrace the cultural and linguistic diversity of their customers and communities, they are better placed to leverage their associations in ways that promote increased adaptability, business activity, and profitability much to the benefits of such businesses.
Factors to Consider during Adaptation
At the same time, it is worth acknowledging that despite the constancy of change in every social system, it is still always difficult for some businesses to accept cultural and diversity-based changes. The cultural and associated business changes that companies must make often end up causing significant levels of stress as organizations struggle to adapt. Quite often, reliance on stereotypes, socially learned behaviors, and cultural differences as key decision-making factors can impair the ability of businesses to effectively adapt to a multicultural setting with ease (Castaneda & Bateh, 2012). The inability, reluctance, or in some cases incompatibility between the organizational culture, and the different beliefs, traditions, and even social dynamics can make it difficult for businesses to fully realign their operations in a way that allows them to quickly adapt to a multicultural setting. In most cases, such challenges arise from the inability of such businesses to embrace and understand the different cultures of the communities that they serve. Such problems can easily lead to the fragmentation of businesses operations as well as interactions between businesses and the communities through CSR initiatives, which in itself works against helping the business adapt to a multicultural and diverse business environment with ease (Parhizgar, 2013). Promoting cultural competency and awareness can also prove to be quite difficult in a multicultural setting. This is mainly because the rich diversity of communities can make it impossible for businesses to adapt as needed seeing as having to cater to the needs and cultural whims of numerous communities can easily fragment operations and derail a business from its objectives, its niche, and its target market (Korzilius et al., 2011). On the other hand, failing to quickly adapt can easily cause businesses to lose market share as they will be perceived as anti-diversity. In this way, businesses are placed in a dilemma that requires them to ada...