Sociology

Taylor Cox is a lecturer at the University of Michigan Business School who has made major contribution in coming up with Creating the Multicultural Organization A strategy for Capturing the Power of Diversity (Cox, 2001).  Recently, he has majored his work in human resource management. He provides various strategies that can be used by various organizations for them to be successful and to improve their efficiency. He provides ways of turning an organization that is so much rooted in monolithic culture into a multicultural organization. Taylor emphasizes that a company that employs people from different races and sexes is able to be more productive than that which specializes in employing only a certain race or gender of people. He defines this as the business case for diversity. He continues to say that a company that supports diversity in its employing strategy consequently improves production due to the employee satisfaction got from the same.

For these strategies to be effective, Cox emphasizes on seven steps that should be taken in consequence. First of all, he outlines the various challenges of managing diversity. The management should determine the various challenges that will occur in the organization once they establish multicultural in their organization. By so doing, the organization will be able to know what to do in case these challenges occur. They will also be in a position to determine the policies that need to be abolished or improved for an improved performance. This is defined by Cox as the second step for meeting the challenge. The third step explained by Cox regards leadership the first requirement of change. The leadership of the organization should be well organized in preparation of the multicultural strategy.

The forth step that Cox emphasizes on is leverage research which is the development of change. The concerned management should have the basic knowledge in determining the fate of the multicultural organization. The next step should be to create an effective education. The staff should be taught on the merits of multicultural organization and be encouraged to appreciate it. The second last step should be to align the organization systems and practices. This will ensure that the multicultural organization will start and run smoothly. The last and the most important step should be following up the strategys results to determine the weak and strong points of the same.

My own analyses are that for the Coxs strategies to work out, the set sequence should be followed in order from the first to the last. There should be no skipping of any step to the next. By following the sequence systematically, the company is assured of getting the required outcome. The strategies are workable for both the organization as it will benefit from having a wide range of people, age and gender while the community will also benefit as they will get employment opportunities in a multicultural organizations to cater for their daily needs.

Cox in his book The Multicultural Organization divides organization in three diverse ways which are the multicultural organization, monolithic organization, and the plural organization (Cox, 2001). The multicultural organization contains various cultural groups. These groups come from various parts of the world and are of different genders. In this kind of organization, diversity is very much valued and emphasized. Hence, it can be defined as one of the most successful organization of the group.

In the monolithic organization, the number of white men is more than that of the women. This means that white men take the majority places in the organization while the women only take a few laces that require little and less critical work. This kind of organization therefore discriminate the women. Even if a woman has the required experience, the chances of being employed in such an organization are very minimal. Cox defines this organization to be less effective as it does not integrate women who have the required experience and yet they are capable of providing more quality wwo0rk than the men in the organization.

In the plural kind of organization, it is almost similar to the monolithic kind of organization. However, the difference is that its more heterogeneous in its membership. This means that it takes a more long process for a member from a different race to be integrated in the organization. A member from a different race therefore may require much time before getting to the top and acquiring one of the top rank in the organization. Just like the monolithic organization, the plural organization has various demerits. A person from the different race may take a long process to acquire the top management seats despite him or her having the required experience and much higher than those in the top management. Consequently, this leads to low production as compared to when the person was in the top rank. Hence, there is an unrealized potential that will come out only when the person acquires the top rank.

Cox bases his argument in setting up a truly multicultural organization by laying down various steps that need to be followed to ensure that then organization is fully multicultural. He mentions that in managing a diverse workforce, individual awareness regarding gender, race, age, social class, physical ability and sex orientation should be considered. Cox continues to say that language training should be emphasized in a multicultural organization for it to work effectively and reach its target. Since various people in the organization come from diverse language speaking nations, they should be trained so that they can appreciate that the other languages are as well valued just like English. This will also lead to an improved performance in the organization due to good communication among the employees. He continues to say that bias-reduction training, focus groups seminars, and task forces are some of the basic tools that a multicultural organization has found useful in reducing discrimination and culture-group bias (Cox, 2001).

For these elements to work out effectively, they should be carried out from time to time. The organization should also consider people from the different genders who have many responsibilities outside the work place. For example, the single mothers who have kids to take care of all by themselves, the organization should consider coming up with a strategy of setting up flexible working hours. This will allow the single mothers to work at ease and when they are away from their domestic responsibilities. This is an important tool in improving the production of the organization. In conclusion, a multicultural organization should be encouraged in all parts of the world for a stable and improved production.