Hire Diversity, Make More Money (Retailers Learn From Profs)

A new business marketing study gives retailers a strong reason to hire with diversity in mind.

Yearly earnings are boosted by as much as $100,000 when they employ people who look like their customers, a new study suggests.

But this still involves more than simply playing ethnic mix-and-match, says one professor.

Temple University, Rutgers University and Davidson College profs studied 739 outlets of the U.S. department store J.C. Penney and found that where the pool of employees mirrored the ethnic makeup of the communities they served, this earned retailers an average of $94,000 more per year than stores in which staff wasn’t as representative of the wider community.

That figure averages out to $630 more per employee, and earned the company an extra $69 million last year, the study found.

The study was the first to establish such a strong link between diversity and profitability.

“In some ways the whole thing was sort of surprising,” says co-author Derek Avery, a professor of Human Resources Management at Temple’s Fox School of Management. “Even though the finding is somewhat intuitive based on social-psychological principles – similarity has got to sell. But when you look at all the literature that’s out there it really hadn’t worked. Evidence was very mixed.”

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But previous studies measured the financial effect of matching employees and customers of the same ethnic group, and Avery says his group’s study examined diversity and retail on a broader scale -- yielding a more comprehensive set of answers.

He cautions retailers and other companies not to misinterpret the study’s conclusions — setting quotas or numerical targets for employees of various ethnic groups misses the point.

Avery says customers at a mainstream retailer aren’t necessarily swayed by attempts to pander to ethnic solidarity. Instead, he says, a monochromatic sales team in an ethnically diverse area sends negative signals to shoppers of various backgrounds.

The study, titled “Is There Method to the Madness? Examining How Racioethnic Matching Influences Retail Store Productivity,” appears in the journal Process Psychology.

Too Few Black CPAs, Says Howard University Professor (Who Offers Solutions)

Listen to Frank Ross, CPA:

Most of the accounting profession recognizes the importance of attracting more Blacks to the field and helping them pass the CPA exam. Few, unfortunately, have a good track record in getting results. In 2002 and 2010, Blacks hired by CPA firms accounted for only 3 percent and 4 percent, respectively. Even slightly lower, the percentage of Black professional staff members of CPA firms was 2 percent in 2002 and 3 percent in 2010. As expected, this has resulted in the marginal representation of Blacks at the management level of CPA firms, with only 1 percent of Black partners in 2002 and less than 1 percent in 2010, according to the American Institute of CPAs.

Have can this problem be resolved?

Ross, director of the Howard University School of Business Center for Accounting Education and a visiting professor of accounting, teaching auditing and ethics, offers his opinion.

(In 1968, Ross was one of the nine cofounders and the first president of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA). In December 2003, he retired from KPMG after providing more than 38 years of service. Prior to retiring, he was the Mid-Atlantic area managing partner for Audit and Risk Advisory Services and managing partner of the Washington, D.C., offices. Ross was also a member of KPMG’s board of directors and chairman of the KPMG Foundation board of directors.)

This article continued -- http://bit.ly/ApyZiL

Not just students bully...so do teachers, says Teaching Tolerance organization

When schools implement anti-bullying programs, the focus is usually centered on student-to-student bullying. However, students aren’t the only bullies in school. Teachers sometimes earn the label when they employ questionable disciplinary and management practices. Addressing Teacher Bullies is a presentation intended to help educators assess and reflect on their classroom management style and learn more about how inappropriate displays of teacher power can impact student learning.

Teaching Tolerance designed this presentation for teacher leaders, professional learning groups, staff development coordinators and other educators interested in engaging their colleagues around issues of teacher behavior and classroom climate.

Click here to learn more.

Diversity in the Workplace: must you understand others to understand yourself? To get along with Others? It helps, says the author of ‘Seven Steps for Defeating Bias in the Workplace’

What can we say about Americans, and how we are alike? Not much, except that … we hold a fondness for ice water!
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Leave it to fun-loving Mark Twain. This delightful spokesperson for the 19th century American popular culture, really did once say that ice water was the ONLY thing Americans have in common. Twain really didn’t know what he was talking about on this issue, but at least he wasn’t trying to force the term “melting pot” on Americans, a phrase that is still used by many Americans – and infers this country is nothing but a composite of cultures from around the world.

If not the melting pot phrase, how often do we hear something like, “It seems like every other country has a culture but we don’t” or “America is just a hodgepodge of group – we don’t really have any values that distinguish us?”

Social scientist Sondra Theiderman, a speaker and author on diversity, bias-reduction, and cross-cultural issues, asked this question in writing for Diverse issues, a Penn State publication. She is also the author of Making Diversity Work: Seven Steps for Defeating Bias in the Workplace (Chicago: Dearborn Press, 2003)

People talk about the "melting pot" and say that the United States is nothing but a conglomeration of cultures from around the world. Or they focus on this country as a "nation of immigrants," but there are still unique American characteristics that resulted from the synergy or coming together of these many cultures, Theiderman states.

But it is from that very fabric that a true American culture has developed, from the Puritan work ethic brought by the English to the "all-American" German hot dog, and such "American" French words as rendezvous and hors d'oeuvres.

So, it seems, we do have a culture – and there are many reasons why we need to remember this is so, most importantly to learn how to understand other cultures so we can get along with people who are different - by learning about ourselves, first.

Understanding other cultures, starts with knowing one’s own culture. And when we are master of both, it becomes far more possible to accurately interpret the needs and behaviors of colleagues, patients, and families who might be new arrivals to this country – people whose cultures have different ways of looking at the world.

Getting to a point of understanding of culture, might come through simply thinking of human beings as fish in a fishbowl surrounded by water and glass, and unaware these elements exist, thus distorting the view of the outside world.This analogy is used by Theiderman, and I think it works quite well.

Most humans functioning inside our culture (the fishbowl), have no idea that their own culture exists, let alone the cultures (fishbowls) of others, and vice versa.

To most people, cultural values -- what we do and the way we feel about things -- are assumed to be human nature, and many of us simply reason this is just the way ALL people act and behave.

Take the issue of eye contact. Americans generally believe it is a sign of respect to look someone in the eyes, or that this behavior is an accurate way to determine if a person is telling the truth.
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What we often may not realize is that direct eye contact is considered totally DIS-respectful in many cultures. While an American might see lack of eye contact as deceitful, uninterested, or shifty, a person from another culture often sees lack of eye contact as communicating respect.

A major trick for achieving and managing diversity in the workplace is to eliminate misunderstandings like this; to learn the basis of such cultural misunderstanding is first to become consciously aware of our own values and that our way of seeing the world is not automatically shared by everyone we meet, particularly from across cultures.

Once this is realized, that our views are not simply a fact of human nature, we can better interpret the behavior and needs of those around us. And voila! We have cross cultural understanding in today’s diversified workplace.

So how do we do this – become aware of how we see outside of the fishbowl, compared to the variety of viewpoints coming into the workplace from other ethnic groups and cultures?

Theiderman suggests a number of ways, including a quick lesson learned by looking at popular proverbs used in the American culture, such as “There’s no fool like an old fool” – a saying, albeit antiquated, that shows the value we place on youth.

While the saying is old, the practice continues, and the United States is practically alone in the world in its obsession with youth and cavalier attitude toward older people, suggesting it is critical that we stay alert to this contrast in values. Take a person who might be a Navajo; even as a citizen of the United States, he or she would most likely show respect for older people, looking to them for advice and counsel, because reverence for the elderly is a significant belief practiced by the Navajo culture

Hence, even for the non-Navajo person unwilling to accept advice from an elderly person, if they are going to be successful communicators with other Navajos, they must understand this cultural difference, at least when communicating across cultures. (Hopefully, the non-Navajo person who does not honor age will actually learn from the experience. But that’s another day…)

So specifically, how can one person learn values held by people from other cultures, in order to achieve better understanding? Theiderman believe this is achievable through several other means. Besides looking at proverbs, she also suggests listening to the stories told by families and cultures, to see what values they contain.

Stories are passed on through families and cultures for a reason – often, for instance, to impress values upon the next generation. A recently followed tradition for many African American families has been the telling of the story of Emmett Till, a cautionary tale for young people about a 14-year-old Chicago African American who was brutally murdered.

Emmett Till visited relatives in the Mississippi Delta in the summer of 1955, following the 1954 Supreme Court decision of Brown vs. the Topeka Board of Education and the second decision, known as Brown II (“all deliberate speed” in enforcement of school desegregation).

Till did not understand the Jim Crow laws in Mississippi with respect to deference paid to white women in the state at that time, and he was brutally murdered after whistling at a white store owner’s wife.

His story was told thereafter to many black children by their families in order for them to understand the Jim Crow laws and the consequences if not followed. (Fortunately, the Till incident also brought people away from the civil rights sidelines and helped initiate the modern civil rights movement.)

Values transmitted in a number of family stories – inside and outside of the American culture -- might contain themes of perseverance, the virtue of hard work, the importance of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps or the value of appreciating what you have.

And, so...bottom line: how can we move our employees' and customers' fishbowls closer together – and get our fish to start communicating, even if they come from other fishbowls?

Examining our proverbs and stories are two methods that may help employees to start learning about and appreciating other cultures – two critical steps in bringing diversity to the workplace.
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Muslim-Christian Conflicts Not Limited to United States – But Are Felt World-Wide

Hijab -- a covering traditionally worn by Muslim women

The Muslim-Christian divide that captures almost daily attention in news coming out of the United States, is actually felt worldwide.
Although progress has been made—particularly in multinational workforces— struggles remain around religious diversity, suggests Susan Welch, executive director of Diversity Best Practices.

“With Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr just completing in the United States, now might be a good time to explore the Muslim-Christian divide around the world. It represents one of the toughest diversity issues to address, for a handful of reasons,” Welch recently asserted in an editorial written for her organization’s weekly publication.

We know that religious conflict is not always straightforward. One country bans burka wearing, -- is that rooted in religion? Or would we describe this as a gender issue?

Is banning a burka (or burqa – the full body cloak worn by some Muslim women) simply a dress code issue? Or does this represent a security concern?
If not a burka, what of the "hijab" (or "ḥijāb – referring to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general).

It is sometimes too convenient to classify these arguments into "seemingly harmless" categories. But religious problems are often rooted in historical, even traditional conflicts between two peoples. And this, Welch says, muddies the waters.

Muslims represent roughly one in four people on the globe. In some Asian countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, listed by Welch)Muslims dominate the population. In many other Asian countries, as well as European and North American countries, they are a minority ,and “This sets the stage for regional and country-specific clashes that become more political than religious,” she explains.

When considering economic status, these clashes can also represent problems between the “haves and have-nots”.

Of the 40 Muslim-majority nations worldwide, “only two outside of the Persian Gulf (Turkey and Malaysia) have GDPs above the global median GDP.” (Gross domestic product or GDP refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living.)

And so, as India, China, and Latin America grow explosively, Muslim populations are further marginalized, both within rapidly growing countries and within competing Muslim-majority nations.

But on the eve of 9/11’s ten-year anniversary, Welch believes there is a sliver of good news:

Pew Research Center (a nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world) reports a thaw in attitudes toward Muslims in the United States and Europe over the past five years.

(Yet, Muslims have not experienced the same thaw in their own attitudes toward the West, the Pew report goes on to state.)

TWelch believes that herein lies the most interesting rub of all, perhaps the crux of the issue:

Both sides blame the other side for poor relations, each believing they hold the high moral ground. "Age-old beliefs dealing differently with critical debates around life and death drive apart Muslims and the somewhat Christian, somewhat non-secular West."

Cultural competency and inclusion meet their fiercest challenge here, Welch believes, yet she asks -- “Can we set aside our fundamental life-and-death beliefs and embrace different beliefs in another human being?”

Her question is a good one – and is certainly deserving of more talks and discussions.

Meanwhile, education of differences and similarities is a good place to start. Businesses and organizations, meanwhile, cannot ignore these differences, by simply blaming any clashes as “religious” differences.

Such simplistic thinking about cultures, ethnicity, diversity, inclusion and differences just does not work anymore. We need better information to identify and solve problems -- to make higher quality decisions.

Emmett Till Blog; Murder in the Mississippi Delta; Civil Rights Cold Cases: Hollywood can still redeem itself (from The Help), by teaching diversity and tolerance through true historical movies on the civil rights movement#links

Cross-cultural leadership and understanding – not limited to the “big city”

Diversity in action. Images may be subject to copyright.

“You guys live in such a nice little town,” Larry S. was telling me.

My new teaching colleague was sharing his first impressions of Lawrenceburg, Indiana soon after being dumped by the faculty dean in the teacher’s lounge of the town’s small junior college campus.

“Larry, this is Susan – Susan, this is Larry, the new accounting instructor. Susan teaches computer classes.”

It turned out that Larry had always lived in a metropolis, and was now experiencing some culture shock after relocation from Indianapolis, a city of one million plus people, to this little river town of less than 7,000.

We got to talking, and it scared me when I learned he had no place to live, let alone a place to stay his first night. Larry was quite black and Lawrenceburg was still very racist, so I invited him to live at our house until he could find a place of his own.

Larry told me he was born near Salisbury, Zimbabwe, now called Harare, the biggest city in this African country, with a population of around 2 million. Harare is also the commercial capital of the country. The British founded the city in 1890 and called it Salisbury but when Zimbabwe gained independence in the early 1980's, the name was changed to Harare after a Shona chief, Neharawa.

True, Lawrenceburg was a comfortable, little town back in the mid 1970s. Located in the tri-states of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, “Whiskey City” was situated on the Ohio River and known by this moniker, since Seagram Whiskey was the town’s main (and only) major employer.

Indiana Vocational Technical College, where Larry and I taught, was a very small local campus (known informally as Ivy Tech and headquartered in Indianapolis) that catered mostly to white, young adults studying business-related classes.

My husband Fred and I knew most people in Lawrenceburg, from the local politicians, newspaper owner and medical practitioners, to teachers and other folks who worked for the Canadian distiller. Fred worked for the region’s mental health center.
In those days, if you went shopping in downtown Lawrenceburg you would find the typical small-town stores. Of course, this was pre-Walmart and most shops and larger stores carried American manufactured items.

Meanwhile, Fred and I have moved to a somewhat larger region; the population of the small city where we now reside is about 20,000. I think my colleague, Larry, would enjoy visiting here some day!

As a teacher back in Lawrenceburg, I once had a student from Russia. That was an exciting venture for me; I enjoyed hearing his life story and about how he moved to Indiana. Where I now live, I can probably count a representation of at least 20 ethnicities and cultures represented. (Moreover, we have a Walmart.)

Honestly, the days of Mom and Pop businesses that catered to people who looked, felt, thought, and talked the same as Mom and Pop are over. Ethnic and cultural diversity have reached even the most remote and isolated regions of our nation.

In what ways are you preparing to build a successful enterprise in the midst of this diversity?

Business diversity expert Dr. Greg Waddell, who writes about adapting leadership style to cultural context, asks this question, while saying he does not lament for the days when everyone was like him – and neither do I.

It really is quite exciting to live in times where you can easily meet people from around the globe, even if you live in a small city or even a smaller little village or town.

Here are three reasons why both Dr. Waddell and I get excited about diversity:

1. Ethnic and cultural diversity is here to stay. “It’s always better to accept reality than it is to live in denial,” Dr. Waddell notes.

2. While cultures differ in fundamental ways, these differences follow certain patterns and can be learned. We CAN learn to do business with people from other cultures. It has been happening for centuries all over the world.

3. The ethnic diversity in which we live today provides an excellent opportunity to discover new approaches to leadership.

Dr. Waddell suggests this change requires effort and preparation. Even with practice, this can be an intimidating experience, “because it requires seeing yourself through the eyes of another culture.”

Many of the management theories that were inscribed in the hallowed pages of management literature of the 1970s and 80s are now obsolete. Almost all of the research behind these earlier business theories was carried out in the context of a Euro-Anglo cultural background.

Sure, there is a lot that we can learn from these classic studies, as long as we see them as one way to envision leadership and as long as we remain open to the very real possibility that these concepts may not work today.

Cultures typically differ in some predictable ways. So, if a person is willing to do what it takes to learn new information about other cultures and ethnicities, he or she can learn to be culturally and ethnically sensitive.

Not too long ago, I took a college course in intercultural communication. Students were assigned to choose a culture different from our own, and to do a report about differences.

Darned, if some of the white students didn’t pick their grandparents’ countries of Sweden, Switzerland and Germany for their reports. I was surprised they were allowed to get away with their lazy, “safe” decisions. What could they have possibly learned?

Once a person really learns about differences or uniquenesses, they are more adept at adjusting leadership behavior to fit the situation, Waddell believes.

Here is a short list of several cultural patterns that Waddell finds helpful in understanding cultural diversity.

•Power Distance. How people view power and the degree to which differences in power are not only allowed but even preferred.

•Individualism versus Collectivism. Some cultures think as a group—others think individually. The Anglo-European culture of the U.S. has been consistently identified as high in individualism.

•Uncertainty Avoidance. This is the degree to which a culture sees uncertainty as a bad thing, something to be avoided.

•Contextual versus Verbal communication. Some cultures allow the context to communicate meaning without words. In the U.S., we usually feel the need to say it.

•Human nature. Some cultures sees human nature as fundamentally evil while others as fundamentally good.

•Work and Leisure. Many cultures see work as an unavoidable or even necessary evil needed to get to what life is really about. Others see work as the main point of life.

There are so many more considerations to address when trying to become a better cross-cultural leader. This short list shows, at least, that cultural differences can be understood. In other words, these differences are not mysterious and impossible to comprehend.

Waddell suggests the main requirement is to have “an inquisitive spirit and a willingness to experience some discomfort for the sake of learning to see the world from a different perspective.”

What about you? What are some of your feelings toward cultural and ethnic diversity? To what extent is it making an impact on your organization? How well do you think other companies are adapting?

All are very good questions to consider in your journey to understanding cross cultural leadership.