Diversity in Organizations Gregory Wright BUS 610 Organizational Behavior Peggy Morrison Monday April 9, 2012

Most people agree that cultural diversity in our workplaces utilizes our country’s skills to its fullest, and contributes to our overall growth and prosperity. The reality of this situation is that progress is slow. While we are in the midst of the longest period of economic growth this country has ever seen, the gap between the “haves “ and “haves nots” continues to widen.
One of the main reasons for this has been the lack of diversity in corporate America. When a diverse workforce is not developed form top down, African, Hispanic, and Asian Americans are unfairly relegated to lower-skilled, lower-pay positions and are not able to fulfill their true potential.
Diversity is and should be an important component for every organization in today’s business climate. The workplace has been growing ever more diverse since the late 1960’s, with important laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 giving various groups greater equality and increased rights in the workplace. Diversity has increased because the workforce has seen an increase of people such as: women, people with different sexual orientations, immigrants, those with minority groups or representing a minority religion, and those with disabilities. Companies that understand and integrate these differences into their company culture stand to gain a great deal of various opinions and input when it comes to the company’s overall operational tactics.
Organizational culture can be loosely defined as the shared assumptions, beliefs, and normal behaviors of a group. This group consists of the individuals within a company and each individual person in the company contributes their ideas, based partially on their beliefs and experiences outside of the workplace, to affect how the workplace operates.

Companies that embrace the different perspectives and opportunities that can be offered with a diverse workforce allow opportunities for more constructive and effective performance in the company. In addition the company culture also dictates how the company operates on a daily basis, down to the basic structure of the company. I read in one article that company culture can be composed differently; either as a structured or unstructured and as a friendly or more market based culture focusing on results instead of friendliness among employees. It is also important to understand an organizations culture so that the proper direction can be given. Additionally, gathering input from the employees and overlooking the company’s cultural composition, including the future company vision would allow company leaders to create an environment that allows the company culture to mesh with a diverse workforce. It will more than likely be difficult for companies to undergo such an in-depth of their cultural and diverse compositions, but an understanding of the most basic company principles will allow the successful company to build a company culture that engenders a diverse workforce to propel the company forward to heightened success.
Companies that expend the time and effort to embrace, understand, and develop diversity approaches will see a company culture that works harder, creates a more hospitable working environment, and ultimately increases company profitability. Culturally diverse organizations experience a wealth of benefits, including more ideas from a widely diverse group of people, which when aligned, will create more energy expendable on reaching unified company goals. One of the core values of the United States is equal opportunity and favoritism of an