Summery of key business arguments for and against diversity Essay

Summery of key business arguments for and against diversity - Essay Example This paper seeks to provide arguments for diversity in the workplace, in addition, to arguments against diversity. An organization can increase revenue by improving the diversity of its team, which in turn improves decision-making and problem solving. Diverse teams have a richer and broader base of experience, which they can draw on, to solve organizational issues and problems. The presence of views from the minority can create a higher level of critical analysis of implications and assumptions in decision-making (Thiederman 1). Additionally, it also provides for an increase of alternatives from which the team can choose. Problem resolution benefits from a diverse workforce with dependency on manager who is diversity-competent and utilizes key behaviors of diversity management. A properly trained and managed diverse team is more successful in resolving work-related difficulties than homogenous teams. However, diversity does not work out if this diversity is not utilized effectively (Thiederman 1). Diversity also increases the ability of an organization to be innovative and creative (Jackson 1). These skills are best used in quality improvement, process re-engineering, advertising, and introduction of new products. Diversity can also help where an organization is serving a diverse customer base. For example, if an organization is serving Hispanic and Black consumers, then a diverse workforce will be better equipped to handle them on a personal level. Allied Sinai is a perfect example of this as they successfully negotiated the sale of wheels to China East Airlines, with the success put down to the presence of Americans of Chinese origin on their sales team (Jackson 1). However, diversity does have its drawbacks. Diversity can act as an impediment to effective communication, which, in turn, can dampen the cohesiveness and productivity of small, work teams (Mayhew 1). Spending time together can act, as a gradual way of breaking down these barriers to