Cultural diversity is a factor that can be viewed as a double-edged sword. While in many organizations is an advantage in different ways, in others, it could be a main source of conflict (Ely, Robin & David, 2001). One of the main cause of conflict in an organization I worked for is cultural differences. The above issue was as a result of a misunderstanding between the leader and other employees. Due to the fact that the organization had expanded overseas and the leader was not conversant with organizational culture in the country in question.
The conflict-handling intentions that ware in play were reconciliation as well as finding a way out for both teams to harness the positives from both parties. Besides, each team was to accommodate each other’s differences, knowing that it could be an advantage.
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The types of conflict resolution employed to solve the issue that was threatening the organization’s human resource were collaboration, accommodating and compromising (Robbins et al., 2013). Both parties had to compromise what they see as the best for themselves as well as try to accommodate the other. With such an understanding, it is possible for both parties to ensure cultural diversity gives the company a competitive edge. Since the conflict resolution process employed ensured both sides concerns were taken into consideration while solving the issue at hand, the outcome was positive. Both parties understood that they can amicably agree on ways that they can use their cultural differences to exchange ideas.
One of the lessons that can be learned from the incident above is that while cultural diversity can be detrimental to organizational development, it is important for conflicting parties to accommodate each other’s differences.
References
Ely, R. J., & Thomas, D. A. (2001). Cultural diversity at work: The effects of diversity perspectives on work group processes and outcomes. Administrative science quarterly , 46 (2), 229-273.
Robbins, S., Judge, T. A., Millett, B., & Boyle, M. (2013). Organisational behaviour . Pearson Higher Education AU.
