Chapter 16: Culture and Diversity in Business
Culture in Business
Culture in a Global Economy
- In general, culture is the beliefs, customs, and attitudes of a distinct group of people.
- The global economy creates a diverse culture for business.
- As companies trade worldwide, they must be aware of different cultural and business practices
- In business, culture has two important meanings.
- In the broad sense, it refers to the customs of other countries with which companies do business.
- A custom is a practice followed by people of a particular group or region.
- Business culture refers to the standards of a particular company.
- To market products successfully in another country, companies must research the country’s languages, customs, and tastes.
- Companies doing business in other countries must be aware of cultural differences that affect the workplace.
- Business etiquette is conduct that is considered socially acceptable in business.
- Many companies avoid cultural problems by hiring local managers in other countries.
Corporate Culture
- A company’s corporate culture is its shared values, beliefs, and goals.
- A company’s founder can influence its culture.
- Region and tradition can also play big parts.
- A company’s culture affects the way it is organized and does business.
- A formal business culture may have a strict hierarchy, or chain of command.
- A hierarchy usually has one person at the top who makes all the decisions.
- There might be several levels of management below.
- This is known as a bureaucracy
- At a company with an informal culture, employees are encouraged to make decisions on their own
Diversity in the Workplace
Cultural Diversity
- Companies tend to thrive when they have diversity, a variety of employees with different backgrounds and identities.
- People are diverse in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, and individual needs.
- Some people stereotype others who are different from them.
- To stereotype people is to identify them by a single trait or as a member of a certain group rather than as individuals.
- As the population becomes more diverse, so does the workplace.
- There are greater numbers of women, Asians, Hispanics, and African Americans in management positions.
- The 76 million babies born in the United States between 1946 and 1964 are called the baby boom generation.
- Many members of this generation are reaching retirement age and developing specific needs.
- Discrimination is unfair treatment of a person or group, usually because of prejudiced attitudes about race, ethnicity, age, religion, or gender.
- For example, in the past, workers over the age of 40 were often fired or denied jobs in favor of younger workers.
- This form of discrimination is called ageism.
- To protect older workers, the U.S. government passed the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
- It prohibits discrimination against workers because of their age
- The Equal Employment Opportunity Act was passed to strengthen laws that protect workers from discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, or gender.
- In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed.
- ADA prohibits discrimination against qualified people who have disabilities.