CULTURAL COMPETENT LEADERSHIP

Cultural Competent Leadership



Cultural Competent Leadership

Introduction

Diversity is the term that describes the demographic and cultural characteristics of an organization's labor force, customers, competitors, or population at large. Such characteristics are usually noted when they have consequential outcomes and affect the ability of groups to work effectively together. Diversity creates positive outcomes for organizations when recognition and acceptance of differences among people lead to a larger pool of qualified workers, more creative problem solving, more productive use of human resources, and better understanding of markets and competitors. This paper discusses the following two questions in a concise and comprehensive way.



1. How has the Definition of Diversity Changed and Why?

The definition of diversity changed with the passage of time due to following mentioned reasons. Northouse (2004) mentions that several factors account for growing organizational diversity and this is why the definition of diversity changed:

(a) the increased importance of globalization for profitability and long-term survival in many organizations;

(b) changes in the structure of how work gets done; and

(c) the changing composition of the labor force in many countries due to an aging population, immigration, and the restructuring of the economy. There are many dimensions on which people meaningfully differ: race, ethnicity, citizenship, gender, class, family structure, sexual orientation, physical abilities, age, industry, occupation, function, education, and so on. In many cases, the inter-sectionality or combination of these characteristics has more effect on inter-group relations than any one characteristic by itself (Northouse, 2004). Important differences are those that have consequential effects on access to and experiences in jobs and careers, and in life opportunities and rewards. What constitutes a meaningful and important group distinction, however, varies a great deal across countries and time periods.

The existence of diversity among groups of people stems from differences in culture and structural relations ...