Cultural Adaptation in the Workplace

Martha Tyler John, Donald G. Roberts

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781138286061
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351976688
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

The purpose of this book, first published in 1996, is to explore the dimensions of the changing workforce, and examines the issues faced by non-native workers and their employers. This study aims to explore issues such as culture shock and cultural adaptation in the healthcare, fast food and hotel industries in Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. This title will be of interest to students of business studies and sociology.

I

The Changing Workplace

Overview

In this beginning chapter, the complexity of the changing workplace and the accompanying workforce are discussed. Several variables are explored in connection with the future of businesses and industries. The number of young people that are available for employment is dwindling. Women in the workforce will become more and more common. Although there are several changes taking place, the one that is the particular focus of this book is the immigrant influx and the cultural adaptation needed by immigrants and by the community into which this new population comes. There is adaptation needed on the part of the newcomer and on the part of the long term resident. Since the services of both groups of workers are important, an understanding between the groups that would maximize output will be critical to production.

Production change such as plants closing and the relocation of workers is an important piece of the changing workplace also. The technological know-how that is currently required in many industries is also discussed as an essential skill for most workers.

The workplace, both in the United States and abroad, is changing at a rapid rate and this creates a need for adaptive strategies on the part of both managers and workers. Global competition, population shifts, population growth, and the addition of new immigrant groups are changes that have taken place during the last decade. There has been variation in the type of goods and services in demand and a need for more and different types of education also. All of this creates a need for modifications in the workplace, where efficiency is crucial and the level of production must be kept high.

POPULATION CHANGES

What changes will influence the way managers in the workplace evaluate the production potential of their plant/industry or business? Four basic changes can be seen that will influence the future of any industry and the future productivity of the organization: population increase and mobility, the influx of foreign-born workers, the shrinking pool of young people who can make up the workforce, and the dramatic change in the employment of women. Managers must take into consideration all these factors when planning to build and maintain a successful business. While this book deals primarily with the workforce in America, the variables of population shift and the employment of women is a world-wide phenomena. There are refugee camps and relocation centers in many parts of the world and people in these dwelling places are concerned very much with the reemployment of both their male and female residents. The ideas herein, therefore, have an international application as well because the cultural adaptation of a new working population is a concern in many countries, and a well-trained workforce is needed everywhere. There is a “universality of application to all international companies in all industries,” and there are “international corporation's acculturation efforts both in the home country and abroad” (Artise, 1995, p.71).

Population Increase and Mobility

The increase in population and the fact that people can move about freely due to modem technology has an influence on the industrial and service sectors of society. In the New York Times, Lewis (1990) wrote, “In the report made public today, the agency [United Nations] predicted that the world's population, now estimated at 5.3 billion, would reach 6.25 billion by the end of this century, nearly the equivalent of adding a new China.” There can be no doubt that this increase in population will put greater demands on every economic sector on earth. There will be greater competition for limited resources, and a greater demand for skilled workers who can produce the goods and services needed by this growing population. The greatest stress for productivity will be on the developing countries where the population has continued to expand at a high rate. In the industrial countries the population increase has leveled off during the last two decades. This is seen in Chart 1 below.

Chart 1
POPULATION AND LABOR FORCE GROWTH

(Average Annual Gain)

People are more mobile today than they ever have been. The individual who is born in one town, and who lives and works in that town all his/her life is rather unusual in this day and age. The mobility that is possible today allows people to enjoy many different experiences. To work in one factory or industry for 40 years is almost a thing of the past.

Because people are mobile, both within the United States and from country to country outside the boundaries of the U.S., the need for education and training has become more pressing. When one remains in the same position or in the same job for forty years, there are times when updating is needed. There may be a need to involve the workers in continuing motivation so that they will not suffer “burn-out.” The individual who moves about frequently probably will not suffer from boredom on the job but may not be familiar with the demands of the newly acquired position either. It surely will be necessary to provide initial training and perhaps long term development for the person who is newly hired. So there are advantages and disadvantages to both long term and short term productivity.

Population trends have been represented in numerous graphs and charts. Chart 2 provides information about the shifts in population in the United States:

Chart 2
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO MOVE

Percent Moving

Immigration Influx

There can be no doubt that the United States has long been seen as the land to which “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” (Lazarus, 1887) could come and be welcomed. Here they could have a better life and improve the lot of their family. Sometimes, in the busy excitement of incorporating the new immigrant families into the American way of life, the unique contributions of the culture from which the people came were forgotten. In the next decade, “immigrants will represent the largest share of increase in the population workforce since the first World War” (Johnston and Packer, 1987, p.xx).

In fact, some states in the United States would face a declining population were it not for the immigrant people coming into these states. Since the pool of people for jobs will draw more and more heavily on the immigrant population, increases in the immigrant population could become an important factor in the well being of the economy. Chart 3 shows an example of five states where population is growing and where immigration is a major factor in that growth.

Chart 3
WHERE IMMIGRANTS ARE

Center estimates of population include both legal and illegal immigrants

State	1980 population (000)	1990 population (000)	Population gain (000)	Number of legal immigrants between 1980 and 1990 (000)
California	23,668	29,279	5,611	1,593
New York	17,558	17,627	69	1,016
Texas	14,229	16,825	2,596	438
Florida	9,746	12,775	3,029	412
New Jersey	7,365	7,617	252	300

Source: The Urban Institute

The immigrant not only comes to a new land, s/he leaves one behind; and that land may have a long range influence on the person's life here. The background and the values of the individual will undoubtedly influence his/her productivity in the workplace.

The culture contributes greatly to the development of the individual and has an impact on both the experiences the individual encounters and the values s/he develops. Contributions such as dress and mannerisms can be readily seen. Language and values involving religious, ethical and interpersonal conduct are not always as directly observable. Many of the obvious and less obvious cultural contributions are present in the culture as the individual grows up. People are involved in the process of enculturation without volition and without conscious effort. The degree to which unique environments affect the development of skills and values has not been fully determined yet, but it is clear that the influence is significant and long-lasting. The book, Cultural Diversity in the Workplace (Walton, 1994), provides a checklist of cultural identifiers the reader can use to help determine the cultural influences that s/he has developed.

The influx of foreign-born workers and the accompanying difficulties with the English language is creating a whole new set of issues in the workplace. In urban manufacturing areas and, to a lesser degree, in remote places, the population and the working conditions are undergoing change. Many of the workers entering the workforce will be of Hispanic, Asian or of other national or regional origins, and their command of English is understandably limited. Businesses including manufacturing, distribution, and service industries and institutions will need to develop effective strategies for dealing with what we now call “minority” workers. Managers will be required to hire and train persons from other cultures, often from less technologically developed countries. When this happens, the attitude of the manager toward the individual becomes critical. If the manager sees the person as a group member only, and has already established in his/her thinking as to what the group is like, the trainee may experience much difficulty. “Condescending and paternalistic attitudes toward people in developing countries may be a function partly of our stereotypical images of these people” (Case, 1993, p.323). The dictionary indicates that a stereotype is “a tendency to think or act in rigid, repetitive, and often meaningless patterns.” The effective manager will need to consider each individual and be flexible. Meaningless patterns will not work with a divergent population.

Indeed, we are told that “sometime in the next century, Whites will become the minority in the population of the United States” (Copeland, 1988, p.4). Different cultural backgrounds will abound in the United States in the future and, “diversity will have a profound impact on our lives—and will pose a growing challenge for most human resource managers” (Copeland, 1988, p.4). In fact, the impact of diversity is already being felt and service agencies like fast food restaurants are initiating training programs for management in the “mother tongue” of prospective managers.

In the mid-1970s New York experienced an unusually large influx of persons from Puerto Rico. To cope with the installation and repair of telephone service in the areas of the city that were predominantly Spanish speaking, the New York Telephone Company organized installation training courses in Spanish. This enabled many of these new immigrants to obtain employment and facilitated the provision of telephone service to their friends and neighbors. It was felt that while the person might be able to handle day-to-day conversations in English adequately, developing a full understanding of the procedures necessary for the company's operations, might be communicated more fully using the manager’s “mother tongue.”

For most people the “mother tongue” is the language learned as a child and it is the language in which the individual thinks. Thus, prospective industries and businesses that employ large numbers of immigrant workers have implemented instruction in the language most familiar to the workers, the “mother tongue.” New populations of immigrants and minority workers create unique challenges in the workplace. But, “in tight labor markets, employers have great incentives to reach out to minorities and other disadvantaged populations as a way of meeting their own labor needs” (Dole, 1990, p.20). Conditions in the workpla...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• LIST OF CHARTS AND FIGURES
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER I: THE CHANGING WORKPLACE
• CHAPTER II: CULTURAL DIVERSITY
• CHAPTER III: CAREER CONSIDERATIONS
• CHAPTER IV: WORKPLACE ETHICS
• CHAPTER V: ADAPTATION SEQUENCE
• CHAPTER VI: WORKPLACE BEHA VIOR OUTCOMES
• CHAPTER VII: PROBLEM-SOLVING DISCUSSIONS
• CHAPTER VIII: METRO. WASHINGTON SURVEY RESULTS
• CHAPTER IX: AN ADAPTATION MODEL
• CHAPTER X: GLOBAL MODEL FOR BUILDING TOLERANCE
• APPENDIXES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX