International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

Diversity has become an important topic in workplaces around the world, as nations experience changes in demographics. Many countries are adjusting to increases in numbers of nontraditional workers, especially women, older persons, and people with disabilities. Meanwhile, due to global economics, industrialized areas are witnessing influxes of skilled and unskilled migrants seeking employment (→  Migration and Immigration ) (Cheney & Barnett 2005) . Also, multinational corporations are setting up subsidiaries in foreign locations, where local workers interact with co-workers and executives from the companies’ headquarters (→  Communication Networks ; Meeting Technologies ; Network Organizations through Communication Technology ; Technology and Globalization ). Thus, people from diverse places with diverse expertise, experience, and expectations are encountering one another at work, where they confront differences in value systems, language skills, and communication styles. As organizations accommodate these workers, they also must serve diverse clientele/consumers in various cultural and geographic contexts. When organizations first recognized that diversity mattered, they concentrated on compliance issues such as civil rights, affirmative action, and equal employment opportunity. Currently, many companies are striving to leverage cultural differences among employees because ... log in or subscribe to read full text