Oxford Handbook of Human Resource Management

(Steven Felgate) #1

A third view, sometimes referred to as ‘crossvergence,’ suggests that there is
convergence in some areas of international business, such as consumer values and
lifestyle preferences, although divergence of cultures persists in several signiWcant
respects. Further, several factors may simultaneously lead to convergence and
divergence. For example, information and communication technology may
facilitate global communication for many, but some ethnic groups will reject new
technologies and the related lifestyle and cultural values. ‘[T]hrough the process
of globalization, cultures inXuence each other and change, but whether or not
these changes will bring about cultural convergence is yet to be seen’ (Leung et al.
2005 : 361 ).


25.5 Current Research Issues in


Cultural Diversity
.........................................................................................................................................................................................


Cultural diversity has been studied from a variety of theoretical perspectives and
using a variety of research methods. In the last decade or so, a major area of
research interest and debate has focused on the relationship between cultural
diversity and performance. Other noteworthy research areas include the implica-
tions of cultural diversity for knowledge-sharing, transnational teams, and cultural
intelligence. Each of these research issues has implications for HR managers in
transnationalWrms.





    1. 1 The Relationship between Cultural Diversity




and Performance


There has been ongoing debate about the relationship between cultural diversity
and performance inWrms such as transnational enterprises.







      1. 1 The ‘Dysfunctional Diversity’ View






Many researchers have noted problems associated with cultural diversity, such as
misunderstandings or confusion when individuals from diVerent cultures fail to
understand each other (Miroshnik 2002 ). Numerous studies have proposed that
diversity is related to poorer performance outcomes (Richard et al. 2004 ). It has
been argued that workforce diversity will lead to communication problems and
dysfunctional conXict, with negative implications for organizational performance
(e.g. Pelled et al. 1999 ).


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