Welcome!
Managing the Global Workforce
Dr. Satyendra Singh
Professor, Marketing & International Business
Conference Chair, ABEM Conference
University of Winnipeg, CANADA
Diversity…
What is diversity?
Ethnicity, education, disability, professional background, religion, culture…
Why is it important now?
FDI: so need diverse workforce
Fairness and equity issue: Professional development more important than salary
Opportunity to capture benefits of diversity: diff thinking, perspectives…
Diversity stimulates creativity, solution, innovation…
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Diversity…
Diversity numerical composition
Legal requirements (eg Colombia 90% local workforce, x% women on board in EU firms…)
Market access (eg Clients want to be served by those who like them -- same gender, language… )
Diversity in behavior
Better individual performance through inclusion (because of different ideas and background)
Better group performance through knowledge exchange (need heterogeneity…gender diversity…)
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Diversity
Diversity in multinational firms
Cannot be a global company if run by Americans only (need locals too but should be inclusive)
Offering high salary is insufficient, opportunities for personal growth are important
Limitation of diversity in international context
Not easy to achieve it in international setting (if too much heterogeneity…)
Differences in language, culture, and communications
Ways of expressing agreement or disagreement (pragmatic, personal modesty, quality…)
Educational background (Technical versus liberal)
Attitude towards hierarchy
Approach to teamwork (eg decision: slow, fast, consensus…)
US firms have homogeneity in: Use of language, assumption about economic system, educational background, cultural values… (US firms focus on gender and race dimension only…)
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Consistency
Why Consistency?
Quality, Efficiency and Branding: Heineken beer, McDonald’s (imagine same in 100 countries)
So focus on consistent behavior is important
Consistency in Output
Consistent product quality
Consistent service delivery
Consistency in Behavior
Consistency in how we communicate
Consistency in how we interact
How to achieve consistency in multinational firms?
Training in specific ways (language/communication is the main challenge)
Forging shared values (quality, speed, cleanness…) and establishing common ways of communications
Developing processes and practices that are used effectively throughout the organization
Allowing employees to interact efficiently
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Recommendations to achieve Diversity and Consistency
Recognize diversity and consistency as two sides of a coin – Training
Emphasize diversity or consistency, based on strategy
New market entry may need more emphasis on diversity
Allow local unit to identify most important dimension of diversity
Eg Gender, communications…
Emphasize joint problem solving and collaboration
Eg focus on quality. Mercedes: We make Mercedes; we do not make car.
Facilitate constructive discussion about diversity – Mergers and Acquisitions… (communications…)
Monitor progress in number composition – Identify opportunity for growth for employees
Lead from the top: It all starts with the CEO – Eg. HP – It is a business priority
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Questions?�s.singh@uwinnipeg.ca
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