Importance of cultural diversity in organisation within the retail sector – A qualitative study of five retail organisations in the U.K

CULTURAL DIVERSITY WITHIN THE RETAIL SECTOR
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Abstract
This paper research focused on finding out the importance of cultural diversity in organizations within the retail sector by conducting a qualitative study of five retail organizations in the United Kingdom. In developing this importance of cultural diversity, this research focused on several human factors that comprise to cultural diversity such as religion, language, society values, believes different employee background and globalization. The retail industry is labor intensive from production, processing, and marketing of retail products. With this kind of vibrancy and with globalization taking serious effects on human resources in various industries, then the study of the importance of the cultural diversity in this retail industry came in handy. A qualitative study was affected with primary and secondary collection methods applied in the process of undertaking the study. Data analysis was conducted to find out the importance of cultural diversity to the five different retail organizations.
IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE RETAIL SECTOR – A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF FIVE RETAIL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE U.K
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Research Background
This research focuses on the importance of cultural diversity on five organizations in the retail industry which include the clothing and footwear organizations, food and grocery organizations, home wares organizations, furniture and flooring organizations, and electrical products organizations.

Cultural diversity is the accommodation of different groups representing varying social values and systems which are affiliated with different religions, values, backgrounds, and social norms which characterize the varying groups. These differences could be in the form of dressing, food, ways of engagement such as greetings, and communicating. These variances distinguish the various groups and could be conflicting if not managed, and the different people attitudes to these differences addressed collectively and responsibly (Roger Clarke, 1989)
Businesses and organizations in the contemporary world exist in a global village setup where organizations adopt expertise and skills from employees from varying cultural backgrounds to improve their performance and remain competitive in the market by remaining innovative and inventive in their operations. This, therefore, means that organizations will recruit and hire employees from different demographics and ethnicities thus calling for the involvement of experts to assist the organizations to determine the traditions from these varying groups which may of value to the development and advancements of these organizations. This will be good as well in establishing the positive impact this variation in the culture of different employees by understanding and appreciate the contribution as a motivational step. This would, therefore, the organizations to adopt a system of having people and representatives from the various groups to present the various areas of cultural consideration that can assist in meeting the needs and expectations of the various employees in the organization for smooth operations and a profitable undertaking by the organization (Miller, 2005)
According to Evans (2015), organizations are determined to achieve the market benefits that come with targeting different cultural background markets and are now focused on having employees from these varied backgrounds. These employees assist in processing and production of customized goods and services with the input of employees from the different cultures thus being a great towards business and market expansion. This, therefore, assists the organizations excluding themselves and remaining competitive in the market through the realization of these benefits. Thus organizations are focused on successfully implementing the diversity measures among stuff through hiring more from a different culture to maintain this continued improvement in company performance and competitive position in the market. Being in a position to successfully handle the difference in culture and giving attention to all issues relating to a multi-cultural company employee’s composition is necessary to be made by organizations to realize these benefits (Zhuang, 2015)
Culture is diverse and could present a top challenge to address the multidimensional aspects of culture in one research, but here we shall focus on the contribution of culture five different organizations. Culture comprises of both the material which is the tangible aspects and non-material which are the non-tangible aspects of cultural diversity. The tangible cultural aspects are focused on things like the ways of dressing and clothes, the ways of construction and architecture, the tools and equipment used by different people, as well as the art used by different people. The non-tangible aspects of cultural diversity include the ways of thinking of people, the different values and morals, the attitudes of different people to each other, the differing languages, the different social values and social norms. These non-tangible aspects can be observed through human behavior and the psychological effects. Organizations contemporarily have to adopt objectives that embrace different subcultures and the dominating cultures equally. Those from different subcultures in an organization should not feel ignored, discriminated or excluded as the ones from the dominant culture experience exclusive positive special consideration.
Cultural diversity should be embraced necessary useful and a positive contribution to an organization realizing pluralism, positive goals and relying on varying human resource abilities, skills and superiorities to grow and profitably engage the market. Both the limitation and advantages of cultural diversity should put into consideration in organizations to expose the limitations and address them as well as realize the advantages and benefit from them. Cultural diversity brings with it diversity in knowledge, skills, abilities, and innovation in the workforce. Developing the understanding of the different cultural settings among the employees assist employees to perform effectively (Airey et al., 2007)
Organizations are aimed at converting inputs into outputs or by-products that would assist the organization in attains particular outcomes. In this process, the organization makes certain accomplishments which describe as tasks or goals that meet the desired satisfaction as the objectives of the company (Miller, 2005). In this research, we shall be focused on how the cultural diversity will be of help in assisting the organizations to meet the expectations set as their ultimate goals. We shall be on the financial returns, the organization ownership expectations and satisfaction, and the ultimate production of high quality and high quantity products.
We shall use the sales performance parameter to get estimations of the financial benefits. In this area, we shall address the investments and economic undertakings that the organization carries out to achieve these benefits. This will be possible through getting the revenue generation. The employee motivation levels about their cultural affiliation will be established. The impact of cultural diversity in the organization will be measured the creativity levels and the problem identification and resolution abilities and the ability of the different groups to interact in the organization. The motivation levels will be established through getting information on employee’s attitudes towards their jobs and to their seniors in the organization. The consistent employees’ view towards their jobs and how their culture has an influence on this perception and the working environment and how important level of appreciation the employees’ experience. We shall look at how this affects the employee’s beliefs and interactions with each other as well with the organization clients (Cidro et al., 2014).
According to Cidro et al., (2014) cultural diversity can be a reliable source of a company’s improved performance if managed well but ultimately can adversely bring down an organization if poorly managed. In planning and implementation of the organization goals, structures, systems, the organization culture and practice the possible advantages of the diversity in culture are exhausted and the limitations limited. The main objective in managing cultural diversity is to effectively reap from the potential positive contribution of different employees in the organization and assist the company in realizing its goals without being drawn back by varying cultural identities which may include religion, the social norms, social values and differing language (MCMEEL, 2013)
The retail industry presents a diverse number of opportunities and possible future growth in the United Kingdom. In the recent decades, there has been noted expansion and great achievements by the retail industry with technological advancement one of the main contributing factors to this tremendous growth. Quite a number of the organizations are certified by ISO for the excellent implementation of systems and plans that are considerate of cultural diversity. The organizations have fostered innovation, leadership, staff collaboration, and excellent staff interactions.
1.2 Problem statement
According to Langevoort (2009, organizations that have adopted diversity I they’re cultural such as cultural diversity experience higher performance. There is a great focus on the organization culture to promote divergent values and an intense recognition of strange cultures and accommodation of people with divergent background and cultures. Cultural is noted to be advantageous to the organizations in various studies. It is established under the different studies that although the impact of cultural diversity to an organization can be both negative and positive, the type of impact is depended on the environment created by this diversity that the mere existence of the diversity.
Exploiting the benefits of this diversity comes out as the only way to deal with negative effects or impact of cultural diversity which includes Managing this difference to create the positive environment conducive the varies cultures to easily work harmoniously to the benefit of the organization. Ayata, (2008), establishes that the improvement in an organizations performance based on cultural diversity is out of a combination of many factors working together. This study gives an indication that the leaders in the organizations are exposed to a lot of challenges in managing the cultural diversity negative impacts which hinders the growth of their organizations if not addressed and managed well. Ayata, (2008), shares that most of the failures associated with cultural diversity are associated with the plans and actions of the senior’s management in the process of developing and implementing the culture of the organization. It is noted most of the issues arising out of the organization putting all efforts and focus on the cultural diversity instead of the intrigues of the diversity that ultimately result in the negative impacts. This research will, therefore, seek to establish those cultural gaps that lead to drawing down the performance of the different five organizations in the retail industry and give the recommendations to enhance the performance of these organizations.
1.3 Research Objective.
The objective of this research is to establish the impact of cultural diversity to the five organizations in retail industry which include the clothing and footwear organizations, food and grocery organizations, home wares organizations, furniture and flooring organizations, and electrical products organizations.
1.4The research question
What is your gender?
What is the employee’s age range?
How long have you been working in the retail sector?
How diverse is your organisation in terms of work ethnicity?
How does your organisation view having a diverse workforce?
Does your organisation have a policy on diversity?
Is there an equal opportunity policy in your organisation?
Do you think cultural diversity drives profitability? If yes, how?
Have you benefited from working in in multi-cultural organisation?
Does your company have staff from varying cultures and does it promote the implementation?
What experiences have you had working with people from different backgrounds?
What are the advantages of working with employees from a different cultural background?
What are the disadvantages of working with employees from a different cultural background?
1.5 Purpose and importance of this study
This study will explore and reveal the benefits that organizations get by adapting to cultural diversity and why cultural diversity is important to an organization, and it can be relied on by organizations to plan for and implement policies intended to created cultural diversity within the organization.
1.6 Purpose of this study
This study will serve to help researchers and organizations understand the ways to adapt to cultural diversity and also provide further research opening to more studies in how cultural diversity impacts organizations.
This research will assist the management of the five organizations in attaining information on cultural diversity which will help them in developing policies and strategies aimed at gaining from cultural diversity. This research is a rare opportunity for these organizations to exploit the available chances of benefiting from cultural diversity and acquiring a superior competitive edge in the market.
It will also serve to help the organizations in seeking the influence and help of the government policy development and implementation of laws and regulations that favor cultural diversity which is suitable for their operations.
1.7 The scope of the research
The research is focused on the five retail business in the United Kingdom, and the results of this research are subject to the values, beliefs, and competencies of those interviewed or respondents of the research survey and questionnaire.
Chapter One Summary
This chapter has majored on setting the background and expounded on the main objective of the study, importance, and purpose of the study.
Chapter two will focus on the literature review. Chapter three will major on the methodologies applied in this research. Chapter four will focus on the results of the research while chapter five will summarize the research undertaking and make a conclusion of the research as well as provide the necessary recommendations from this research.
2.1 Literature review
This section will address the literature which relates to this research and the questions expressed in the questionnaire survey and the literature related to the importance of cultural diversity to organizations within the retail industry.
2.2 Impact of language as important cultural diversity factor within organizations
According to Ugolini (2013), religion is defined as both the religious beliefs and the religious behavior. Religious beliefs or faith is defined as belief in God and acceptance of God and his will. Religious behavior, on the other hand, is comprised of activities that happen within the context of religious institutions such as churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples.
Ugolini (2013), exposes religions as an important factor of diversity in culture with a lot of influence on peoples’ values and shapes the cultural setting and environment in organizations. Religion influences the way people conduct themselves and interact with each other. Ugolini (2013), gives religion as an important aspect of culture that can affect the performance of different individuals in an organization with the beliefs and practices of employees being in perspective in this research. Although previously ignored, in the current world studies have established that religious beliefs influence employee physical abilities, their making of decisions within ethically accepted frames in the organization and the mental and psychological health of employees. Based on these studies, employees have been provided with space by organizations to practice their religious beliefs within the confines of their work environment. As the space between work place and religion gets smaller, it is coincidentally reasonable for organizations to develop ways of managing this aspect of cultural diversity which may be a source of conflicts or misunderstandings in the organization if not well handled or is left not addressed. It is noted religion acts as a great factor in employee motivation, determination and sustaining of self-esteem (Cultural Diversity Isn’t Enough’ 2013).
Hesmondhalgh & Pratt, (2005) in their study establishes that employees in many organizations currently rely on religion to experience increased spiritual growth and has focused on the contribution and influence of religion and spirituality on employee performance and the general organizational output. In his study, it is established that religious employees were more involved in volunteer initiatives without their organizations which could be a reliable way of promoting and encouraging corporate social responsibilities. Additionally, religious employees were noted to have good social support, enhanced abilities to improve their skills and self-esteem which translated to improved performance in their positions of work. Religion is also found to influence once employee lifestyle which trickles down to employee practices which may have a direct connection with diseases and lifestyle disorders in employees thus being a factor in employee mortality and poor performance at work which has tremendous effects on the success of the organizations.
2.3 Importance of social values and norms to organizational performance
Conklin et al., (2016), states that culture is manifested through individual traits and character and this is enacted in what the individual and their societies consider to their legitimate, morally acceptable and effective possessions and ways of doing things and self-conduct. Based on these social values, employees have varying goals and set their expectations differently within the organizations. The values may greatly impact on individual behaviors and their attitude towards others who seem different in values and beliefs. Although the organization may have little to do with the individual’s values, the organization can only shape what influences the employee behaviors while within the work place during recruitment, hiring, orientation, and training. Setting an accommodating organizational culture may play a role in influencing the individual’s values. Toye et al., (2018) provides situation contexts that employees can apply their values to deal with situations. He states that employees can formulate their reaction to situations by their values, or can rely on personal intuition to give a conscious judgment and response to situations. For example, employees can use traditionally set values and consider past situations to address current situations by formed habits, and experiences thus transcending values in the context of the experiences and situation at hand. Relying on their value and social practices referred to as social norms, individuals can align their decisions in the organization with their individual goals, growth, and productivity. Baycan-Levent, (2010) explains how an organization and its employees can work in united front through common values, and develop a collective action plan with set goals in mind and unity being a point of strength. This ensures build commitment, trusts and authenticity in decision making in the organization. Baycan-Levent, (2010) breaks the value and social norms cultural diversity into individual against collective behaviors, males against female’s social conduct, the abilities to tolerate giants inability to tolerate uncertainty in the organization, power bias against power equalization and long-term against short-term orientation.
According to Baycan-Levent, (2010) individualism describes a cultural set up where people are focused on caring more about themselves and their immediate families. This selfish attribute can easily mess up teamwork initiatives in organizations and needs taming to prevent the negative effects that come with this. According to Baycan-Levent, (2010) collectivisms adapts a closer social framework in which individuals respect the contribution of each member and take part in collective undertakings in socials initiatives. In this context, employees are dependent on each other in the organization activities, and team work is considered an obligation and a social virtue and social value. Trust is built, and loyalty ensured among employees with all the team members focused on common goals to the benefit of the organization. Developing a collectivist culture is a super initiative to the success of an organization. To implement this, the acknowledgment of personal contributions are inhibited and minimized, and group recognition and motivation are more encouraged.
According to Evans & Foord, (2008) in addressing uncertainty, organizations focus on threats and the ambiguous threats that are considered as risks. Employees in many cultures are scared of uncertainties that easily affect their motivation levels and lower their performance levels. Uncertainties may result from organizations adopting new styles or strategies of leadership which may create anxiety among employees leading to employees being against the adoption of new systems and structures of the organizations. Based on the established culture an organization may be forced to stick with certain structures or systems to limit scenarios of cultural uncertainties. In addressing masculinity and feminism, the gender roles and distinguished in different cultures. Some cultures recognize masculine attributes such as being tough, focused on success, and the females required to be tender, recognition, and advancement works more in favor of men with women in organizations being limited to relation supervisors and getting an allocation of subordinate positions at the working place. This, however, has been changing contemporarily with women taking up roles previously reserved for men.
2.4 Impact of language on employee performance
People identify with their different languages. On basing of a language people relate and understand one another. According to Woodley & Brennan, (2000) a language can be defined as a system of conceptual symbols used by individuals in communication. It’s a way of formulating thoughts and communicating and engaging in discussions. As much as much is links individuals a language can serve to express emotions, feelings, share information, and knowledge which is a great aid to communication.
The way corporate and cultural languages come into play of business success or failure if a language leads to improved employee performance or it hinders their performance. Much of the hindrance results from barriers which are the key factors that inhibit information flow that affects employee performance, target market exploitation for the organization to achieve goals. Employee attitudes to each other in regards to languages and the language barriers can be an underdoing for the organization. These may result from negative attitudes towards those who cannot speak the same language which interferes with employee interactions. Webster, (2004) states that employee who does not speak or understand the dominant language used within an organization faces the challenge of expressing themselves or answering to queries from their colleagues.
This may lead to misinterpretation of information or lack of access to critical communication or be misled while in operations which can result in frustrations and reduced performance by these employees. These barriers may limit the employee ability to be creative and minimize their interactions which limit to using non-verbal cues which presents itself as another challenge. The barriers lead to misunderstandings and communication challenges which make it hard to understand each other’s behaviors among the employees in the organization.
Effective communication enhances the interactions, skills, and knowledge among employees. Organizational strategies, plans, and goals are well formulated and easily shared for implementation. Through effective masterly of a language, employees can share knowledge which will give the organizations increased productivity. Employees will share information among themselves and with their seniors on the basis of the organizational structure and have conducive environments established for employees to assist each other in growing their skills and improve knowledge. Organizations need to acknowledge the importance of language in corporate growth about employees and the stakeholders. In communication, organizations have adopted to use various language guidelines which include e-mails, texting, and video conferencing to assist in communication and language interpretation.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter is focused on the procedures and methods the researchers relied on in the research to answer the research question and achieve the research objectives identifies in the first chapter. The research designs are identified, population and sample established, data collection methods determined, the sample size and sample design decided on, research procedures agreed on and data analysis methods agreed on.
3.1 Research design
This section outlines how data was collected, the tools used, and the way data was analyzed. An inferential design was applied. These designs involve the identification of certain characteristics of the particular population at a certain time and at a different time and compare the results. This design is useful in determining the nature of current conditions without affecting those being studied. It helps in establishing characteristics of large populations as no other method can make this possible. It is a less costly method within a short period consideration. This method can help in covering large population and information gathering and conducting an analysis of many variables. The analysis can be focused on addressing the multiple questions. The results of this survey are easily generalized to cover the entire population (Webster,2004)
3.2 Population and sampling
3.4 Population
This is all elements that make some inferences. It is the total group of subjects, individuals, events, and objects with common characteristics that are observable. In this case, the population of our research is the employees of five organizations within the retail industry.
3.5 Sampling Design
This is the method used in selecting the population elements representative of the population interests. In this process individuals to represent the entire population is selected in a way that they reflect the interests of the large population. Sampling reduces the expenses of the survey and minimizes time wastage and mirrors the entire population. Through sampling, a more details information is collected from the representatives (Fernie, 1997).
3.6 Sampling frame
This is a list of individuals in the population which enable random selection of the sample. The qualified individuals to be surveyed and are the accessible population for the research. The sampling frame for this research is the employees of five organizations (Willis et al.,2018).
3.7 Sampling technique
This is the method used in getting the representatives from the population. In this research, the population will be classified into certain groups with particular traits then from each group a sample will be identified. For example in this research employees were put into different job descriptions each with its roles and duties. Random selection was done with each standing a chance of being picked. This ensured fairness and good representation from the different organizations (Swindley, 1992).
3.8 Sample size
Sahin et al., (2009) indicate the appropriate sample should range between 10-30% of the population. 35% sample was adopted with sample size picked proportionately for the five organizations in clothing and footwear, food and grocery, home wares, furniture and flooring and electrical products.
Table
Employees Sampling frame Sample size Representative sample
Cleaners 135 35% 47
Retail shops Attendants 270 35% 95
Watchmen 30 35% 11
Managers 25 35% 9
Supervisors 90 35% 32
Marketers 50 35% 18
Administrators 20 35% 7
Total 620 35% 219
3.9 Data Collection Methods
These are the ways of gathering and measuring information in a systematic manner to address the questions of the research and make an evaluation of the results. For the research, a questionnaire was developed to collect primary data on the research questions of the research. Questionnaires are uniform. Opened ended questions were availed in the questionnaire (Jakubowicz & Moustafine, 2010)
3.10 Data analysis methods
This is the systemic application of statistical techniques to evaluate data. Inferential Statistics is the method of analyzing data. We shall use the sampled information to give a generalized position on the population from which the sampled representatives came from. Since no sample comes out perfectly inferential statistics will give an evaluation of estimation parameters (Hoebert et al., 2017).
Chapter three summaries
This chapter has shown the research design adopted, the data types, and methods applied in data collection and the adopted data analysis. Besides the sampling technique applied, the sample frame and the population size relied on ine study. Inferential statistics is noted as the method of data analysis adopted.
Chapter four
Results and findings
4.1 Introduction
This chapter provides the final results of the research. On the importance of cultural diversity on five organizations
4.2 The general information
This provides information on gender, age, their job positions, qualifications and the experience working with the organization.
4.3 The respondents
This research focused on 219 employees from the five different organizations. 201 responded while 18 did not.
4.4 Respondents by age
In the research, the variables were within a mean of 4.4 deviations of 0.89. The respondent’s highest proportion was noted in the age below 30 years, with the next in number being between the age of 31 to 40 years, then 41 to 50 years.
4.5 Respondents by gender
From the information collected, gender experienced mean of 1.72 and a standard deviation of 0.33. Males had the highest proportion of 72% and females at a proportion of 28%. This, therefore, indicates that a large number of employees in the five organizations are men.
4.6 Level of education
From the gathered information, the variable education had a mean of 1.6 and a standard deviation of 0.22 with the highest proportion at 38% being diploma holders, and 19% higher diploma, 13% being degree holders and 30% being certificate holders. This, therefore, indicated more diploma holders worked in the organizations. Thus most of the respondents are therefore academically qualified to work within the retail industry and can influence the cultural diversity within the organizations.
4.7 Experience working with the organizations
From the finds the variable experience in the organizations was a mean of 2.8 and a standard deviation of 0.86 with a high proportion of respondents experiencing 4 to 5 years at 42 % and those working for less than 3 years at 28% for those who worked for 5 to 6 years at 22 % those at 6 to 7 years at 8. These shows companies have been hiring more in recent years and employees use the retail industry as a bouncing point to other careers. However, with employees having worked with the organizations for above four years, they are in a position to understand how important cultural diversity.
4.8 Roles and responsibilities of employees
From the data collected, retail shops attendants had the leading number of respondents at 45%, the next in leading number of respondents were cleaners at 32%, managers at 3%, supervisors at 8%, administrators at 2% watchmen at 4% and marketers at 6%. The leading number of respondents shows that the high number of respondents were the retail shop attendants whose roles and areas of responsibility had cultural diversity to the five different organizations.
4.9 Importance of language as a factor in cultural diversity to the organizations
This study was aimed at seeking the importance of language to the organizations. According to research results, it is established that many of the employees work with other employees who speak the same language. It is however noted that employees are flexible and willing to accommodate each other even those who do not speak their language. On the questionnaire those who answered some of the important cultural diversity questions 30% answered in the affirmative that their organization had a very diverse culture regarding ethnicity,10% confirmed their organizations viewed cultural diversitypositively. 20% confirmed that their organization had a policy on cultural diversity and equal opportunity policy in the organization, 13 confirmed cultural diversity drives profitability, 7% benefited from working in the multicultural organization. 5% said they acquired new skills and knowledge while working the employees from different backgrounds, with 8% saying the advantage of working with employees from different cultural backgrounds helped them understand different ways of doing things made them innovative and inventive. 75 said they faced collisions and misunderstandings while working with people from different cultural backgrounds.
This shows organizations have established the benefits that come with cultural diversity thus the high percentage of respondents who affirmed that their organizations had diverse culture in terms of ethnicity among its employees.
Chapter Four Summary
This chapter focused on the inferential statistics and took the research forward to discussions, conclusions of the findings and finally recommendations of the research.

Discussions
Importance of language as a factor to cultural diversity in organizations
The findings of this research established that employee’s ability to communicate had a serious positive impact on the organization performance. As Ferreira, (2017) indicated, language enables employees to relate and convey information and messages and comprehend organizational communication and structures. It is however confirmed as well that accommodating those from different language backgrounds can be a valued asset to the organization through sharing of new ways of doing this which create an innovative environment and ultimately inventions in the organizations. Therefore, organizations would be good to adopt ways of interpreting the various languages in the organizations.
Conclusions
During the analysis of the research objectives, it was established that religion was a powerful force in influencing the performance of employees in an organization. Religious beliefs had a positive influence on employee commitment to their job roles and responsibilities. As per the analysis of the results, it is noted religion impacted the five organizations as it influenced the employee commitment to their roles and responsibilities in the organization. The company values, employee relationships, the employees’ accommodating each other were noted as some the main contributing factor to the retail industry progression. Globalization is realized as the main factor behind cultural divergence in the retail industry contributing immensely to the industry through the transfer of skills, innovation, invention, and knowledge in the industry.
In this research, it is established that difference in language came in as a serious barrier to communication but with interpreters availed then it was noted this negative barrier effects could be minimized in largely and positively be of positive contribution to the organization. The research also established that for companies to benefit from cultural diversity, they needed to align their objectives, mission, and vision with the various cultures and values to hinder collisions and bias as well as conflicts. There is a need for intensive training as well to create understanding among the different cultural background employees and the varying dimensions of their cultures to promote unity and harmonization of the different cultural values at the work premises in the various organizations in the retail industry.
This research establishes that cultural values have an impact on positive organizational performance. The ability for team members from different cultural values to work together in an organization and the set up of positive organizational that I well harmonized with the cultural values of different employees from different cultural backgrounds were found to be a great factor to organizational advancement. Language had no impact organizational performance with ethnicity coming out as the key negative factor that influences organizational performance regarding language barriers.
Recommendations
To improve their performance and benefit from cultural diversity organizations the organizations have to develop an organizational culture that falls in line with the employee cultural values. There is need to conduct training to enhance unity among employees, cultural diversity understanding and appreciation to minimize cultural misunderstandings, conflicts, and promote employee cohesion.
APPENDIX
The Interview
Interviewer: how long have you been working in the retail sector?
Interviewee: I have worked for four years in the retail sector.
Interviewer: how diverse is your organisation in terms of work ethnicity?
Interviewee: my organization diversity is based on the workforce consisting of people from different races, speaking different languages and coming from varied cultural backgrounds.
Interviewer: how does your organisation view having a diverse workforce?
Interviewee: the view from my organization is that diversity in workforce brings with it new ideas, different ways of doing things and thinking with plays a role in innovative and inventive processes that distinguish the organization in the competitive market.
Interviewer: does your organisation have a policy on diversity?
Interviewee: The organizational policy is equal opportunity for all people from different places and cultural backgrounds and fair treatment towards achieving the common organization goals and team work.
Interviewer: Is there an equal opportunity policy in your organisation?
Interviewee: yes
Interviewer: do you think cultural diversity drives profitability? if yes, how?
Interviewee: Yes. Through diversity the company is able to access different markets as they got individuals to guide them on how to target this markets that they come from.
Interviewer: have you benefited from working in in multi-cultural organisation?
Interviewee: Yes. I have acquired new skills and knowledge through interacting with co-workers from different places with different past experiences.
Interviewer: does your company have a diverse workforce and promotes its implementation?
Interviewee: Yes
Interviewer: what experiences have you had working with people from different backgrounds?
Interviewee: I can speak a different language; I can do my work faster out of better skills I acquired form my colleagues.
Interviewer: what are the advantages of working with employees from a different cultural background?
Interviewee: I understand better ways of working, I have learned new skills through sharing of ideas, I am able to work in a different place from learning a language, I can explore more areas of my training through the guidance of my colleagues.
Interviewer: what are the disadvantages of working with employees from a different cultural background?
Interviewee: I find it challenging to work together with the language barrier as we cannot communicate and understand each other quickly which contributes to work delay and mistakes and errors on our output at work
Interview analysis
We conducted five interviews with the five different employees of five organizations on the importance of cultural diversity in the retail sector. General response established is that all the five organizations have a policy on cultural diversity and encourages employees to work with those from different backgrounds as part of the organizational culture. A majority of the interviewees concur with the fact that cultural diversity adds more of benefit to running and operations of organizations than losses. It emerged from the respondent’s account that organizations have been using cultural diversity as a tool in their business module in targeting and opening up new markets for their goods and services. The views of the interviews were of general position that it is out of cultural diversity that their organizations have incorporated skills and knowledge from different employees from different backgrounds to develop new products and services by prioritizing on staff innovation and invention. Zhuang (2015), elaborates these views further in support by giving examples of the current developments and discoveries associated with employees’ use of their cultural diversity to the benefit and growth of their organizations.
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