Organizational Diversity and Strategic Focus

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I define organizational diversity as differences in the attributes of individuals that form the organization. These differences include those of race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, physical ability, and sexual orientation. These differences may also include differences in education, marital status, appearance, and socioeconomic status. Diversity in the organization may also mean differences in seniority, work experience, job function, and management level. For example, a work team may have members from different levels of management, different education levels, and different races (a). The differences in an organization may include those of culture, travel experiences, beliefs, and political affiliations. For example, an organization may have some members who are Democrats and some who are Republicans, some who are married and some who are single, and some who are white, and some colored. Another example of organizational diversity is one where some employees have a high scores on power distance, some have a high score on uncertainty avoidance, and some have a high score on long-term orientation. Such an organization has differences in the culture of its employees.

Advantages and disadvantages of organizational diversity
Organizational diversity is important for innovation. In a diverse organization, there are several perspectives because of which innovative new strategies campaigns, and products are developed. Various organizations have teams that can think outside the box. Moreover, diversity in the leadership of an organization increases the organization's customer base. The multiple perspectives in an organization help attract new customers that ensure that the organization keeps on expanding and remains profitable. For example, an organization making food products makes products targeted at a wide variety of consumer segments. This leads to higher sales and growth in overall revenues. Another advantage is that diversity in teams gets better solutions. When a team is given complex problems, roadblocks, and tough questions, a diverse team can get ...