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Lack of Cultural Awareness Organizations
Introduction
Globalization has resulted in making the world a smaller place. Advancement in communication, transportation, and technological developments has brought about global interconnectivity economically (Shepherd 11). It has resulted in people from different cultures, nations, racial backgrounds, and languages meeting communicating and doing business together more than before. People believe that the increased rate of intimacy among people has brought about a better understanding of others, either foreign an alien, due to diminished cultural differences. On the contrary, the opposite can also be possible. As people interact, our cultural difference can be a hindrance if people start to realize their difference among themselves. Of the most affected areas is in business, and this results in loss of money. Thus cultural awareness can be defined as the understanding one can have towards other cultures. This aspect of understanding different cultures is an essential element in business towards cultural sensitivity development, ensuring employees accept this deference have similar merits and ensuring the organization is operationally effective when employees of different cultures are working together. Thus, this paper analyzes the impact of a lack of cultural awareness in an organization.
Problem Statement
Currently, only very few organization lacks foreign employees, customers, or clients. Many businesses are working at an international level, and in the case, a company wants to grow, it has to work towards achieving the global opportunities. In the past two decades, Hebl et al. (258) have colonized the international markets by few American, European, and British industries, thus having very few competitors due to lack of rival nations that were industrialized. Currently, all countries have developed and have economic powers such as China, India, China, and countries in Africa. It has resulted in the manner in which international business used to be carried out two decades ago. There is an increased need for western organizations to realize the impact lack of cultural awareness affects their business performance. Cultural awareness is defined by four components, which include the own cultural awareness globally, the altitude one has over the cultural differences, understanding of different cultural practices global view, and having the best cross-cultural skill. Thus, the lack of either of these components in organizations’ employees leads to a lot of problems. It leads to impaired organization communication hence resulting in poor corporate performances and workforce underdevelopment. Additionally, Henderson et al. (957) note that lack of cultural awareness leads to more significant challenges such as weak team formulations due to lack of the motivational relationship and poor members‘ satisfaction. Hebl et al. (260) note that poor culture leads to individual-level and organizational-level discrimination with the organization or business settings.
Causes of Poor Cultural awareness
According to Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimension Theory, he outlines the anthropological dimensions as the key areas that various national societies handle differently (Dimitrov 32). He notes that people have different ways of coping with realities and uncertainties, different ways of relating to primary groups, and the implication that arises of being born as a boy or girl. He notes that community difference in power distance, the way people avoid uncertainties, the difference in terms of collectivism and individualism, feminism and masculinities, differences in orientations, and restraint compared to indulgence leads to cultural differences. From these six dimensions, Hofstede outlines the aspect that has extensive influence on the organization’s relationships. They affect how decisions are made, time, and hierarchical behaviors within an organization. When there is a difference in approaches within an organization, misunderstandings among the employees within the workplace can result. It can lead to distrust, frustrations, and hence loss in productivity.
Chunping et al. (34) study note that management and cultural awareness are interned. Organization management that has poor ability to handle the crisis, the destructiveness, and dissemination associated with the crisis will not enhance effective mechanisms that will increase cultural awareness. Poor managers will result in reduced organizational citizenship behaviors such as poor communication, crisis awareness, and strained employee-employer relationship. According to Henderson et al. (961), such managements bring about poor global partnership among the team members due to poor communication challenges and lack of role clarity, hence harming the project performance and satisfaction.
Significance of Enhancing Cultural Awareness
At the management and leadership level with the organization will influence the aspect of Human Resources analysis in the HR coaches. SUHARNOMO (1582) note that organizational cultural awareness brings bout team performances. The study, the author outlines that team performance is not only influenced by the way we design job variables and the economic rewards given to them. Also, it is influenced by psychological and social variables. SUHARNOMO (1582) observes that organizational awareness and participation in positive culture positively affects team performance and proactive behaviors. Members of the team will be able to build and maintain trustworthy relationships that are essential to teamwork or coordination. These aspects thus lead to creative, effective, and quality output. SUHARNOMO (1582) believes that once the proactive behaviors are healthy, they will boost the team’s achievements. A team that has dynamic responses has coordinated and enhanced positive synergies leading to a higher performance level.
Ahmady et al. (389) note that managers who have appropriate cultural management have stability in organization planning strategies. Lack of cultural sensitivity in an organization leads to organizational failures and cost. Poor communication leads to poor translations that lead to more significant embarrassment to the organization perpetrators, mostly as a result of lack of cultural sensitivity. Chunping et al. (44) note that “kinship-like relationship promotes employees’ organizational citizenship behavior, thereby enhancing employees’ crisis awareness and organizations’ crisis management ability” (40). Henderson et al. (959) observe that cultural awareness in the medical field brings about increased energies towards the moderated project team members through enhanced communication norms and clarity in their roles. Hebl et al. (277) describe the increased reduction towards individual-level discrimination that mostly deals with employees’ identity management and allyship.
Additionally, it helps reduce the organization-level discrimination through enhanced training and improves norms settings. Wombacher and Felfe (5) additionally note that it improves on the efficacy beliefs and reduced turnover intentions among the employee. It observes increased compensatory interactions, and employee commitment is strengthened towards components of the outcomes.
Improved organizational culture awareness brings about an overall relationship and happiness through the ways we behave and feel for the people around us. A weak culture primarily affects the want employees act and think while they are at work. It closely intertwines with the manner people fell while they are not at work. A dfay7 spent on a negative environment profoundly affects our happiness levels that exist outside our profession. A negatively influenced workplace culture brings about burned out, lonely and depressed workforce, and lifestyle. People’s lives can only be changed if we promote well-being and happiness in the environments we work with us.
The negative impacts a company experiences due to culture affect productivity, employee engagement, and overall success in business. The business has the best opportunity to contribute to social changes since SMEs are local communities in the USA and globally. Thus the economic and social challenges within an organization or business in most cases are many. However, recognizing the power associated with the company culture to create changes is not only for business but also creates the future of the entire nation.
The solution to Creating Organization Cultural Awareness
A fruitful practical strategy that will ensure cultural awareness will be enhanced through training beyond several levels. Fong et al. (86) outline that at the managerial level, their leaders need to develop behavior training with the best cultural awareness skills analysis. Training will enhance understanding of the strategies that improve behavioral analysis personal culture contingencies and values, especially in integrated culture platforms, clients’ practices in service delivery, and professional and supervision practices developments. These steps help in culturally aware of their practices daily.
Ahmady et al. (390), in his study notes, are daily exposed to changes, and thus they need to know how to manage and learn the power under competitive markets. Therefore, training with the best knowledge is the most effective way to ensure the best conditions and stability within an organization. Once the best experience has been gained within an organization, then the most effective culture fields will pave the way to the organization system. Constantin et al. (696) note that having the best knowledge management creates the best necessity for prioritizing the managers’ organizational activities. Organizational stability is enhanced through having effective planning towards corporate strategy. Ahmady et al. (391) note that the Denison model’s application is useful in investigating the organizational culture dimensions. Newman and Conrad’s models will play an active role in evaluating and management processes knowledge. The organization can additionally ensure there is strengthened culture and the deployments of the suggestions arising from the knowledge management.
Henderson et al. (965) note that having in place the most effective training on cultural intelligence that would enable in adapting different cultural contexts will enhance in bringing about the best satisfaction and performance among the project team members. An organization with the best cultural intelligence will have a streamlined communication system and well-defined norms that clearly define every entity’s roles.
Handling the Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimension Theory challenges, Chunping et al. (45) note that the application of the kinship-like relationship in local Chinese culture. For instance, it will help the organization develop the best crisis management and have the best internal mechanisms and approaches that can enhance effective management of these crises in China and guide the organization in machinery that will improve management abilities. Training on the kinship-like relationships will enable understanding other cultures and help improve crisis management through improved culture awareness strategy. Employees’ citizenship awareness will be enhanced through stimulating organizational behaviors and having a sense of hardship to employees through an embedded combination of the traditional culture, emotions, different psychology, and various characteristics behaviors into effective management practices. These enhance in management of the diverse cultural settings practices among cultures.
Hart et al. (486) note that most non-government organizations have embarked on the cultural awareness training for their employees to improve cross-cultural cooperation. Many large movements have worked towards cultural sensitivity training to these organizations globally. Cultural awareness is sufficient tool that enhances NGO’s to have the best services to the population through good engagements.
CohenMiller et al. (290) note that the use of the training interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research, especially among the colleges and universities, will enhance the definition and outline the necessary steps to improve cultural awareness within future organizations they will work. According to Constantin et al. (698), students will be exposed to various realities on various phenomena that are integrated disciplinary perspectives mainly learned through the sociology, anthropology, and psychology. Once applied in studies, this kind of training will enhance socio-linguistic transitions and strengthen trust among future staff. Thus, utilizing these practical steps to facilitate the move to the interdisciplinary from multidisciplinary educational researches among students will enhance improved cultural awareness.
Feasibility of Cultural Awareness Training
In the organization system, including in the health system on cultural competences, training in the leadership enhances efforts such as the visions and missions helping to meet the needs of the organization clients, including those in the health care system dealing with behavioral health disparities. In a healthcare system, research shows that in a health care system where cultural awareness has been enhanced, patients receive better health outcomes. Training increases accountability in service delivery. Pay for effective performance in more challenging, and in most cases, it is associated with frowns among the employees who are serving the clients in a population that has a low social economy. Training, on the other side, will not require any form of reimbursement formulas. Hence every employee will not be held accountable for any breach of standards on service inequalities. These improved customer services and delivery makes the model more feasible and sustainable among organizations.
Conversely, institutionalizing education providers to offer cultural awareness training will be practical in achieving the set service standards. Incorporation with educational materials, modules, and training opportunities, once made available, will enhance in improved services delivery. It will lead to overall workforce performance through improved settings, a monitored workforce, reduced burnout rates, reduced turnover, and a culturally responsive workforce. Additionally, it will eradicate the frustration experienced by communication barriers and clients’ dissatisfactions.
Conclusion
Lack of or poor cultural awareness affects the entire organization system since it affects everyone in one way or another. It leads to poor performances, which in return affects the ultimate wealth maximization of corporate owners or stakeholders. Also, it affects the employees conducting underdevelopment due to poor accommodating and enabling environments where they can nurture their talents or be innovate in the future. Thus, both the top leaders and the employees need to team up to enhance the most active cultural awareness that would result in better results. The consultants, HR personnel, and the analysis needs have the optimal duty of coaching and training employees on cultural awareness. Together with educators, they need to develop the best strategies that will enhance cultural awareness in both the local, public, or private organizations. One they ignore their primary duty, they will ultimately be ignoring their responsibilities and failing in their core functions.
Works Cited
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