Master Thesis

Cultural diversity from perspective of

individual employees
On which organizational level is cultural diversity advantageous for an
organization.

Authors: Noorullah Ghairat & Wenlu Lu

Supervisor: Marianna Strzelecka
Examiner: Mikael Lundgren
Term: VT20
Subject: Degree Project
Level: Master
Course code: 4FE41E
 Abstract

Economic globalization has greatly increased opportunities, but also requires the organizations
to be more open and constantly try to create a new working environment. Organizations today
are composed of people of different races, ages, languages, religions, and lifestyles.
Organizational management's work tends to use a coordinated approach to bring people from
different backgrounds together and maximize the ability and talent through multicultural teams.
If managed properly, diversity can bring a competitive advantage to the organizations, but if
poorly managed, workforce diversity can have negative outcomes. Due to the lack of research
on which organizational level is cultural diversity advantageous for organizations to have, this
study will focus on understanding cultural diversity and explore new perspectives about the
experiences of different individuals in multicultural settings.

This qualitative study takes social constructivism as a philosophical position. It has drawn
conclusions by an inductive approach based on the empirical data which we have collected
through the interviews and literature, where the focus was to construct meaning and interpret
the data collected which came from the experiences of the participants.
.

Keywords: Cultural diversity, effects of cultural diversity, multicultural teams and

organizations
 Acknowledgment

First of all, we would like to thank our thesis supervisor Marianna Strzelecka, and examiner
Mikael Lundgren for the knowledgeable insights and helpful feedback. It can be said that we
could not achieve this thesis without their constructive feedback.

Second, we would like to express our special thanks and gratitude to everyone who
participated in this study specifically the interview participants who shared their great
experiences with us. Achieving this thesis is inseparable from your patience and contribution.

Finally, we would like to thank our classmates for the oppositions in the seminars. Your
suggestions and opposition have greatly helped us during this thesis.

Thank you very much!

Noorullah Ghairat & Wenlu Lu

Linnaeus University
Leadership & Management in International Context program

Kalmar, Sweden
May/2020

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Table of contents

Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 1
Acknowledgment ...................................................................................................................... 2
1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Background ............................................................................................................... 5
1.2 Problem description .................................................................................................. 6
1.3 Purpose of study........................................................................................................ 8
1.4 Research Question .................................................................................................... 8
1.5 Significance of this study ........................................................................................ 10
2 Literature Review........................................................................................................... 11
2.1 Culture in a workplace ............................................................................................ 11
2.2 Cultural Diversity ................................................................................................... 13
2.3 Organization ............................................................................................................ 14
2.4 Organization Characteristics ................................................................................... 16
2.4.1. Division of Work:................................................................................................................. 16
2.4.2. Grouping jobs or activities:.................................................................................................. 16
2.4.3. Common Objectives: ........................................................................................................... 16
2.4.4. Delegation of Authority: ...................................................................................................... 17
2.4.5. Coordination of Activities:................................................................................................... 17
2.5 Organizational Structure ......................................................................................... 17
2.5.1. Top-Level Management ....................................................................................................... 19
2.5.2. Middle-Level Management.................................................................................................. 19
2.5.3. Frontline Management ......................................................................................................... 20
2.6 Culturally Diverse teams ......................................................................................... 20
2.7 Impact of Cultural Diversity on organizations........................................................ 21
3 Conceptual Framework ................................................................................................. 24
3.1 Social Capital Theory .................................................................................................. 24
3.2 Social Cognitive Theory .............................................................................................. 25
3.3 Similarity Attraction Theory........................................................................................ 26
3.4 Relation Building Framework ..................................................................................... 27
4 Methodology ................................................................................................................... 28
4.1 Philosophical Positioning ............................................................................................ 28
4.2 Research design and approach..................................................................................... 30
4.3 Research Method ......................................................................................................... 30

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 4.4 Data collection ............................................................................................................. 31
4.4.1 Sampling ............................................................................................................................ 31
4.4.2 The role and position of researchers .................................................................................. 33
4.4.3 Interviews........................................................................................................................... 33
4.4.4 Coding ................................................................................................................................ 35
4.5 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................... 37
4.6 Scientific Criteria ........................................................................................................ 37
4.6.1 Credibility .......................................................................................................................... 38
4.6.2 Catalytic Authenticity ........................................................................................................ 40
4.7 Ethical Reflection ........................................................................................................ 41
5 Findings ............................................................................................................................. 42
6 Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 47
7 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 51
7.1 Theoretical implications .............................................................................................. 53
7.2 Practical implications .................................................................................................. 53
7.3 Further research ........................................................................................................... 54
7.4 Limitations ................................................................................................................... 54
7.5 Work process & Individual contribution ..................................................................... 55
8 Reference list..................................................................................................................... 57

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1 Introduction

1.1 Background

Modern globalization of economic activities and its related governance issues started at the end
of the Second World War, while it significantly accelerated only after 1960s due to the
emergence of multinational corporations and fast growth of international trade. The collapse of
Bretton Woods system (semi-fixed exchange rate) set up in post-war period (1971) resulted in
the expansion of international securities investment and bank lending particularly money
market added to the complexity of international economic relations. This was often thought to
be the genuine globalization of an integrated and interdependent world of the economy (Hirst
et al, 2009, p.335).

In a globalized economy, the international transactions of national economies are rearticulated

and subsumed by genuinely global processes and transactions into a new structure (Hirst et al.,
2009). Economic actors and activities become disembodied from national societies and
domestic policies, whether of private corporations or public regulators must routinely take
account of the potentially global determinants of the sphere of operations (Ibid). So, the level
of integration, interdependence, and openness of national economies, governance mechanisms
for the international economy, investment or which Kenichi Ohmae (1995) defines as four Is
(investment, industry, information technology, and individual consumers) gives the consumers
the possibility to viable economic units around the world so they can get whatever they need
from outside without looking for assistance from the governments.

As socially disembodied global processes and transactions grow, the national space becomes
permeated and transformed by the global. Thus, private and public decision-makers face
increasing uncertainty as to how to orient and decide the most appropriate course of action
(Hirst et al, 2009).

The struggle for competitiveness in the modern world- industry rivalry and the availability of
mass consumer needs have forced many companies to focus on internationalization. However,
they are face obstacles’ one of which is the human involvement and their interaction in work
environment. This is due to the existence of differences in the norms, values and traditions of
different societies or nations on a global level. In the last few decades, organizations came to

5
an understanding that “cultural effects on human behavior, the organization and behavior of
groups, the processes of social change, social trade-offs, forms of political and economic
organization, mechanisms for resolving conflict among groups and individuals, and national
and international social systems” (Rutherford et al, 1990, p. 50). Culture provides a source of
identification for members of an organization. In international business, we often talk about
country-based culture, but culture also exists in professional, organizational, and religious
settings. Therefore, we need to understand that in growing globalization that spans time,
distance, location, and national boundaries, the increasing globalization of societies and cultural
diversity requires expanding the scope of cross-cultural analysis in work environment.

1.2 Problem description

The current increasingly connected world, no matter whether capital, commodities, people,
technology, and concepts flow around and are closely connected. Focusing on the people and
their diverse cultures and how to treat this cultural diversity is still an important practical issue.
We could easily find indirect promotion of local employees by major hiring firms (Shield Geo.,
recruit shop) claiming that hiring locally will decrease the organization’s cost and integrate
easily. As well as the prejudice existing in our work environments or organizations where most
people believe only in their own culture and ways of working and see this as the only proper
solution on a long-term basis for their organization, has made it very hard for global talent or
talented foreigners to get into the job market (Glazer et al, 2014).

Social researchers who study the cultural phenomenon have specifically focused on cultural
diversity in organizations and they have come up with diverse results and findings (Glazer et
al, 2014., Stahl et al, 2007., Cox et al, 2016). It can be noted that in today's organizations, a
team of members of different nationalities is a common fact. Many managers prefer to work
with people from different cultural backgrounds and they believe in the advantages that
multicultural teams provide. Many studies have focused on identifying the impact of cultural
diversity on team outcomes (Stahl et al, 2007. Misoc, 2017). Cultural diversity leads to process
losses through task conflict and social integration reduction but also it can lead to process gains
through increased creativity and satisfaction. (Stahl et al. 2007). Consultants, academics, and
business leaders point out that a well-managed diverse workforce can bring potential
competitive advantages to the organization (Nelson et al, 2013). Value diversity lies in that
workforce heterogeneity promotes creativity and innovation (Johnson, 2019). The most
innovative companies deliberately establish heterogeneous teams to be able to have multiple

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perspectives and solutions for a problem. Moreover, companies with strong innovation
capabilities do better than most other companies (Cox et al, 2016., Xu et al, 2012).

Culturally diverse teams are proven to be a strong asset for the success of organizations. Nemeth
et al (1983) found that the "minority" group adopted multiple strategies and found more
solutions than the "majority" group. This suggests that, groups in the minority's field of vision
are more creative. They further concluded that continued exposure to the views of minorities
stimulates creative thinking processes (Cox et al, 2016). On the other hand, Glazer et al (2014)
suggest that cultural diversity in organizations is of low or no significant importance. They
recommend that we should not try to study and highlight the cultural differences in
organizations and concludes that such attempts do not provide many impacts (Sieck et al, 2013).
Studies using the social cognitive theory suggests that cultural diversity has a positive impact
on the organizations. This theory emphasizes that if we bring people from different backgrounds
to work together, it improves team’s performance regarding having multiple solutions to
problems, variation in best skills (best skill of each individual) and making the team
environment as a learning opportunity. while the similarity-attraction theory is not only
supporting a culturally homogenous workplace but also warns of the stronger negative impact
of cultural diversity on employee turnover, sentiment, commitment, etc. The similarity
attraction theory indicates that people tend to find it easy to work with others from their own
background or to whom they are alike.

Managers at workplaces are confused to go for a monocultural or hetero-cultural team settings

in their workgroups. Thus, cultural diversity is not only a profound theoretical proposition but
also a problem that needs to be faced and responded to, in concrete life practices. In this study,
we want to explore that on which organizations’ level does cultural diversity have a positive
impact and how do the employee’s multicultural teams and organization perceive cultural
diversity in their workplaces.

As many individuals feel that their members feel they face discrimination. Whether we agree
to this statement or not, it does not necessarily mean that we can ignore the fact that people are
different from each other in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, culture, social identity, religion,
language, political opinions, background, etc. (Lin et al, 2005).

As we can see many examples above which are either in favor or disfavor of cultural diversity
at the workplace. What is hard to understand is the difference in the findings and results of these
studies. Even though every single study is conducted under the specific circumstances and

7
conditions it is provided with. What is missing here is the perspective of those who are working
in such environments on day to day basis. We have tried to collect their perspectives on cultural
diversity or differences in their workplaces and see how and when do they see it positive in an
organization.

These various and often contradicting perspectives on cultural diversity led us to the conclude
that the phenomenon should be further examined through lens and perspectives of individual
employees of culturally diverse teams or organizations. As companies depend on the wellbeing
of their employees, their perception of a multicultural work environment matters to them, to
better understand and manage diversity in their workforces.

This research has helped us to understand that the problem is not always diversity nor has
cultural diversity been proven totally negative for the organizations. If there is a fair percentage
of findings and results of the study supporting both positive and negative effects of cultural
diversity, we will need to know how to collaborate effectively with people from different
backgrounds and wherein an organization these people from diverse backgrounds can have a
positive impact. Thus, we will be able to adapt to different ways of working, which promotes
the efficiency of the team.

The study was intended to explore the perception of induvial employees about the advantages
and disadvantages of working in multicultural teams. As well as on which specific
organizational level (top, middle and lower management) is cultural diversity advantageous to
have.

1.3 Purpose of study

The purpose of this study is twofold. First, we have sought to understand the employee’s
perspective whether cultural diversity is advantages or disadvantage for a team or
organization. Second, we should be able to see at which management levels are culturally
diverse group perceived as the most advantageous. Thus, this study will enable us to further
understand the benefits of cultural diversity in the workplace and to know when to promote
cultural diversity in the workplace. We look at this phenomenon through the eyes of individuals
directly involved in culturally diverse teams.

1.4 Research Question

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As we were trying to construct our research questions, we looked for several criteria which
were important for us to keep in mind such as relevance to our study program and spotting out
a possible research gap which would be useful both for us to learn about and for the gap to
complete in order to create new knowledge or understandings about the phenomenon we were
concerned about. The gap spotting method adopted to discover relevant research questions
(Alvesson et al, 2013). As the gap spotting method requires researchers to find neglected blind
spots in the process of literature review of similar topics and discover research questions based
on these blind spots found in the previous literature (ibid).

After reviewing the literature about cultural diversity and its impact, and the knowledge of
organizations & organizational levels we have a relatively comprehensive understanding of the
research field. There are numerous studies of cultural diversity, but many studies focus on how
cultural diversity will affect the organization in terms of positive and negative effects, We have
noticed that the previous studies have seen the impact of cultural diversity from the
organization’s point of view and have focused to study the phenomenon from the viewpoint of
leadership in organizations. We also noticed that there were no significant studies showing on
which organizational level (top, middle & lower) does the cultural diversity have advantages in
an organization. In order to supplement these gaps, we hope that we can explore and gain new
knowledge and insights to add to this field from a new perspective which in our case will be
the perspective of those employees who work in culturally diverse organizations or teams
and enrich the interpretation of cultural diversity and organizations, thus the questions we have
formulated are:

RQ1. On which organizational level is cultural diversity advantageous for an organization?

In the process of constructing this problem, we consider as many interpretations as possible to

solve the gaps in the field, while minimizing the limitations of the problem. The second problem
is based on the refinement and supplementary interpretation of the first problem which is more
practical.

Sub Q1. On which organizational level do employees of multicultural teams perceive bridging
relationships advantageous in their workplaces.

Since the second problem is more specific which clarifies the ground and focus of our research
in a clearer way. The aim is to be able to find new insights, knowledge, and understanding
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regarding the research topic by describing which organizational level cultural diversity is
advantageous, the purpose is to help the organizations to properly manage their culturally
diverse workforce.

1.5 Significance of this study

With the successful conduct of this study, we will be able to come up with new knowledge
regarding the phenomenon. We will be able to discuss and explore this phenomenon in detail
and understand if under what conditions cultural diversity is advantageous to have or should be
avoided. From one side, this will help us understand workplace diversity in details and from
the other, it might help a practicing manager to know when and where is mono- or multi-cultural
arrangements preferred (Amaram, 2007). in addition, it has helped us understand how to
successfully pool the unique knowledge, skills, and abilities of each individual team member,
to see the power of different perspectives of team members and to achieve the desired goals
successfully. it has helped us increase and add to the existing information and create a clearer
perspective regarding this topic. As we have explained the diverse findings, in this study we
will mainly be focused on the cultural differences at workplace. We have also tried to know
different organizational levels to understand and clarify if on which specific level will it be
more suitable or positive for an organization to have a team of individuals from different
cultural backgrounds. Thus, we have a practical contribution both to the management and
individuals’ practitioners to understand and manage cultural diversity in a better way.

The theoretical contributions are the combination of social capital theory to see whether
employees prefer bonding with people from the same background or like to bridge with people
from diverse cultural backgrounds. Besides, we have used similarity attraction theory and social
cognitive theory to further explain and show why employees prefer to bond or bridge with other
individuals based on their preferences.

As in result of our research, we have concluded that people prefer to bridge their relationships
across different cultures in their workplaces and see this as an opportunity for social and
professional development. We have also found people are aware of the challenges existing in
multicultural work environments. However, the social and professional learning and developing
opportunities and the enjoyable work environment it provides, has shaped their perception to
be more positive towards cultural diversity in their workplaces and see a cultural diversity as a
strong asset at their workplaces. To specifically answer the research question, the study shows
that cultural diversity is more advantageous on managerial levels in organizations due to various
reasons specified in the conclusion part of this study.
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2 Literature Review

In this Chapter, we have tried to collect different definitions of various authors about culture,
what role does it play and how it includes our daily life including work environment. To be
more specific, we have focused on culture at workplace as our study emphasizes on the cultural
differences at workplace and how its perceived by different individuals working in these
multicultural settings. The sub-chapter culture in a workplace gives an overview of the current
analysis and definition of culture from various angles.

We have then moved to cultural diversity specifically at workplace. To be able to distinguish

between surface level and deep level differences which are included in the cultural differences
among individuals working together. As many people believe that cultural diversity is
concerned with surface level or demographic differences. Our review of cultural diversity
provides a clear and more comprehensive information regarding the cultural role in workplace
and how its perceived through previous researchers and more specifically what are dimensions
of a culture.

We have also included information about organization as a process and structure. Even though
our research question is concerned with organization as a structure, we have covered the concept
of organization and its related meaning from process and structure perspectives. The intention
was to clarify the different level of organizations so the reader can better understand the research
focus by have a review of previously existing studies covering both culture and organization
from various angles. At the end of this chapter, we have looked at the impact of cultural
diversity on organizations and teams.

2.1 Culture in a workplace

Culture is a broad concept that is related to various disciplines which makes it difficult to give
it a strict and precise definition. Many philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists, historians,
and linguists have been working hard to define the concept of culture from the perspective of
their respective disciplines. The word 'culture' comes from the Latin cultus, which means 'care',
and from the French which means 'to till' as in 'till the ground' (Berger, 2000). According to
Varner et al (2011, p.4) “Culture explains how people make sense of their world” In our daily

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life, what clothes we wear, the food we eat, the language we speak, how we greet visitors, the
way we show love, or the perspective of thinking are all within the culture.

Culture provides a definition for the laws and environments that people recognize (Voget, 1960).
In workplace, culture involves the way of thinking of the team, their perceptions and behaviors
at work environment. Therefore, everyone has a culture of their own. Culture is the condition
of spending our everyday life, because the other people we meet are living in the same
environment that receive the same information (Kohls, 2011). Helen Spencer-Oatey defined
culture is a social phenomenon, a product created by people's long-term creation, and at the
same time, it is also a historical phenomenon and a deposit of social history (Spencer-Oatey,
2004, p.4). Thus, "culture explains how people understand their own world" (Varner et al, 2011,
p.5). To be precise, culture is condensed in the material and dissociated from the material. The
history, geography, traditional customs, lifestyle, literature and art, norms of behavior, ways of
thinking, and values of countries or nations that can inherit ideas, etc., are universally
recognized ideologies that can be passed on between human beings.

Hofstede (2001, p.2) highlights that “collective programming of the mind which distinguished
the members of a group or category from those belonging to another group or category”. It
shows that culture is not innate but obtained through learning and training. Furthermore, People
who grew up in a specific country or region and received education and vocational training,
means that they are influenced by different cultures such as vocational, regional and national
cultures. People are programmed mentally and emotionally thus, they have the cultural,
religious, language, and other backgrounds.

On the other hand, If the individual is not aware of this, then the influence of people with
different backgrounds he/she contacts will be more obvious to him/her. (Weinert, 2015, p.
85). It can be found that culture is not produced by genes but according to the environment in
which the individual is and the people or things they contact with. So, individuals will be
affected by values, behaviors, and thinking.

The framework of the cultural level proposed by Hofstede is to define the culture according to
the small number of dimensions in which each culture changes and is concerned with cross-
cultural communication and shows the effects of a society’s culture on the value of its members
and how these values influence the behavior of the society members. These frameworks cannot
fully describe the complexity of the culture (Hofstede, 2001). As well as the framework is based
on national cultures and their differences in terms of. In our study, the focus on overall cultural
differences in workplace among individuals who came from different cultural backgrounds. As

12
culture is no longer fixed (Sembdner, 2011, p.32), it is also the reason why it is difficult to
define culture from a perspective or field. All in all, based on Schneider et al (2014, p. 4), The
culture characteristics can be shown such as: Interrelated system of dimensions, ways of
perceiving, thinking, feeling, behaving & evaluating which is shared on group level and learned
through socialization and which provides frames of references for action and decisions.

Furthermore, according to Schneider (2014, p. 4) the cultural concept also emphasizes the
tension and duality. The primacy of nation culture, nation culture is a crucial option in the field
of research culture, but in practice, it is very difficult to distinguish the results caused by the
interaction between ethnic culture and other cultures (society, organization, religion, etc.). The
impact of effectiveness needs to be compared and analyzed in combination with more other
cultures. Research in a wide range of fields, including diverse teams, shows that managers
ignore the danger of these differences. As a matter of fact, diversity is increasing day by day
in today’s work environment and thus, cultural diversity has become a reality.

2.2 Cultural Diversity

When it comes to diversity, the first thing which comes to people’s mind are ethnicity and
nation, but the scope of this concept today is not limited to this (Stevens et al, 2011, p. 532).
Diversity is a broad concept that often appears in life and can be applied in many fields. The
concept of diversity has many different definitions, and these definitions are generally very
broad (Nkomo et al, 1999, P. 85). Parvis emphasized that diversity not limited to one occasion
but exists in every society and every workplace (Parvis, 2003, p. 37). Diversity includes
differences in culture, race, values, language, religious beliefs, etc. (Parvis, 2003, p. 37). From
this we can see that diversity affects people on daily basis.

According to the descriptions, diversity is a complex term because it covers a large area and is
hard to generalize. So, in order to facilitate understanding and analysis, the research scale can
be divided into elementary and intermediate (Loden et al, 1991, p. 20). For elementary diversity,
we can focus on gender, age, height, race, and other innate characteristics. Intermediate level
can pay more concentrate on characteristics that can be changed through personal experience,
such as income, faith, education, location, belief. These two points are very helpful for us to
look at society or understand ourselves. Diversity can be defined as "a mixture of people with
different group identities in the same social system" (Nkomo et al, 1999, P. 91). So, the
increasing work cooperation among people from different cultural backgrounds and cross-
cultural communication is becoming more and more frequent. Therefore, the organization's
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management and understanding of cultural diversity are very important. Understanding the
concept of diversity is beneficial to subsequent cultural diversity and the impact of cultural
diversity. It can be said that anyone is always in the process of learning and understanding
nature, which is the basis of how to explain the surrounding things. According to the above
intermediate scale, cultural diversity is the core part of people. Because the two dimensions of
culture are difficult to change, it is essential for a person's early exposure to society and life
development. So, culture is the main characteristic root of diversity.

Cultural diversity is defined as the heterogeneity of national cultures of team members

(McGrath et al, 1995). It can also be understood as a variety of different forms by which groups
and societies express their culture. These manifestations are inherited within them. Cultural
diversity is not only reflected in the expression of human cultural heritage through rich cultural
expressions but also in the various ways of artistic creation, production, transmission, sales and
consumption through various methods and technologies (Shachaf, 2008). Cultural diversity is
a basic feature of human society and an important driving force for the progress of human
civilization. Everyone is affected by multiple cultural factors. The cultural diversity includes
race, gender, organization, profession, and ethnic heterogeneity (Corritore et al, 2018).
Formation of a work group from people with all these deep or surface level differences has its
own challenges and benefits. In simple words, it is like pieces of puzzle which must be put
together in the right way to make sense and be something which adds value. In this example,
we think of the organization as a puzzle which from a strategic point of view must put all its
resources including human in the right place in order to achieve its desired goals. As previously
emphasized, we study cultural diversity or differences on general level at workplace and our
study is not concerned with any form of specific culture.

2.3 Organization

The word organization refers to an institution, a business firm and or a government department.
According to the management context, it refers to the formal arrangement of duties,
responsibilities, and clear authority amongst its members so that the organization can achieve
its goals. The organization plays a crucial role in the success of businesses. As Andrew Carnegie
a Scottish American industrialist once said “Take away our factories, take away our trade, our
avenues of transportation, our money. Leave nothing but our organization, and in four years
we shall have re-established ourselves.” (Andrew Carnegie 1835-1919). It is the foundation
upon which the structure of management is built, without which no management functions can
14
be performed in the right way. It’s the and responsibilities required of each organization
member in various management functions with a target of achieving predetermined goals.

According to Louis Allen (1958), “Organization is the process of identifying and grouping
work to be performed, defining and delegating responsibility and authority and establishing
relationships for the purpose of enabling people to work most effectively together in
accomplishing objectives.”. Koontz et al (1972) describe the organization as “establishment of
an intentional structure of roles through determination and enumeration of the activities
required to achieve the goals of an enterprise and each part of it, the grouping of these activities,
the assignment of such groups of activities to a manager, the delegation authority to carry them
out, and provision for coordination of authority and informational relationships horizontally
and vertically in the organization structure. The totality of such activities and authority
relationships that constitute the organizing function” (Koontz et al 1972, p. 66).

An individual in this case entrepreneur organizes different factors necessary for production such
as, labor, capital, machinery, and raw materials in order to process them into productive
activities and a final product which is then offered to consumers through various agencies.
These business activities are divided into various functions that are assigned to different
individuals. This Process is called organizing. According to George Terry, “Organizing is the
establishment of effective authority relationships among selected work, persons, and
workplaces in order for the group to work together efficiently” or “organization is the creation
of relationship among persons and work so that it may be carried on in a better and efficient
way” (Gupta, 2007. P, 133). Management tries to put together these various functions and
activities to achieve its predetermined goals.

The term organizations in management have two distinct meanings, organizations as a structure,
and organization as a process.

Structure:

As a structure “an organization mean an organized group of persons working together to

achieve some common objectives. The term organization structure might be defined as a system
of job positions, the roles assigned to them and the authority relationships among the various
positions. The structure provides a framework to employees for performing their functions, and
facilitates workflow in the organization” (Gupta, 2007, P, 132). These employees are bound
together towards the achievement of the predetermined common objectives. The management
determines the relationship among these employees based on their responsibilities and titles.

Process:

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Under the process or dynamic concept, “the term ‘organization’ is used as a process of ongoing
activity. In this sense, an organization is a process of organizing work, people and the systems.
It is concerned with the process of determining activities that may be necessary for achieving
an objective and arranging them in suitable groups to be assigned to individuals. It considers
the organization as an open adoptive system and not as a closed system. Dynamic concept lays
emphasis on individuals and considers the organization as a continuous process” (ibid).

2.4 Organization Characteristics

Every single author has defined the word organization according to their own perspective and
angle. The one common ground between all the authors is the viewpoint on the establishment
of relationships based on authority among its members so that the organizational objectives can
be optimally achieved. Some of the most common characteristics of organizations are into five
different stages such as:

2.4.1. Division of Work:

The most obvious task of an organization is organizing the whole process of a business. This
process is divided into various activities and functions assigned to different individuals in order
to achieve the organizational objectives. This creates a division of employees into teams and
departments. To be efficient, they are assigned to specific activities with the help of the
organization. This leads to specialization of efforts and skills (Gupta, 2007, P. 136).

2.4.2. Grouping jobs or activities:

The defined activities are brought together under manageable units (jobs) and groups
(departments) assigned to a manager. Coordination of these activities is as important as its
division. It helps avoid duplication and a smoother flow of functions among the different units
or departments in an organization. These functions are highly dependent on one another.
Without a proper coordination it could lead to low or poor performance by the whole
organization (ibid).

2.4.3. Common Objectives:

Each of the organizational units or departments is striving for the desired target which leads to
the achievement of the enterprise goal. The various desired goals of each different collectively
lead to major organizational goals. The organization should be structured in a way that builds

16
clear understandable, achievable, and realistic goals that leads to proper achievement and
accomplishment.

2.4.4. Delegation of Authority:

Each organization member and group are assigned with well-defined responsibility and
provided with the authority required for its accomplishment. The delegation of authority creates
a chain of command such as top, middle and lower management. As authority flows from top
management to the middle and lower, it creates an authority relationship between different
organizations members and units. This should be structured and designed in a way that
motivates people to perform their part of work together.

2.4.5. Coordination of Activities:

Activities and efforts of different individuals are properly put together and the interrelationship
between different positions is clearly defined so that everyone knows to whom he can give or
get instructions (Gupta, 2007, P. 137).

2.5 Organizational Structure

According to Mintzberg (1972) Organizational structure is the framework of the relations on
jobs, systems, operating process, people and groups making efforts to achieve the goals. It is a
set of methods dividing the task to determined duties and coordinates them which refers to the
models of internal relations of organization, power and relations and reporting, formal
communication channels, responsibility and decision-making delegation is clarified. (Oders,
2005, p. 201).

Due to the increasing competition, emergence of more skills and educated workers, the
technological development, as well as faster internationalization chances for the businesses
starting from 1990s, resulted in many organizations looking for reorganizations of their
organizational charts from traditional pyramid to organizational structures as inverted pyramid,
cluster, wheel, virtual organization, hourglass (Odgers, 2005, p. 92).

Inverted Pyramid Organizations created by Nordstrom retailer agency which was founded in
1901 (Kotler, 2016). This structure turns the traditional pyramid structure upside down forming
a flat organization with sales and sales support on the top level making the key decisions. The
belief is that salespeople should pay more attention to their customers’ needs rather than their
bosses. Nordstrom retailer has one formal rule at organization “Use your own best judgement
at all times” (Odgers, 2005, p. 92).

17
The Cluster Organizational structure focuses on bringing together different groups of people
with from various disciplines to work on semi-permanent basis shaping a structure as branches
of grapes (Odgers, 2005, p. 92-93).

The Wagon wheel structure consist of three main parts - rim, the spokes and the hub. Where
customers are represented by the hub and the spokes represents the different departments of
functions in the organization and the outer rim is the top management keep the whole wheel
together and making sure everybody is equipped with skills and resources to serve the
customers’ needs as well as the middle managers purpose is as of supporters (Odgers, 2005, p.
92-93).

Virtual organizational structure is becoming popular due to the increased competition and
technological improvements in the last few decades. The easy flexibility, network linkages
which use the internet, email, and various communication channels when conducting business.
Cross-functional teams and reassignment is normal due to the speed of the nature of this type
of businesses (Ibid).

Hourglass organizational structure includes three layers as the top part representing the
executives working with formulation of vision for the organization. At the middle layers is the
coordination of different functions for various lower level activities. while the bottom layer is
represented by the function or activity specialists who are responsible for their own supervision.
The management’s task is to give challenging work assignments and motivate the employees
(Odgers, 2005, p. 93-94).

Vertical Organizational Structure

The vertical organizational structure gives an overview of different levels of management from
top to down. This way, it’s very easy to differentiate among all three organizational levels and
scope where the objective at the top of the hierarchy is to consider mid and long-term strategy
for the organization at large. Middle managers usually take a more specific aspect of this larger
strategy and ensure a more detailed implementation. Managers on the front-line focus almost
exclusively on effective execution and are often much more short-term oriented. This allows
each class of management to narrow their focus enough for the work to be manageable.

Vertical organizational hierarchy showing a pyramid shape is widely used and most familiar
and traditional organizational chart where upper management is on the peak directing the
organizational. The chart broadens as it goes down to the middle management and lower level
showing how work is divided in different levels and most important who reports to whom.

18
(Odgers, 2005, p. 92). These managers are classified according to a hierarchy of authority and
perform different tasks. In many organizations, the number of managers in each level gives the
organization a pyramid structure. A vertical organization structure has both upsides and
downsides.

On the plus side, it allows the management to look at organization from different angles.
Strategic and high return & risk choices and decisions are made at the top level, while the
middle managers tasks consist of alignment of the work group towards organizations objectives.
The individuals working on the lower level of frontline management strive to achieve
operational efficiency, identify and hire talented individuals on entry and mid-level and assess
the performance.

The downsides however are the consolidation of to the top level, polarized income, steep
organization ladder, a one-sided information flow and creation of plans by top management
without understanding of the core process, the need for emergent as well as down-top strategy.

2.5.1. Top-Level Management

Top-level managers in a vertical organization structure focuses on the bigger picture. Its where
most of the strategic changes and decisions for the long-term future of an organization is made.
Individuals working on this level of organization deal with various key tasks organizational
strategy, strategic alliances, big financial decisions and management of relations with
stakeholders and the board of directors. Everyone on this level possess several years of
professional experience in their functions or industry.

2.5.2. Middle-Level Management

Middle management as clearly stated by its level works in the intermediate managerial level
reporting to the top management while having the leadership responsibilities of frontline or
lower level management. This level of management is the center of vertical or hierarchical
organizations. They are accountable for the functions of their departments. They guide and
inspire the operational staff in their departments and ensure effective and efficient performance.
They act as guide and teacher to advice and direct those less experienced. Middle management
includes, general managers, branch managers and department managers. They focus on the
organizational and directional functions in an organization. They are responsible for executing
operational plans with accordance to the company's policies and objectives set at the top
level. They are the system of information between the top and the lower management.

19
Besides, the above tasks, they are also designing and implementing effective group work, define
and monitor group level performance, problem solving among the work group, formulate and
implement reward systems, support cooperative behavior, and reporting performance result to
the top of the chain. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, motivational behavior,
mentoring and leadership skills are important skills required in this managerial level.

2.5.3. Frontline Management

The lower level of frontline management is individuals with functional expertise and strong
interpersonal skills who try to optimize the specific operational processes. They are located at
the bottom of hierarchical frame. Strong communication, leadership, mentoring, training,
organizing, process optimization and prioritizing are the skills required in this level. However,
the two most important skills needed at this level is interpersonal and technical expertise. These
individuals need to be highly skilled in their functions and they can best perform when placed
in a position to direct and guide a specific group of employees such as supervisors, team leaders
and project managers.

We have looked at organizations from its hierarchical culture with clear rules, standards and
requirements. to be able to have a better understanding of ‘organization and its level’ we have
also shed some light into organizational culture. However, it's important to keep in mind that
the further explanation of organizational culture is to add to the understanding of organization
and does not concern our research topic ‘cultural diversity’ directly.

2.6 Culturally Diverse teams

Today, more and more companies use teams to manage increasingly complex and dynamic
environments. The team is seen as a solution to problems of external adaptation, dealing with
complexity by bringing together various perspectives while coping with dynamic changes. With
the rapid development of information and communication technology, team members can now
be found anytime, anywhere (Schneider, 2014 p. 207). In recent years, companies have
increasingly used global virtual teams to connect and attract geographically dispersed workers,
thereby reducing the costs associated with global collaboration, thereby increasing speed and
responsiveness (ibid). This leads to creation and formulation of teams from different parts of
the world. Where the origin or cultural origin of team members can be similar or very different.
Teams can be divided into homogeneous or heterogeneous teams. Teams with members from
the same cultural background are considered homogeneous, and other members are considered
heterogeneous. According to Nancy Adler, teams can be subdivided in three subgroups (Adler
20
1986, p. 100). In a symbolic team, "all members are from the same background except one
member"; in a bicultural team, "two or more members represent each of two different cultures";
in a multicultural team "Members represent three or more ethnic backgrounds". She further
adds that the specific features of a multicultural organization are reciprocal acculturation where
all cultural groups are respected valued and learn from one another, full structural integration
of all cultural groups in all organizational levels, integration of minority culture group members
in the informal networks of the organization, absence of prejudice and discrimination, equal
identification of all group members with organizational goals and personal career development,
and a minimum of intergroup conflict which is based on race, gender, nationality, and or any
other group category ( Adler, 1986, p.103). Bringing together people who are different in all
the above ways from one another has impact on organizations. we want to look at the impact
which is caused by the cultural diversity in the organizations.

2.7 Impact of Cultural Diversity on organizations

As workforce today is composed of people of different races, ages, genders, religions and
lifestyles. Many organizations and researchers recognize that people are gradually changing.
Organizations constantly try to create a new working environment in which diversity and
difference become key elements, in order to promote the maximum potential of the workforce.
Organizational management's work tends to use a coordinated approach to bring people from
different backgrounds together and maximize the ability and talent of each employee (Misoc,
2017). If managed properly, diversity can bring a competitive advantage to the organization,
but if poorly managed, diversity can be negatively affected by an unwelcome work environment
(ibid).

The core issue of the study of cultural diversity effects is on how it affects individual efficiency
and group efficiency (Thomas, 1999). As previous studies have shown that culture diversity has
both positive and negative effects on organizations. First, individual efficiency is the basis of
group efficiency. If the research level is single, it will limit our understanding of the effects of
diversity. Cultural diversity is a multilevel construct including individual level, team level and
organization level (Thomas, 1999). In the study of the impact of cultural diversity on
organizations, researchers have gradually formed two research paradigms in the process of
research development: individual-level cultural diversity is the impact of individual differences
on individual outcome variables. Team-level cultural diversity is the effect of team
heterogeneity on team outcome variables. At the individual level, employee diversity is
21
conceptualized as Perceived Dissimilarity; from an information decision perspective, at the
team level, employee diversity is conceptualized as Team Heterogeneity (Ibid).

At the individual level, relative to the objective measurement of the degree of difference in
certain cultural characteristics between employees and other members of the work team,
perceived difference refers to the subjective feelings of employees about this degree of
difference, in terms of their influence. The effect of diversity is more significant than objective
measurement. People will classify themselves as a specific group of people, and other people
as outsiders or other groups. People will prefer or treat members of their own groups in a special
way and may make judgments based on the characteristics of special groups when dealing with
other people. These views suggest that diversity has a negative impact on the team's because it
makes the social process more difficult. If an individual perceives a greater difference from a
team member, the easier it is to feel negative evaluations and emotional responses, including
anxiety, lower levels of self-identity, and psychological safety (Cox et al, 2016).

In this case, it is difficult to participate in interactive learning, such as effective use of

information, seek the help of team members and team reflection, etc., which will result in a
lower level of employee learning performance; At the same time, in the interactive working
process, there may be uncooperative or even negative feedback from team members who also
perceive differences Rejection results in awkward interpersonal relationships and even conflicts
(Mitchell et al, 1998). Therefore, there are certain risks in the process of interacting with team
members to obtain working performance improvement in a team with heterogeneous
characteristics (Corritore et al, 2018)

According to the information processing theory (George Miller,1950), diversity brings different
results to the team. At the team level, team heterogeneity is defined as the differences between
team members and the different combinations of such differences. The heterogeneity formed
by factors such as religion, language, and cultural background will affect the interaction,
communication, and social integration among individuals (McGrath et al, 1995). With the
support of social cognitive theory, the work team provides a wider range of cognitive resources
for all members of the team (Bandura, 2002). Many studies have suggested that team
heterogeneity brings a broader perspective, cognitive style and logic to team members way of
thinking. Cultural diversity benefits organizations in many ways, especially in terms of
productivity and efficiency. If culture diversity is properly managed, everyone will feel
cherished and consider themselves important, regardless of what their differences (Pieterse et

22
al, 2010). In the process of working with people with different skills and cultural backgrounds,
it will help them realize that everyone is valued for different reasons. The feeling of being
valued will have a positive impact and can increase employee’s motivation, thereby
encouraging organization motivation and productivity. Therefore, employees with different
cultural backgrounds can bring multiple solutions (Misoc, 2017). When people from different
backgrounds and cultures work together, they will face a variety of viewpoints, and they will
tend to listen to different voices, thereby encouraging them to share different opinions and ideas.
In this way, there are more opportunities to find the best solution by choosing more ideas. Not
only that, in a team with a high degree of heterogeneity, the individual's ability and the overall
coordination ability is stronger, all this provides richer resources for the interactive work
behavior of team members, thereby improving team performance. At the same time, teams with
a higher degree of heterogeneity are more likely to produce differentiated team performance
evaluations (Stahl et al, 2007).

Therefore, diverse teams can touch different information fields, and more powerful information
systems can provide a wider perspective, which can enhance the creativity and adaptability of
problem solving. (O'Reilly et al, 1998) the creative benefits of heterogeneous team
compositions have been supported by numerous studies (O'Reilly et al, 1998). Because cultural
differences are related to differences in thinking patterns, conceptual patterns, and problem-
solving methods, they are likely to provide powerful inputs for creativity. The creative benefits
of heterogeneous teams come from the new ideas that members bring to the team, and multiple
perspectives. And different problem-solving styles (O'Reilly et al, 1998).

The impacts on intercultural teams can be positive and negative. According to Nancy Adler,
“Diversity augments potential productivity while also greatly increasing the complexity of the
process that must occur in order to realize the team’s potential. Multicultural teams have more
potential for higher productivity than do homogeneous teams, but they also bear the risk of
greater losses due to faulty process” (Adler, 1986 p. 105). Adler argues that diversity permits
increase creativity, it enhances the concentration and can lead to team productivity and
effectiveness. While on the other hand cultural diversity have challenges such as lack of
cohesion, mistrust, miscommunication and can lead to less efficiency and productivity in the
team (Adler 1986, p. 106).

23
3 Conceptual Framework

The exploration and analysis of the level of organization where cultural diversity is
advantageous, is informed in this study by Social Cognitive Theory, Similarity-Attraction
Theory and Social Capital Theory. A combination of the aspects of the above theories helps us
understand the employees’ perspective on cultural diversity in teams. As Social Capital Theory
promotes the expansion of social capital or building relationships in the following ways, we can
see that people are either attracted to bond with people from our own cultural or other similar
backgrounds or are also interested to bridge our social relationship with others from different
cultural backgrounds. We can see whether they favor cultural diversity in their teams and or
tend to be in favor of similarities teams. It is s further clarified by the individual preferences
with according to similarity attraction theory which states that we are attracted to others who
are alike us or social cognitive theories which believes that we need to bring our cognitive
resources together in order to create a mutual benefit, thus we tend to connect with people from
other backgrounds. As the theories explain the reasons behind our preferences if we are either
interested to build social relationship with our own group or a different group, it provides us
with the clear map to see where in organizations employees see it more possible to bridge with
other from diverse cultural backgrounds. As per the previously mentioned sources, we now
know that bringing people from diverse cultures together can benefit organizations, thus we
want to find out if on which organizational level is it easier to do so.

3.1 Social Capital Theory

The Social Capital Theory (SCT) can inform us in terms of employee’s attraction in their work
teams. That is which kind of ties do they see value in similarities or see value in differences in
workforce. According to Pierre Bourdieu: capital is not only economic and that social
exchanges are not purely self-interested and need to encompass ‘capital and profit in all their
forms’ (Bourdieu, 1986, p. 241). Thus, social capital can be seen as the social networking,
shared values and understandings that a person builds and can benefit from either within his
social group or outside (among other groups). It's the effective functioning of social settings
through these shared values, interpersonal relationships, shared understanding, common norms
& values, trust, cooperation and reciprocity. Lyda Hanifan (1916) describes social capital as the
goodwill, fellowship, sympathy and social interaction among people who make a social unit. It
refers to the collective value of social networks and the tendency which arises from these
networks to do things for others. Others see social capital as a resource embedded in social
relationships (Lin, 1999).
24
Social Capital Theory focuses on building networks and relationships. Individuals network with
people within and beyond of their social circles for mutual benefits. The networking approach
can be done through bonding “social ties between individuals between the same social group
or with others who are primarily like them”, whereas bridging “social ties that link people
together with others across a cleavage that typically divides society (like race, class, religion,
culture)”, and linking “ social tie (often a bridging social tie) to those with power that provides
one with the capacity to gain access to resources, ideas, and information from formal institution
beyond the community” (Claride, 2018, p. 2-3).

Both, relationship with people within their groups (bonding) and outside of their groups
(bridging) are mutually beneficial for people. Robert Putnam argues that social capital facilities
capital facilitates action and cooperation for mutual benefit’ (Putnam, 1993, Claride, 2018).
This networking and relationship have different dimensions such as: structural (association in
networks, groups and organizations), cognitive (shared emotional connections, values, norms)
and relational ( social interaction, neighborhood cohesion, togetherness), (ibid).

According to American sociologist James Coleman (1925-1995): Individuals take rational

action to engage in social interactions, relationships and networks for as long as there is benefits
that not only benefit the individuals themselves but also account for the development of social
organizations. In other words, social capital can be said to be both private and public good
benefiting not only those who take rational action but everyone in the group (Claride, 2018).

3.2 Social Cognitive Theory

Social Cognitive Theory; is the cognitive formulation of social learning theory introduced by
Albert Bandura (1986) which adopts an agentic perspective to human development, adaptation,
and change. To be an agent is to influence intentionally one’s functioning and life circumstances
(Bandura, 2002). People tend to see others as a form or resources. thus, they prefer to bridge
ties with others who represent better resources. This theory informs if why do people like to
connect and build relationships with others.

The theory distinguishes among three modes of agency: personal agency, proxy agency and
collective agency (Bandura, 2002). The theory explains that we not only learn and act by
personal judgment of our capability if how well can we accomplish a task in a given time (self-
efficacy), but we are also influenced by other socially mediated modes of agencies where we
25
try to get access to resources, expertise, influence, and power to get to the desired outcome of
shared agencies. The belief is that many of the things we want to achieve are possible through
a collective interdependent effort. thus, we must provide mutual support, pool our knowledge,
skills, and abilities together and form alliances to achieve what cannot be achieved
individually.

To function successfully, we need an agentic mix of these different modes. (Bandura, 2002).
“Cognitive diversity is believed to negatively affect cohesion and cohesion believe to negatively
effective comprehensiveness and extensiveness thus resulting in an overall positive linkage
between diversity and comprehensiveness and an overall positive linkage between cognitive
diversity and extensiveness. It shows that cognitive diversity is positively affects
comprehensiveness and extensiveness” in a team (Finkelstein et al, 1996; cited by Miller et al,
1998, p. 2).

Bantel et al (1989), suggests that “higher levels of diversity lead to executive creativity, more
effective executive decision-making and more positive organizational outcomes” (Bantel et al,
1989: cited by Miller et al, 1998, p. 39). This theory will assist us in understanding the
perspective of employees of multicultural organizations. It will further explain if why
employees in multicultural organizations are interested in bridging across their social networks
based on the mentioned mutual benefits.

3.3 Similarity Attraction Theory

Similarity Attraction Theory (Byrne, 1971), also provides a direction to understand the
perspective of organizations members who works in culturally diverse groups. This theory
explains why certain individuals prefer to bond ties with those who have similar backgrounds
and what are the reasons that they do so. As theory suggests that people are attracted to
similarities in others and tend to report more positive interactions compare to those, they are
dissimilar (ibid). According to this theory “implicit preferences often lead to homosocial
reproduction in which individuals promote those most similar to themselves in terms of
demographic characteristics and cultural and social background” (Byrne, 1971, p. 8).
individuals are more attracted to companies which had images and statements reflecting their
own identity group (Lambert, 2015).

These similarities can be either of surface-level demographic factors (race, age, gender,
educational level, etc.) or deep-level perceptions of values, attitudes, and beliefs. “Recent
studies, however, have reported a much stronger effect of dissimilar than similar attitudes,
26
which corresponds to the similarity–dissimilarity asymmetry hypothesis” (Singh et al, 2000;
Singh et al, 1992; Tan et al, 1995: cited by Josselson et al, 2012, p. 24).

An organization must understand key dynamics existing in the team environment where each
member of the team brings in individual characteristic differences. Individual assessment of
similarities in others might result in important impacts for the organizations such as; work
outcome, organizational commitment, perceived discrimination, leader-member exchange
quality, employee turnover, and group cohesion. (Josselson et al, 2012). Both of the theories
(Social Cognitive & Similarity-Attraction) have very contradictory suggestions supported by
various studies. In our research question formulation, we have considered both the positive and
negative impact of cultural diversity to be something existing in organizations. However, on
specific organizational level is the positive impact in its peak was not clarified in the previous
literature. Although both positive and negative impact are mentioned here, it is mentionable
that in this study we will mainly focus on the positive impact. However, we will also shed light
on the negative impact to be able to get a proper answer to our research question. The use of
Social Capital Theory has helped to understand this specific phenomenon (cultural diversity)
by looking into the social aspects of workforce diversity and further understanding its
bonding/bridging aspects through Social Cognitive & Similarity Attraction theories. Thus, these
theories inform the following conceptual frame to better understand and make sense of the
phenomenon considering the experiences of different individuals working in multicultural
teams, in this study.

3.4 Relation Building Framework

27
 Relation building framework. Source: Authors

This conceptual frame would summarize employee’s perception and see whether those who are
attracted to similarities bond stronger with those who are alike them based on the facts that there
are challenges (communication, connecting, different opinions) existing in networking with
people from other groups, or the perceived values in differences (cognitive resources,
developing and learning opportunities), would help to understand preferences of bridging
relationships with those to whom they are dissimilar.

4 Methodology

4.1 Philosophical Positioning

Research philosophy refers to the system of basic philosophical assumptions about knowledge
development and the process of selecting methods. It concerns the structure on which the
research assumptions and beliefs of the development of knowledge are based. (Saunders et
al,2016, p. 130). It can be well understood as the concept of research. In this way, the research
philosophy is what you think: what should be studied, what should not be studied, and how to
study. Therefore, by studying the basic concepts of philosophy, starting from understanding the
concept of the world, collecting knowledge of social phenomena, analyzing their sources and
drawing new insights that constitute strategies, data collection and analysis in research.
Understanding research philosophy is important because the purpose is to develop new
knowledge, but there is no best or most correct research philosophy because the research
direction and goals are different. The two main ways of thinking in research philosophy are
ontology and epistemology (Saunders et al, 2016, p. 129). To be able to construct the meaning
of experiences of individuals working in a culturally diverse environment, we have based our
study on social constructivism.

Social constructivism is a way to build social knowledge about self, society, behavior, and
experience, which mainly relies on reflection and meaning creation (Shor, 1992). One of the
main goals of social constructivism is to provide a democratic and critical learning experience.
It also emphasizes that conclusions are drawn through surveys and inquiries, rather than
accepting mainstream knowledge and maintaining neutrality in the process. Social
constructivism as a part of epistemology, the core of social constructivism requires researchers
to cite evidence, add claims, explain the literature to support their views and solve problems
28
(Bryman et al, 2011, p. 16-17). As in this research we have drawn conclusions based on the
empirical data which we have collected through the interviews with the participants where the
focus was to construct meaning and interpret the data collected which came from the
experiences of the participants. Social constructivism believes that all cognitive functions
originate from social interactions and therefore must be interpreted as products of social
interactions and are constantly being revised.

Social constructionism is a relevant research philosophy to inform our investigation in a

qualitative study as we ask about their perception of working in a multicultural setting. We want
to understand these individuals perceive working with people from other cultures, where in an
organization (which level) do they find it easy to bond or bridge relationships by having either
similar or different backgrounds. Socially constructed reality is a product of language and
culture which leads to a shared world view (Galbin, 2014), and we investigate this reality
through lens of social capital.

We rely on subjective meanings of our experience of things and objects surrounding us. These
meanings can be different and several which lead the researchers to look for complexity of view
rather than categorization of meanings and ideas (Creswell, 2013). We wanted to understand
the employee’s perceptions and to find out if how they construct cultural diversity in terms of
beneficial character. Our goal was to rely on the participant perspective of the phenomenon as
much as possible. We have used open-ended interview questions or semi structured interviews
so that participants could construct meaning of their interaction or discussion with others. The
meaning here was formed by interaction with others (Social constructivism). In social
constructivism- researchers often focus on the specific context in which people live and work
to be able to understand the historical and cultural setting of the participants and thus, address
the processes of interaction among individuals. We understand that our personal, cultural, and
historical background and experiences shape our interpretations. As one of the authors has
professional relationship with these individuals. To avoid the bias, the transcription, coding and
analysis of the interview data was done by both the authors individually and then compared to
see the similarities and differences and be able to rationally convince each other for the specific
differences we have had in the data analysis.

29
4.2 Research design and approach
The research design is referring to the plan of general routes that researchers intend to undertake
in order to obtain information and answer the research question. The purpose of studies may
vary from explanatory, exploratory, descriptive and evaluative (Saunders et al, 2016). This
study is of exploratory nature which was focused on employee’s perception about cultural
diversity in their work environments. Exploratory research is defined as research that studies
issues which have not been clearly defined. Exploratory studies questions often start with “how”
and “what” intending to gain an understanding about the research topic (ibid). It thus, started
with the overall idea of cultural diversity and used the research as a medium to explore and
understand new knowledge to see where in organization is culturally diverse workforce
advantageous to have. This strategy has helped us to find and explore the conditions or level of
organization where cultural diversity has a positive impact. Since there are no earlier studies
about our research question, we have conducted an exploratory research to gain insight into the
problem. It is mentionable that at the end of such studies, we might not be able to provide the
final solution for our research problem. we rather wanted to explore and construct meaning
based on the perception of employees on positive impact of cultural diversity in other words;
on what organizational level do they think that cultural diversity is advantageous for the
organization. As we were not trying to test any assumption of theories, an inductive approach
was adopted in this study to generate pattern of meaning or new theory. (Creswell, 2013).

4.3 Research Method

The general data collection and analyzing methods are divided into two alternatives, the
quantitative method and the qualitative method. Both methods may be used separately or as a
mix (Saunders et al, 2016). The qualitative method was used in the study (Denzin et al, 2011),
which is often associated with interpretive philosophy (Corbin et al, 2015), to understand and
make sense of socially constructed meanings of a specific phenomenon, in this case the level
of organization where culturally diverse workforce is advantageous (Saunders et al, 2016).

Choosing qualitative method was a suitable alternative to conduct this research. The essence of
qualitative research method is to identify and make sense of the empirical data collected from
the participants without destroying its richness and height (Yin, 2016). It allowed us to acquire
a deeper understanding of the meaning of participants responses regarding the impact of cultural
diversity on a specific level of organization. Qualitative method cannot become generalizable
as its limited to a few participants (Yin, 2016).

30
4.4 Data collection

The research data was collected both from secondary sources combined with empirical data
which was obtained through semi-structured interviews. The primary data from the study was
collected through semi-structured interviews with the selected respondents which were
accessed through the professional network of one of the authors on this research. This choice
also falls in line with the study’s philosophical stance and with the research approach and design.
Furthermore, this method persuaded the participants to express their view on the topic in depth
and helped us to collect as much information as possible. An interview is a conversation that
has a purpose and a set agenda over what should be addressed (Saunders et al, 2016). The choice
of using semi-structured interviews for the research was made in order to create a discussion
and retrieve extensive information on the research, which in turn will provide a wider
knowledge and understanding on the topic. Semi-structured interviews are meetings where
open-ended questions are asked to create a discussion with the participants rather than a strictly
formalized list of questions (Doyle, 2019). As per the guidelines of social constructionist
approach, we created a room for open discussion and make sense of the experiences of the
participants.

The use of this types of interviews as a form of collecting information specifically suits the
qualitative approach in this research and this has brought a more extensive result than surveys
would do. In interviews the respondents provide a wider explanation on the questions than
surveys would. Furthermore, the possibility to ask follow- up questions in this approach enabled
us to clarify and gain further information.

4.4.1 Sampling

Keeping in mind the current situation, we have limited the interviewers to 15 individuals
working in culturally diversified teams/organizations. In social sciences, studies which are
based on interviews are becoming more common (Crouch et al, 2006, p. 484). From an
empirical perspective, small sample size of an in depth labor-intensive (‘‘reflexivity’’) research
can be justified (Crouch et al, 2006, p. 484).

Gender identity and equality in our interviews was a limitation since under the given conditions
we could not have equal participants from both the genders, and we were rather focus on the

31
experiences of individuals who have worked in multicultural environments for a minimum of
10 years. The reason for this was the knowledge and experience required of the participants to
answer the research question as we intend to find out if on which organizational level is cultural
diversity advantageous to have. It might have been difficult for people with less experience to
answer this question in the interview. Scheduling interviews with the participants has been on
going from the first week and were finalized two weeks before the deadline of this research.
during the time of literature review so we could directly start with primary data collection and
interviews once we have formulated our interview questions right after the literature review.

It is also mentionable that on the tenth interview we have noticed that the answers from the
participants were more and more the same. Thus, we believe that we have reached the saturation
point. However, the total number of interviews we conducted were 11 to be further sure.

Data saturation refers to the quality and quantity of information in a qualitative research study.
Researchers usually define data saturation as the point when “no new information or themes
are observed in the data” (Saunders et al, 2006). We have chosen this criterion to guide us in
terms of number of participants needed to explore the phenomenon.

32
4.4.2 The role and position of researchers

The knowledge produced in this empirical study required us to be value-free. Even though most
of the empirical data was collected from professional contacts of one of the authors, we have
taken precaution measures and have tried our best according to our knowledge to avoid the data
from being biased. We were not involving our worldview in both the theoretical and empirical
data in this study and therefore aspired to come up with neutral information (Saunders et al,
2016). In this qualitative research on the positive effects of cultural diversity, we considered
ourselves curious, creative, and enthusiastic individuals who wanted to learn more and share
our knowledge with others.

We saw this research as an opportunity to broaden our knowledge and understanding. This topic
was very interesting for both of us especially since we are brought up and have worked with a
multicultural environment or would like to work in such a work environment in the future. This
study has provided us with the opportunity to gain insights from the experiences of individuals
who have been working in a multicultural environment for most of their professional lives,
which otherwise would not be possible (Corbin et al, 2015). It was important for us to cross the
boundary of our knowledge and step out to the professional world of our participants which
was unknown for us (ibid). to learn the most from our empirical study, we have tried to create
a friendly, open and welcoming environment without any judgment to make sure the
participants felt comfortable and shared their information according to their own free-will.

4.4.3 Interviews

The semi-interviews were scheduled between 27th of April to 05th of May 2020. The interviews
were conducted on a zoom video call or face to face basis. The interview participants came
from diverse cultural backgrounds who have worked with people from other cultural
backgrounds. however, they were all currently working in Sweden. There was absolutely no
problem in understanding each other and every single participant was comfortable with
speaking English.

The Interview time was between 30 to 45 minutes and was informed during interview
scheduling. Five of the interviews were taken via zoom while the rest of the interviews were
face to face. Face to face interviews and video calls reveal the emotions of participants during
the interview which is helpful in avoiding misunderstandings (Mayer, 2008). The background

33
of our study program, the purpose of the research, the research topic and our specific research
problem were explained before the start of each interview. The interview questions were
regarding the professional experiences of these individuals in multicultural organizations. The
questions were formulated to serve our research purpose and the interviews were done one by
one basis.

The interviews were semi-structured which is one of the three most common interview types
(Brinkman, 2018). Semi-structured interviews are the most commonly used in qualitative
research as it focuses on the main theme, so our questions serve the purpose while giving the
respondent the freedom to respond in different ways (Doyle, 2019). The questions circulated
around cultural diversity in the workplace and participants had their own approach to respond
according to their own judgment of their experiences of working with people from different
cultures.

Variation could be observed through the interview period since every single participant
answered in their individual way and this led to variation in the data collected which is quite
often the case. follow up questions were asked when needed in order to clarify what was unclear.
It is also mentionable that every single participant was informed that the interviews will be
recorded, and it was also mentioned that it will be solely used for the thesis purpose and their
credentials will not be disclosed according to the GDPR regulations.

To avoid prejudice and bias, both of the authors participated in the interviews and the questions
were asked by the author which had no prior connection with the participants and the other
author’s role was as observant who took notes which were later used during the data analysis
(Doyle, 2019).

34
4.4.4 Coding

According to Saldaña (2009, p.3) described that “A code in qualitative inquiry is most often a
word or short phrase that symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence-capturing, and/or
evocative attribute for a portion of language-based or visual data.” After we collected data
from interviews, we used data-driven coding that we want to capture the meanings in the text
without a preceding conceptualization and let the text speak for itself.

We didn’t input our findings in any software for analysis, we use chart and marked the similar
words and phrases first and then tried to interpret them and see where it leads. Each of us did
the analysis separately and the compared and combined to enhance the accuracy and avoid bias.
We transfer the recording audios to text through OTTER.AI and combined the text to analyzed
through preliminary codes to final codes.

35
Figure 1 coding example
Figure 1 shows data collected from an interview participant when he was asked if how he sees
working with people from different cultures. We marked the text in different colors, which
shows different perspectives of answers. We marked similar words or phrases in same color as
showed in raw data to final codes. Our aim was to dig into the raw data and be able to specify
or differentiate between them in different ways. and see how they see working with different
cultures as enjoyable experiences or what kind of challenges they faced.

Figure 2 coding example

Figure 2 describes answer of one of the participants regarding specific level of organization
where he thinks culturally diverse teams are advantageous to have. The concept behind the
different color is the same as in previous example, to differentiate between data and be able to
easily notice the connection between raw data, primary and final codes. finally made the final
codes which can help us analyses our data.

36
4.5 Data Analysis

Qualitative data provides richness and fullness for a study. As we are using the social
constructivist approach, the meaning of realities depends on our participants. It is based on their
interpretation of what is happening around them and this adds to the variation and complexity
of qualitative data (Saunders et al, 2016).

To analyze our data, we used qualitative content analysis (Hsieh et al, 2005). The focus in
qualitative content analysis is on the characteristics of language as communication with
attention to the content or contextual meaning of the text. (Budd et al, 1967; Lindkvist, 1981.
cited by Hsieh et al, 2005). This text data might be verbal, print, electronic which is obtained
from narrative responses from the interviews, surveys, observations, articles, books,
and manuals (Kondracki et al, 2002; McTavish et al, 1990; Tesch, 1990. cited by Hsieh et al,
2005). In our study, we have obtained the contents from the interviews with our study
participants.

Qualitative content analysis is defined as a research method for the subjective interpretation of
the content of the text data through a systematic classification process of coding and identifying
themes patterns (Hsieh et al, 2005). We have used conventional content analysis to describe our
phenomenon, in this case, the perspectives of individuals working in a multicultural
environment. This is a useful content analysis method since the previous studies and theories
on our topic was limited. as well as to avoid preconceived categories and allow new insights to
emerge (Kondracki et al, 2002. cited by Hsieh et al, 2005).

We have coded our text data during data analysis and thus the codes were derived from this
data. As the goal of qualitative content analysis is more than just counting words, the
classification of text into categories that represent similar meanings to show explicit or inferred
communication with a goal to provide knowledge and understanding regarding the phenomenon
of study (Downe-Wamboldt, 1992; Weber, 1990. cited by Hsieh et al, 2005).

4.6 Scientific Criteria

Reliability and validity are criteria that are used to assess the quality of research (Bryman et al,
2011). Reliability refers to the replicability of the study result on the same level in case it is
conducted again while validity refers to the evaluation of accuracy and quality of what is

37
measured in the study (Bryman et al, 2011). However, these criteria are not appropriate for a
qualitative study since its characterized by subjectivity (Bryman et al, 2011).

Instead, trustworthiness and authenticity are the scientific criteria used for qualitative studies
(Lincoln et al 2011). trustworthiness here refers to credibility, transferability, and
conformability (ibid). Authenticity refers to fairness and ontological, educative, catalytic, and
tactical authenticity (Bryman et al, 2011).

4.6.1 Credibility
The scientific criteria of the credibility of a study refer to how believable the findings of a study
are for example the consistency between theoretical and empirical information (Bryman et al,
2011), which in our case was the perspective of individuals from multicultural organizations to
see on what organizational level do they see cultural diversity advantageous to have. In fact,
there exist many social realities, depending on social perspectives based on which the findings
are derived. Thus, the social reality of the researcher must be accepted by the reader (Bryman
et al, 2011).

One of the ways to do this in a qualitative study as per Bryman et al (2011), is to double check
with the participants the data collected. Even though we made sure to ask follow-up questions
when needed, we still sent the transcripts of collected data to each participant to avoid
misunderstandings and add credibility to the data collected. However, there was trust among
the respondents since the respondents are from the private network of one of the authors. This
is called prolonged engagement (Creswell, 2013). Thus, pre-existing trusts also adds to the
honesty and openness during empirical data collection.

As previously stated, that this might also pave the ground for bias in data collection. In our case,
the second author had no previous connection with the respondents and led the interview while
the other author’s role was as observant. To be safer and bias-free, we each analyzed the data
separately and then argued for our findings in a rational manner to ensure we avoid every
possible misleading information due to the previous connection with the respondents.

4.6.1.1 Transferability
According to Lincoln et al (2011), the generalization of the study results in another research
context is the scientific criteria for the transferability of a study. The limited number of
participants in this or other qualitative studies (Bryman et al, 2011), as well as the complexity

38
of the phenomenon cultural diversity in the workplace, makes it difficult to ensure the
transferability of this study.

However, in qualitative studies, this can be ensured by providing the readers with a
comprehensive description and allow them to do their own judgments on the possible
transferability of the findings (Lincoln et al, 2011, Bryman et al, 2011).

We believe that some of the patterns in our findings are most likely transferable to other
contexts. To make sure that the level of transferability is high enough, we have included
descriptive information about the process, data collection, and analysis in this study.

Another way to gain transferability is to prevent and detect errors in the data collection process
(Saunders et al, 2016). We believe that a variation in the respondents’ age, gender, cultural
background, profession, and organization, as well as their position in different levels of
organizations, could help us achieve this (ibid). Thus, we have followed some of these criteria
in our sample and approached different individuals who were from several different cultural
backgrounds and industries.

4.6.1.2 Dependability
The dependability of a study relates to its consistency and replicability and therefore, refers to
the verification and existence of consistency in data and findings (Lincoln et al, 2011). In case
of the need for an audit to ensure the dependability of our study, we have kept all records,
transcripts, as well as data analysis related materials. Additionally, we continuously discussed
the possible interpretations of our findings. we also had several seminars where our progress
reports of this study were peer-reviewed. Besides that, our work was supervised on a regular
basis ensuring constant feedback and questions on our procedures and interpretations from these
external parties. (Bryman et al, 2011)

4.6.1.3 Confirmability
Complete objectivity is difficult to ensure in qualitative studies. However, researchers should
act in good faith during the study process to show that personal values and theoretical learnings
did not influence their study process or findings (Bryman et al, 2011).

We have continually discussed the misunderstandings and issues during the whole research
process specifically during data collection. We were critical of our data collection process and

39
have tried to do the interpretation of the data from different perspectives to ensure the quality
of our research.

4.6.2 Catalytic Authenticity

As our research was mainly focused on the positive impact of cultural diversity, we could
observe that some of our participants have not had a chance to look into what opportunities
were actually purely result of the fact that they had different people from different cultures
working together. Thus, we could observe that they realize the potential benefits of cultural
diversity from their own experiences and answers to our interview questions. By the end of the
interviews we tried to finish the formalities and had a few extra minutes of chat with our
participants since one of the authors had previous professional ties with most of them. We could
observe in our participants that they agreed that they have not given a thought to the facts that
certain benefits or challenges were result of the cultural differences and more importantly there
are ways to resolve these challenges and have a better cooperation in their workplaces.

4.6.2.1 Ontological Authenticity

This type of authenticity in qualitative studies “is assessed by determining the degree to which
participants become more aware of the complexity of the social environment” (Shannon et al,
2014). As we have conducted semi-structured interviews and had proper discussions with our
participants on a friendly, mutually respected and agreed upon terms. We were able to enlighten
them with the results of previous studies, the theories existing in this regard as well as what a
certain thing could possibly mean different (social constructivism) to some other individuals.
More importantly how complex cultural diversity can be. We also had many interesting and
educating experiences to share with our participants. However, this was done after the
interviews to be able to stay focused and let each single individual share their experiences and
respond in their own special ways.

4.6.2.2 Educative Authenticity

“Educative authenticity is assessed by determining the extent to which participants experienced

an increased awareness and respect for the viewpoints of others” (Lincoln et al, 2011; Manning,
1997; Seale, 2002; Tracy, 2007. cited by Shannon et al, 2014). When we were conducting
interviews, we would normally also refer to some findings and results of certain studies in this
40
specific case on cultural diversity and share those ideas to see whether the challenges and or
opportunities existing were something which our participants also experienced. More
importantly to develop and understanding and if possible, to create an appreciative mindset by
informing the various benefits of cultural diversity in a way which help our participants to
appreciate the unique qualities existing in people of other cultures and backgrounds.

4.6.2.3 Tactical Authenticity

According to Shannon et al (2014) “this type of authenticity is assessed by examining whether

the inquiry process stimulated action on the part of stakeholders”. In our interview sample,
most of the individuals were responsible for several units or groups of people and for us to
confirm the stimulation of action, we could refer to the positive attitude of our participants in
regards to what we shared with them and we observe through their discussions that they already
have tried to take action in regards to promoting workforce diversity and they will continue to
do so as our interviews with them acted as a good reminder of the phenomenon for them.

4.7 Ethical Reflection

Ethical compliance is essential in research (Saunders et al, 2016). If social norms, ethical codes
of conducting research and or plagiarism are not thoroughly considered in a study, this can lead
to ethical issues. We are obliged to keep in mind that our interviewees participate on a voluntary
basis and have the right to refuse participation. The participants’ consent before further
processing of the data will be taken (Saunders et al, 2016). The data protection regulations
according (GDPR) and another participants’ information will be kept anonymous. The
participants’ concerns such as comfortability with recording the interviews or confidentiality of
their given information will be clarified at the start of the interviews.

41
5 Findings

This chapter will describe the interview results. To easily understand we have directly focused
on the questions asked and written the answers. We have also indicated whether something was
brought up or said by majority of the participants or vice versa. As the source of the research
questions’ answers, the first part includes the brief introduction of each question that we put
forward to the participants. Followed by the answers from our participants which is further
clarified by majority and minority participants. The result of the answers or findings from our
empirical data is presented in a collective way where the focus has been on over all themes and
findings of our interviews. Thus, we have avoided to include each interview content
separately.

When we asked people regarding their worldview and experiences of working with people
from other cultures.

When we asked the interview participants if how they see working with people from different
cultures. Most of them described working with other people from other cultural backgrounds
challenging. While a small number or people also said they do not see any difference while
working with either culturally homogenous or diverse teams.

Most of our participants saw the challenges as opportunities for learning something in a
different way. Five of these nine people work on top management level, and four work on a
worldwide basis in multinational settings. they constantly see these challenges, which is why
they turn it back to their selves and relate to social awareness and social management skills.

The small number of participants which did not see that demographic cultural backgrounds play
any role in multicultural organizations, also worked with people from different cultures.
However, in our understanding, when it comes to certain professions, the function or
professional culture plays a more important role than the cultural background of the person
based on demographic factors.

Both people from middle and top management saw it as a challenge. The top management said
it as a manageable challenge and the middle management said it as a challenge that provides a
learning opportunity.

When we asked a follow-up question regarding the social aspect of working in a culturally
diverse workplace, most of the participants enjoyed the social aspect of cultural diversity in the

42
workplace. Most of them saw the social aspect also as a learning opportunity. Even though in
the next question we have some participants who found it difficult to connect with people from
other cultures. But that seems to have not stopped them from enjoying the social aspect of
cultural diversity.

Most of the people saw workforce including people from different cultural backgrounds as an
opportunity both for the team and the organization. Most people have answered that different
cultural backgrounds provide organizations with different solutions to the problem.

“I see working with people from other cultural backgrounds as a developing opportunity. I
enjoy working with people from other cultural backgrounds and support cultural diversity in
the workplace. I like it when you have different perspectives and angles when it comes to
solving a problem.”

(One of the interview participants).

When we asked people if what are the biggest challenges of working in a multicultural team
or organization

“I think communication can sometimes get on the way. Maybe, sometimes. People like to
work with the people from the same culture because is comfortable and you know what to
expect and you know what you get”

Interview Participant

Communication was mentioned by most of the people as the biggest challenge. As majority of
the participants have mentioned that communication barriers were the biggest challenge while
working with people from other backgrounds.

A fair number of participants believed that communication problems were more in the
beginning and with time as you to know the person more it slowly gets better. Communication
problems can directly affect understanding and the effectiveness of collaboration in a team. it
not only happens in the workplace but also in other social aspects. They believed that this is
something which should be expected especially when joining a multicultural workplace for the
first time. They also believed that this will be solved with time.

43
The second biggest challenge was getting along with people from other cultures. Almost half
of the participants believed that they have had difficulties in connecting to people from other
cultural backgrounds.

The third challenge raised by some of the participants was the different perspective. They
viewed the different opinions and perspectives in a group as a challenge. This on a day to day
basis has a lot more examples, especially if people from high context and low context cultures
are working together, the person from the low context might be very direct when it comes to
approaching other team members and rely on explicit communication while the one from the
high context might find this very uncomfortable.

“When working with people from other cultures, they most probably will have a different
opinion than you. You must be able to manage someone telling you that you are wrong. It is a
fact that we cannot be best at everything. So how you manage this difference is the real
challenge”.

One of the interview participants

When we asked people if they have had collaboration or cooperation problems while working
with people from other cultural backgrounds.

Most of the people said it has nothing to do with the culture. Their response was that it is all
about the person you are working with. we can be working with people from different cultures
and have a great collaboration but even when we are working with people from the same
backgrounds, we might still have collaboration problems. He or she can be from any cultural
background even from your own but if the person has a problem collaborating or cooperating
in the workplace then we cannot put it on the culture.

“I think it is all about the person. I have had less collaboration when working with people
even from the same background. It is a personal thing in my opinion.”

Interview participant

A small number of participants however, had problems that were caused by having different
cultures. In our understanding, it had more to do with the organizational culture rather than
culture based on demographic features.

44
 When the participants were specifically asked if they have experienced that people from
diverse cultures bring different solutions to the team or organizations

Every single participant said that they have learned a lot from people from other cultures and
they all agreed that having a team where people from different cultures work together can
bring various solutions to the surface when having problems.

“In my case, only speaking for myself, I would say that it was a more open and a good
experience. especially when the guys from Vietnam had arrived in Sweden in the early 80s.
They couldn't speak Swedish so well, but they had a special way of working and we worked a
lot with our hands and bodies. And during the memory I have of those people were that they
were very, very smart how to perform a job. They had a certain technique would that would
ease up the work itself a lot. So, for myself, I learned a lot about different techniques, how to
perform a job. I like diversity. So, I think it's it is good for the individual and for the
company”.

One of the interview participants

When we asked if it is important that organizations integrate cultural diversity in their

workforce.

Most of the people said that it is important to have people from different backgrounds in the
workforce for the following reasons.

People from different background provides organizations with different perspective and
solutions. If from one side it gives you the solution from the other side it also paves the way for
the developmental of other employees in the workplace as the discussion will lead to multiple
solutions being on the table and everyone will learn about how best can a specific solution solve
a problem.

The second reason was that if we have people from different cultural backgrounds, it will help
the organization come up with a good strategy specially to changes or challenges which are
caused by factors outside of the organization. All these people belong to a different part of the
world which means that the organization will benefit from this difference by having various
perspectives and approaches

45
The third reason was that have different people from diverse cultural backgrounds adds to the
reputation of the organization. It creates a good image that shows that the organization believes
in diversity and gives equal opportunities to everyone.

A small number of participants said that it can bring benefits to the organization but, it is not
needed that we bring people from different cultures together. thus, they see it unimportant for
an organization to integrate people of different backgrounds together.

When did we ask on which organizational level would it be more useful to have culturally
diverse teams?

Most people said it is more important on top management level. The main reasons for having
cultural diversity on top management were respect towards differences, easy to communicate,
and support of having various solutions from everyone in the organization.

People on the top management are more skilled and have many years of work experience, this
means that they are used to different working conditions with people from different
backgrounds. Thus, it is easy to understand and handle the cultural differences on top
management level.

Top management in an organization is mainly concerned with making strategies and long-term
plans for the organization. If we have people from different cultural backgrounds who clearly
will bring different perspectives, we will be able to formulate a better strategy since we will
approach the strategy from different viewpoints and have the possibility to choose the best one.

Top management in an organization can influence the overall organization. If we have cultural
diversity at the top, it will encourage talent from diverse cultural backgrounds to work for such
an organization both because it will give them a sense of belonging and create the thought that
everyone is valued here as well as that everyone has an equal chance to grow professionally.

Having cultural diversity in the top management can also create a strong organizational image
for the company. It shows that diversity is welcomed and valued and that the organization is
more into out of the box thinking and environment.

Some of the participants have mentioned that it is important on every organization level to have
people from diverse cultural backgrounds. As it is truly becoming something vital and more
and more visible. people and organizations both see its benefits. organization try to bring it on
all level.
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6 Discussion

In this chapter we have focused on the perspectives of our interview participants who work in
multicultural teams. We have discussed relationship building in multicultural environment,
their view and experience of working with culturally diverse teams and the different
organizational levels where culturally diverse teams are seen advantageous in an organization.
The discussion also contains the challenges on working in a culturally diverse team or
organization based on demographic factors. Since we had two different aims by this study, the
first was to find out if how do these individuals see cultural diversity in their workplaces and
what experiences they have had during their work time. Thus, there are challenges discussed
in this chapter which a reader might find confusing due to the fact the second aim or purpose
of this research focus only on the advantageous. Our explanation to this is that we wanted to
know the general perspective of our interview participants and in this case, it could either be
their positive or negative experiences. Thus, we have included a short discussion and have
mentioned these challenges in this chapter below.

Relationship building in multicultural organizations.

When it comes to culturally diversity at workplace, the core issue is getting along with people
from other backgrounds and creating a cooperative atmosphere in workplace. This exact reason
is what many organizations think when they are hiring new employees or forming a new team.
We have looked at this issue from a relationship building social perspective and have tried to
draw conclusions based on the findings from studying the relationship building aspect at
multicultural organizations. As social capital theory looks at relationship building and
connecting with other people based on the facts that the theory shows that our social networks
is a form or type of property. People realizing this fact that connecting with others benefit them
try to do so by either bonding with others from his or her own group or trying to get into people
from various other backgrounds. Similarities attraction theory shows that based on this fact
that we want to connect with people, it is preferred to connect with similar people. because it is
easy to communicate, easy to connect, have similar worldviews and many other similarities
which encourage people to bond. Our empirical data shows people liked to connect and work
with others who had different demographic backgrounds specifically culture. As they liked to
bridge across their networks, they have faced all the above challenges (such as communication,
networking and connecting and having different idea). However, their interest to connect with
47
others who are dissimilar shows that people have realized the resourcefulness of differences
and see the challenges of connecting and working with others as opportunities which are
mutually beneficial as per Social cognitive theory. This theory shows that if we have individuals
from different backgrounds specifically culture (cultural diversity) we can be more effective
and productive.

Perspectives of individual employees about culturally diverse workforce.

Employees perspective on a multicultural or culturally diverse work environment shows a very

mix image of opportunities and challenges. They believe working in a culturally diverse team
or organization has its challenges when it comes to communication, networking, and having
different ideas. But they also believe it is very developing and offers various social and
professional opportunities. If cultural diversity is properly managed and the differences are
respected and valued within organizations and teams, it will create feelings of being important
(Pieterse, et al, 2010). As everyone brings their own values and contributions to their teams and
organizations, these unique values and contributions should be recognized and appreciated the
organizations to enhance employee motivation and productivity (Misoc, 2017), in order to
achieve its optimal goals.

A wider range of cognitive resources is one of the biggest contributions of a culturally diverse
workforce (Pieterse et al, 2010). This we can also notice from our empirical data findings that
most people have experienced having several solutions at the time of organization problems
and or learning new ways of doing their work. Quoting one of the participants who worked for
more than 20 years with people from different cultures “sometimes you will be surprised how
people from other cultures and countries do a certain thing and you might even like and adapt
it”. According to social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), our functioning and life
circumstances are influenced by our society or surrounding thus we adapt, change, and develop
as we learn from our societies. This means that the wider range of cognitive resources from
every single individual in a culturally diverse team increases the productivity of the teams and
organizations and can influence and motivate the team members to share their unique ways of
working and learn from each other(Thomas, 1999).

We have also observed that people are more and more attracted to develop both socially and
professionally and like to bridge with other individuals and networks from different groups and
backgrounds. They prefer a multicultural work environment despite it challenges. These
challenges are were viewed as opportunities by most of the people. As “diversity greatly
48
increases the complexity of the process, it must occur in order to realize the team’s potentials”
(Adler, 1986), a large number of the empirical study sample shows that employees believed that
the challenges of multicultural workplace are lesser compare to the various opportunities it
provides. of a multicultural environment is more positive and on the other hand its challenges
manageable.

These challenges exist on individual, team, and organizational levels (Thomas, 1999). Looking
into the challenges from an individual level, the greatest challenges are communication,
different opinions, and connecting to people from other cultural backgrounds. According to
similarity attraction theory (Byrne, 1971), which states that people are attracted to others who
are alike them either on a surface level (demographic) or deep level (values, attitudes, and
beliefs). It is easier to work with people who have similar worldviews, languages, and cultural
backgrounds. Because is more comfortable and you know directly what to expect and you know
what you can get.

Communication according to our empirical data is a challenge mentioned by most of the

interviewed individuals. In these, cases of speaking a common language or having access to a
proper medium of translation. This was considered manageable. According to most of the
interviewed individuals, lack of cooperation is also something very personal which has not a
lot to do with culture. Most of the top and middle management saw cooperation as a short time
problem when caused by cultural differences and is manageable through the proper integration
of different individuals from various backgrounds and cultures in an organization.

Different opinions are more welcome by most of the individuals on a team level. Most of the
individuals we asked favored working in a culturally diverse team or organization and they see
cultural diversity in the workforce as something important for organizations to have. The
difference is perceived as a reality and many of them have experienced productivity of its
cognitive resources, as we asked if they have had any experience of having several solutions to
a specific problem.

The differences as seen as opportunities by many, and they like to bridge with individuals and
groups from diverse backgrounds to facilitate actions and cooperation for mutual benefits
(Putnam, 1993). According to social cognitive theory (Bandura,1986), many of the things we
want to achieve are possible through a collective interdependent effort. Thus, see is that despite
the challenges, people have adapted to changes and see the mutual development opportunities
in multicultural teams. But what we see is that connecting to people from other cultures is a
challenge faced by many in multicultural teams which might pave the ground for attraction to

49
the similarities and negatively affect the productivity and outcome of individuals which might
lead to discrimination, poor communication and group cohesion.

Cultural diversity being advantageous on a specific organization level.

To focus on the level of organization where cultural diversity has a more positive impact has a
lot to do with the nature of the business of an organization. what we can observe from people
in the top management is that they understand cultural diversity more and see its challenges as
something manageable. They believe that cultural diversity is the reality of today which can
provide great competitive advantages if not missed or ignored (Nkomo, 1999). These
individuals who work on top management or board level of different organizations possess
experience of working with people from various backgrounds on various organizational
levels. They have answered most of our questions in favor of cultural diversity and have a
positive worldview regarding diversity compared to the lower level, as Gupta (2007, P.137)
showed that people on top levels need to appropriately integrate the activities and efforts of
different people in the organizations.

Top and middle management favored cultural diversity and they said it is beneficial for the
organization in terms of resourcefulness. Diversity being positive on top management level was
also a direct answer of most of our participants. As well as the fact that five of our interview
participants were from top management and they also said that on managerial levels cultural
diversity has more positive impact.

Cultural diversity was seen less advantageous on the lower level of management, almost all the
participants saw it difficult to have people from different culture. Even though some of the
organizations to which our interview participants belong have culturally diverse workforce on
lower management level, still all of them have found it more advantageous on managerial level.
Continuing an indirect discussion with our participants, we have noticed that some of them
mentioned that on the lower level, most of the jobs are entry level jobs, and since working with
people from other cultures is a challenge which requires certain skills to get to fruitful and
beneficial stage, the lower management due to the lack of work experience found it hard and
most of the time change organizations.

It is also mentionable that age factor has a direct connection to our experiences. So, the younger
we are the less experienced we most probably are. That includes experiences of working or
socializing with people from other cultures which is gained either through professional life,

50
travel experiences and or any other form of social events. Thus, on this organizational level
cultural diversity was not considered to be advantageous. We also noticed that during our
empirical data, none of the participants ever mentioned the lower management and when we
tried to get the lower management into our discussion, most of the participants were clearly
unsure if culturally diverse workforce or teams on lower or frontline management is something
which will have advantages for organizations.

However, in our opinion it depends on the nature of organization. For example, if a company is
producing a specific good or providing services where the sales team or distributors are in direct
contact with the end user, then we definitely can see that the lower management should have
people from different backgrounds in order to reach different markets since this is the level of
organization which is mostly in contact with the outsiders in different markets and regions.

7 Conclusions

In this chapter we have summarized the key findings through the discussion to answer the
research question, furthermore, describe the theoretical and practical contributions. As well as
limitation of the study and suggestions for future research.

Economic globalization is one of the important characteristics of the contemporary world

economy and an important trend of world economic development. Economic globalization
helps world economic activities transcend national borders and form a global economy through
foreign trade, capital flows, technology transfer, provision of interdependence, and
interconnection. The trend of economic globalization requires organizations be more open and
create multicultural workplace which maximum benefit organizations. Based on the differences
of the function in different levels, cultural diversity may have different impact. In this study we
want to understand how different levels people see the cultural diversity, which challenges they
met and through their perspectives that put forward our research question: On which level is
cultural diversity advantageous for an organizations?

Through the key findings, people see cultural diversity in a mixed picture. It provides a good
opportunity for them to learn from different cultures also include a variety of angles on dealing
with problems. That also confirms that higher levels of diversity lead to executive creativity,

51
more effective executive decision-making and more positive organizational outcomes (Miller
et al, 1998). People like working with different cultures because they want to build network
which can benefit them and their organizations. On the other hand, from our empirical data,
most of the people have experienced challenges, such as, communication, bridging and
networking with people from other cultures and so on. However, most the participants saw these
challenges as either manageable challenges or opportunities. We have also concluded that
culturally diverse workforce is advantageous to have on managerial levels specifically top
management based on the following facts which were derived from our empirical study and
supported by various studies mentioned in earlier chapters.

As top management is mainly concerned with long term strategic plans and decisions for the
organization and can understand see the benefits of cultural diversity in their workforce easily
and implement it in their internal organizational strategy which will influence all levels of
organization.

People tend to share their ideas and be resourceful with others if their differences are realized,
understood and respected. Our empirical data, shows that when people are being understood,
valued and their differences are respected, this will facilitate productiveness, better networking
and cooperation. Our findings show that most of the people were valued, encouraged and they
from this level employees. It is also for that fact that they have various years if experiences
Thus, we can say that on top management level, cultural diversity has positive impact in
organizations.

Apart from the internal strategic benefits of cultural diversity on top management level, the
diverse knowledge and various experiences of the different individuals on top organization level
will provide an organization with different perspectives and solutions when formulating
external organizational strategy. As top management teams are proven to be more effective
when they have diverse skills.

Another important reason to have cultural diversity on top management is the that, it can give
a positive image of the organization to both its employees from diverse cultures who will be
influenced and motivated by seeing that everyone is provided with equal opportunities and
attracts talent from different cultures and integrate it in different organizational levels to
maximize potentials and productivity of organization and its members.

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7.1 Theoretical implications

From the findings of this study, we have found that in most multicultural teams, cultural
diversity is advantageous on managerial level specifically top management level. With the help
of the Social Capital, Similarity Attraction and Social Cognitive theories we could understand
the need, importance, and resourcefulness of cultural diversity from a social perspective. We
believe that a social perspective approach could help employees and management to not only
managing the challenges, also understand the important contributions it can bring to a
workplace. Thus, we have relied upon the experiences of different individuals (employee)
which is a very practical from the perspective of research gap and have combined the mentioned
theories to investigate our research question from a social perspective.

7.2 Practical implications

This study can help managers and individuals in multicultural organizations to understand what
challenges and opportunities the result of cultural diversity can be so they can effectively
manage its challenges and avail the various benefits it provides.

Although cultural diversity benefits in top management, it is equally possible to increase its
benefit at the middle and front-line levels. If people clearly like, understand, and have a positive
perception regarding working with people from other cultures. organizations can adopt a
networking mood to create the environment from which both its employees and the organization
itself can benefit. Thus, it is necessary that organizations take a holistic approach and implement
it in all levels and functions.

Our finding shows that at certain professions, the profession culture is much stronger and have
greater impact compare to the cultural background of individuals based on demographic factors.
Thus, could be a very useful finding for certain individuals working in professions where their
job-related culture is either very strict of seen important.

In addition, it could help young individuals, recent graduates or employees of culturally

homogeneous organizations to look for career opportunities in multicultural organizations. It
could also help those who have newly joined multicultural organizations to understand and
manage the challenges and benefit from its resourcefulness.

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7.3 Further research

We believe that further research could investigate an in-depth study of the same topic on
multicultural organizations of various natures as this research has only covered organizations
of business nature. Future research could also investigate organizational perspective
specifically positive impact of cultural diversity from an organization point of view and focus
see if on which organizational level do organizations value having people from diverse cultural
backgrounds.

Furthermore, a case study research of positive impact of cultural diversity specifically on top
management level could be promising in terms of a thoroughness and comprehensiveness. This
approach could develop better understanding and knowledge which is thoroughly constructed.

Lastly, it could be interesting to look into cultural diversity in symbolic teams where only 1
member of the team is from a different background. By having a fair sample, we believe the
research could achieve very practical insights on cultural differences from the point of view of
team members and organizations.

7.4 Limitations

As limitations of this study, we have noted the following points.

First, recording and transcribing gather from the interviews might lead to potential errors by its
very nature since transferring information, emotions and emphasis could be misinterpreted by
the researchers. Even though we made sure to ask follow-up questions when needed, we still
sent the transcripts of collected data to each participant to avoid misunderstandings and add
credibility to the data collected. However, it is important to mention that some of the interviews
were conducted through zoom (online) where facial expressions were difficult to catch.

The second limitation of this study include, generalizability concerns and possible effects from
unrecognized selection bias since the selected participants might not represent the population
as well as that our sample was mainly formed by male (gender) participants with only 2 female
participants among them. However, we had a good variation and believe that variation in the
respondents’ age, gender, cultural background, profession, and organization, as well as their
position in different levels of organizations. But almost all participants were based on previous
connections due to the fact that otherwise it would be hard to find participants for our interviews.
54
Time was one of the main limitations during this study. The fact that with this short amount of
time, we had to focus on several points at the same time to be able to finish our project under
the given time. This has been quite a pressure at certain points.

7.5 Work process & Individual contribution

Research Phase 1: We had an initial discussion with our relevant thesis supervisor, conduct a
more extensive review of literature related to cultural diversity. and formulate a research
question. we both have done the literature review and discussed relevant themes related to
cultural diversity and started writing our introduction.

Phase 2: The 2nd week of this study, we still reviewing literature, found a possible gap in the
studies and tried to work on a possible methodological approach.

Phase 3: During the fourth week of our research, we worked with formulating interview
questions, booking interviews with participants.

Phase 5: On the fifth week, we started this phase with interviews, collected and analyzed the
empirical data. We also worked on the conceptual framework.

Research Phase and week 6: We finalized our findings, discussion and conclusion. And did not
have time to thoroughly review.

Throughout the process of achieving this thesis, we most of the times worked together to be
able to discuss our work, combine our skills and knowledge and not only complete the thesis,
but also use this opportunity to learn. We believe, that we have learned a lot during our
teamwork both regarding our topic, writing a thesis as well as from the experiences of each
other.

We have worked together on introduction, empirical data collection and analysis, finding and
discussions, as well as the conclusion part.

Noor has worked alone on research methods and conceptual framework parts and corrected the
thesis text.

55
Lu has worked alone on thesis structure, references list, and the creation of the charts in this
thesis.

Even if we had some separate sections to work with, we always investigated it as a learning
opportunity and shared the knowledge with each other. This was useful during our data analysis.
We both could easily refer to any concepts, studies, theories and other important sections to
create room for mutual learning opportunity.

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