Interrogating Culture to Understand Diversity

Running head: INTERROGATING CULTURE TO UNDERSTAND DIVERSITY 1

Interrogating Culture to Understand Diversity: A Narrative Approach

Giovanni Consolino

University of Nebraska at Omaha

INTERROGATING CULTURE TO UNDERSTAND DIVERSITY 2

Abstract

This qualitative study explored how employees experience diversity in the workplace. The

ongoing demographic transitions in the United States prompt some considerations about

organizational practices. In this regard, a few studies have emphasized organizational culture to

comprehend diversity. Likewise, recent scholarship has argued that diversity is a fundamental

component to improve collaboration among employees. Looking at organizational culture to

inquire the nature of diversity, this study integrated a narrative approach to understand diversity

in the workplace through the personal accounts of three employees of the same organization. By

collecting data through semi-structured interviews, findings were categorized into three main

themes: Employee Culture, Different Views, and Management Training. Subsequently, these

themes generate subthemes that revealed an in-depth understanding about employees’ experience

of diversity in the workplace. The implications of this study build upon the existing body of

knowledge on diversity. More importantly, they offer an additional interpretation to inquire the

pivotal role of diversity in the workplace.

Keywords: organizational culture, cultural diversity in the workplace, communication and

cultural diversity


Interrogating Culture to Understand Diversity: A Narrative Approach

The rapid growth of a culturally diverse workforce in corporate America has highlighted

an increase of multicultural collaboration in the workplace. In this sense, cultural diversity has

recently become a prominent area of research. In the last three decades, numerous scholars have

focused on the role of diversity to better understand organizations (Allen, 1995; Barinaga, 2007;

Barker & Gower, 2010; Fatima Oliveira, 2013; Oetzel, McDermott, Torres, & Sanchez, 2012;

Randel & Early, 2012). Through diversity, organizations can facilitate best practices among their

employees. This certainly has an impact on how training programs must be able to meet the

needs of this diverse workforce.

With a heterogeneous work environment, it is then crucial for organizations to have a

culture that encourages diversity. Therefore, it is important to explore the impact that culture has

on diversity. The following literature review examines past research on organizational culture

and cultural diversity by including three main areas: defining organizational culture, cultural

diversity in the workplace, and communication and cultural diversity.

Literature Review

Defining Organizational Culture

Organizations are complex domains where individuals become part of a common work

environment. In this sense, culture represents a fundamental aspect in the life of organizations as

a way to share daily practices. Schein (1990) defined organizational culture as:

A pattern of basic assumptions, invented, discovered, or developed by a given group, as it

learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has

worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore is to be taught to new members

as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems (p. 111).


This definition embodies the arduous scope of organizational culture whereby individuals

depend on a mutual set of basic assumptions to understand organizational practices. Through his

model, Schein (1990) identified three different levels of culture: artifacts, values, and basic

underlying assumptions, which reveal the meaning of organizational culture. Artifacts entail

physical characteristics that can be observed in an organization, such as: dress code, architecture,

technology, philosophy statement, and annual reports (Schein, 1990). Hence, artifacts can be

useful to interpret how culture is displayed in an organization. The second level is represented by

values that belong to the culture of an organization, such as norms and ideologies (Schein, 1990).

In essence, values are symbolic representations of a culture that shape organizations. The third

and most important level is represented by basic underlying assumptions, which includes

individuals’ assumptions regarding their feelings and perceptions of the workplace (Schein,

1990). Exploring basic assumptions can allow organizations to interpret implied meanings of

culture among employees.

Schein’s model provides a valuable framework with distinct levels to understand

organizational culture. Looking at culture from a communication perspective, Miller (2012)

claimed that cultural formation is based on individuals’ understanding of culture as a social

process. In other words, employees interpret organizational culture by relying on their personal

and cultural backgrounds. Likewise, Schein (1990) concurred that culture is learned through a

socialization process whereby members of an organization internalize values and assumptions.

Hence, it is crucial that members have a common understanding of the cultural values and the

assumptions entrenched in the culture where they operate. This last aspect becomes more

complicated when considering people from different backgrounds who work in the same

organization. As Mafela (2013) pointed out, “culture is a particular way of life that encompasses


the values, premises, and practices in terms of which members of a community order their

interaction” (p. 125). In this view, communication plays a pivotal role in understanding how

people from different cultures can interpret and perceive organizational culture in the workplace.

Taking a critical stance to examine intercultural communication, Buzzanell (2011) addressed the

necessity to create a dialogue that aims at unraveling taken-for-granted realities to create depth

and breadth in cultural understandings.

To further explain how intercultural communication has an impact on organizational

culture, there are two types of cultural dimensions that need to be examined: individualism and

collectivism (Lim, Kim, & Kim, 2011). These two dimensions are crucial to understanding how

people are integrated into groups. Individualistic cultures place an emphasis on the individual;

therefore, personal development is the main focus (Hall, De Jong, & Steehouder, 2004; Neuliep,

2012). Hence, individualistic cultures promote personal achievement and independence from

family ties. Typical individualistic cultures are countries like the United States, Australia, and

Germany. In their study, Lim et al., (2011) found that individualism was a common feature of

American identity. On the other hand, collectivistic cultures emphasize a strong bond within

social groups (Hall et al., 2004). Countries that best represent this cultural dimension are Mexico,

Japan, and Saudi Arabia. Through cultural dimensions, it is possible to delineate clear

distinctions between members of different cultures.

Recent studies have used organizational culture to understand diversity in organizations

(Dixon & Dougherty, 2010; Randel & Early, 2009). In this view, organizational culture is a

valuable characteristic to assess whether diversity is important in organizations. In their study,

Randel and Early (2009) found that employees of respect-oriented organizational cultures keep

their subjective opinions in the way they perceive members’ diversity. In this sense, diversity


becomes more tacit by not recognizing differences among team members. Further, this finding

exemplifies the difficulty in comprehending how diversity is enacted through organizational

culture. In this regard, Dixon and Dougherty (2010) suggested that organizational culture cannot

underestimate the role of divergent meanings. This statement becomes even more relevant when

talking about diversity. In fact, an organizational culture must be tailored to the needs of its

employees, so that they can fully identify with it.

Cultural Diversity in the Workplace

In the last years, there has been a considerable demographic transition in the United

States (Allen, 1995; Cumber & Braithwaite, 1996; Hon & Brunner, 2000; Irizarry & Gallant,

2006). This change has implications for organizational scholarship to inquire into the role of

diversity in the workplace. As Allen (1995) stated, “increasing diversity in the workplace

engenders practical as well as theoretical implications for persons who study organizational

communication” (p. 143). Consistent with the surge of diversity, communication can contribute

to the implementation of effective practices in the workplace. The concept of diversity has

always been associated to multiculturalism to indicate a set of various personal and cultural

characteristics within a social context (Cumber & Braithwaite, 1996). Diversity in the workplace

entails personal and social bases of identity, such as: race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion,

country of origin, and economic status (Allen, 1995). Hence, diversity provides a focal point that

organizations cannot overlook nowadays. In this regard, organizational cultures should have a

proactive role to enable employees to have equal opportunities and a thorough understanding of

organizational practices.

In their qualitative study of diversity management in healthcare, Irizarry and Gallant

(2006) found that patients of diverse cultures and racial groups felt isolated and discriminated by


employees. This finding reinforces the need to address diversity among organizational members.

Another qualitative study examined college students’ perceptions of cultural diversity in two

different universities. By interviewing a culturally diverse sample of 27 participants, Cumber and

Braithwaite (1996) found that students had different meanings of cultural diversity. For instance,

a Native American male declared that cultural diversity means “respecting the different

background of every person, whatever that means to that person” (Cumber & Braithwaite, 1996,

p. 274). A white American male stated that cultural diversity represents “an environment

wherein more than one culture is tolerated by members of the environment” (Cumber &

Braithwaite, 1996, p. 274). Through these two definitions, it is possible to understand how

members of different cultures ascribe different meanings to cultural diversity. Furthermore,

several participants indicated that for them diversity means that people would not give up to their

sense of cultural identity (Cumber & Braithwaite, 1996). In this sense, cultural diversity can be

seen as an opportunity to assimilate to a new social context without abandoning one’s own

identity.

In accordance with Cumber and Braithwaite’s study, another study looked at diversity by

exploring the challenges of a multicultural classroom (Guo, Cock-Wootten, & Munshi, 2014).

Diversity has certainly become a fundamental component in imparting a collaborative

educational environment. In utilizing a case study to analyze students’ meaningful discussion

about diversity, Guo et al. (2014) concluded that diversity does not indicate the preference of a

value system over another, but rather the ability to recognize a variety of points of view. Thus,

diversity is about giving voice to all organizational members, so that they can all have a better

knowledge of the organizational context.


Looking at the issue of diversity, Hon and Brunner (2000) interviewed twenty-eight

practitioners and five executives of various public relations firms to understand diversity

integration. In this sense, diversity represents part of a strategic management plan to enhance

public relations. Specifically, one third of participants “described their organizations as aware of

diversity issues but lacking in true commitment” (Hon & Brunner, 2000, p. 318). Furthermore,

only four of thirty-three interviewees stated that diversity was fully embedded in the

management plan of their organization (Hon & Brunner, 2000). Therefore, organizations can

have norms or policies that encourage diversity, but they may not be applied uniformly within

their entire culture. About the importance of diversity, two participants concluded that “cultural

differences bring things to the table that a homogeneous group never would” (Hon & Brunner,

2000, p. 331). In other words, diversity can positively impact organizational members because it

provides different views to enhance organizational practices.

Communication and Cultural Diversity

As stated previously, organizational diversity has drastically increased in the last few

years. This has brought multiple perspectives to the workplace as well as concerns about the role

of communication. Two distinct forms of communication that have been found in the literature

are ethnocentric communication and cosmopolitan communication (Grimes & Richard, 2003).

These two communication forms reveal different characteristics that interactants can display in a

multicultural setting. According to Grimes and Richard (2003), ethnocentric communicators

perceive that there are cultural groups with different ways of understanding. Thus, these

communicators are aware of multiple interaction forms. However, they are not open to change

their way because they think their way is the best (Grimes & Richard, 2003). Then, ethnocentric

communicators may feel that their cultural practices are better than those of other cultures.


Conversely, cosmopolitan communication entails a sense of appreciation toward others (Grimes

& Richard, 2003). It seems like communication is used to foster a harmony between cultural

differences. In fact, Grimes and Richard (2003) argued that cosmopolitan communicators do not

give up their ways of understanding, but they simply treat others as natives. Here,

communication becomes an equal opportunity of expression among people of different cultures.

Likewise, individuals who use a cosmopolitan style “will be more creative, culturally sensitive,

grounded, group-oriented, and aware of hidden assumptions” (Grimes & Richard, 2003, p. 23).

Given the complexity of human interactions, it is imperative for organizations to

understand communication norms among their diverse members. Barker and Gower (2010)

advanced that narrative paradigm theory (NPT) has recently drawn the interest of communication

scholars as it entails a storytelling approach to understand organizational experiences. In this

regard, NPT could offer a fruitful groundwork to explore individuals’ stories or accounts in

relation to diversity. Then, narratives can represent a meaningful tool to evaluate diversity

through interaction. Fisher (1985), founder of NPT, postulated that the narrative paradigm falls

under the social scientific theories (i.e., social constructionism and symbolic interactionism) as it

aims at understanding how people’s stories guide behavior. Thus, narratives can allow

researchers to identify valid information to explain individuals’ perceptions in organizations.

Purpose Statement & Research Questions

Past literature emphasized the impact of organizational culture to guide members of an

organization to identify themselves with the workplace (Miller, 2012; Schein, 1990). With the

phenomenon of globalization, people from different cultures have been able to become part of a

very diverse environment. For this reason, the concept of organizational culture has become

more multifaceted and ambiguous (Dixon & Dougherty, 2010; Miller 2012). For instance,


members of individualistic cultures can have a different interpretation of organizational values

and practices in comparison to members of collectivistic cultures. In this view, each culture

reflects a specific way of life that includes different communication forms (Hall et al., 2004;

Mafela, 2013). In this regard, diversity represents a key factor for organizational members to

have a common understanding of the organization in which they operate.

Moreover, several studies emphasized that diversity training still remains an undeveloped

area in the organizational communication scholarship (Cumber & Braithwaite, 1996; Guo et al.,

2014; Hon & Brunner, 2000). Hence, there is the necessity to fill this void in order to shed more

light on cultural diversity. After all, this research is significant because it could identify specific

areas to improve multicultural training in a wide array of organizations. In fact, this research

could primarily benefit human resources practitioners that work in large multicultural

organizations. Also, this study has direct implications for top management in order to implement

effective diversity practices. Since CEOs and leaders of organizations represent those individuals

who carry the purpose and philosophy of an organization, this study could provide them a more

insightful perspective on how to better manage diversity.

In light of these considerations, the purpose of this study was to understand how

employees experience diversity in the workplace. By looking at the communicative role of

individuals ‘experiences in a multicultural organization, the aim is to have a deeper knowledge

of diversity. Ultimately, this study offered a fertile territory to approach diversity issues by

including organizational culture as a fundamental element of organizational development. This

research aimed at expanding organizational communication scholarship, including the notion of

organizational culture to assess cultural diversity. This study addressed three research questions:

RQ1: How, if at all, does organizational culture promote diversity?


RQ2: What does diversity mean to you?

RQ3: What role, if any, do corporate training programs play in helping organizational cultures

promote diversity?

Methodology

Qualitative Research

In order to examine the interplay between organizational culture and diversity in the

workplace, this study was qualitative in nature. According to Creswell (2013), qualitative

research involves the formation of a complex picture of a problem in a study. Since the goal of

this research was to explore the importance of diversity, it was necessary to identify several

components of organizational culture that may intertwine with diversity. The rationale for using

a qualitative research was also emphasized by the fact that organizations constitute multifaceted

contexts where reality is socially constructed. In this sense, employees represent individuals

whose perspectives can help a researcher to comprehend particular aspects of the workplace.

Eventually, employee perspectives could reveal multiple views about organizational culture in

relation to diversity. In this regard, qualitative research “involves reporting multiple perspectives,

identifying many factors involved in a situation, and generally sketching the larger picture that

emerges” (Creswell, 2013, p. 47). Thus, employees’ perceptions about the workplace could offer

a salient account to understand diversity through organizational culture.

By analyzing employees’ opinions about their organization, it is possible to gain a salient

interpretation of diversity practices. Furthermore, qualitative research provides an interpretation

of participants’ unique features. This interpretive approach aims at exploring how people make

sense of reality through perceptions, actions, and events (Glesne, 2011). In a similar way,

Creswell (2013) argued that a qualitative method is appropriate to give individuals the


opportunity to share their stories in a specific context. Hence, this research offered potential

benefits to understand diversity in the workplace by using an interpretive approach to examine

the impact of organizational culture on diversity. With these considerations in mind, this study

employed a narrative approach to understand diversity in the workplace.

Design of the Study

A valuable theory that could explain how people’s stories are embedded in a particular

context is narrative paradigm theory (NPT). In order to understand the theory, Fisher (1989)

claimed that it is essential to distinguish what the narrative paradigm is and what it is not. In fact,

the term narrative could be easily misinterpreted. According to Fisher (1989), the narrative

paradigm is not rhetoric itself, but rather the base on which rhetoric is constructed. In NTP,

narratives can be seen as stories entrenched in the life of participants. In fact, Fisher (1989)

postulated that “the narrative paradigm celebrates human beings and it does this by reaffirming

their nature of storytellers” (p. 56). Basically, a narrative approach enables a researcher to

understand what messages mean and how they are performed in a specific situation. Therefore,

the narrative paradigm provides an essential framework to ascertain how people’s stories guide

their behavior (Fisher, 1985). Looking at the purpose of this research, the narrative paradigm

offered a solid theoretical lens to comprehend the impact that organizational culture has on

diversity.

NPT is comprised of two guiding principles to understand individuals’ narratives or

stories: “coherence (does the story make sense) and fidelity (does the story adapt to the

audience’s beliefs and values)” (Eaves & Savoie, 2005, p. 93). In other words, coherence and

fidelity set the standard to understand whether a narrative is relevant or not. Moreover, Fisher

(1985) indicates that coherence is concerned with whether a story is free of contradictions and if


it is consistent. In this view, coherence deals with the logical progression of a story. In this study,

coherence allowed me to establish how employees’ perceptions about organizational culture and

diversity produce a main story, and if there are any common themes among employees’

perceptions. Looking at the second principle of NPT, Fisher (1985) declares that “fidelity

concerns the ‘truth qualities’ of the story, the degree to which it accords with the logic of good

reasons: the soundness of its reasoning and its values” (p. 349). Thus, fidelity enables a

researcher to understand whether the story is logical or makes sense as a whole.

Specifically, Eaves and Savoie (2005) argued that fidelity represents how a story is linked

to audience’s values and experiences. Given the goal of this study in interpreting employees’

understanding of organizational culture and diversity, the narrative paradigm offers a prolific

groundwork to seek out a level of commonality among employees’ personal accounts.

Furthermore, Barker and Gower (2010) suggested that “truth in storytelling is seen as an

important element in effectively conveying the message” (p. 307). While fidelity could indicate

insightful relationships among employees’ experiences in regard to diversity, it could also

generate a thoughtful description of how employees’ stories are connected to the reality of their

organization. By including narratives of employees in an organization, this research also

included restorying to better analyze participants’ accounts in relation to diversity. According to

Creswell (2013), “restorying is the process of reorganizing the stories into some general type of

framework” (p. 74). In essence, this procedure allows a researcher to identify meaningful

fragments in the story; ultimately, revealing the core elements of the stories.

To review, the narrative approach pertains to the purpose of my study for several reasons.

First, narratives allowed me to gather multiple in-depth perspectives about diversity in the

workplace. Second, these stories gave employees the opportunity to voice their opinions by


providing their personal perspective on organizational culture to understand diversity. Lastly, a

narrative approach could offer fruitful implications for both practitioners and scholars in order to

improve diversity in organizations.

Sampling

To collect the data, I interviewed three employees who currently work or have worked in

the same organization. In order to have a strategic selection of the participants involved in this

study, criterion sampling was used. According to Creswell (2013), criterion sampling entails that

all cases meet similar criteria. To effectively contribute to this study, participants had to meet the

following requirements: to have different race/ethnicity from other participants, to be a non-

native, and to work or worked in different departments of the same organization.

After a meticulous selection process, I identified three participants (1 female, 2 males)

who met all the requirements of my study (See Demographic Sheet in Appendix B). Specifically,

I was able to select two employees who currently work in a private financial institution and one

participant who used to work there. The average age among participants was 26 years old.

Employees were from different ethnicities (i.e., Bulgarian, Nepalese, and African) and belonged

to the following departments: decision science, calling center planning, and customer

information management.

Data Collection

For my data collection, I used 45-minute semi-structured interviews, which took place

separately. According to Glesne (2011), this type of interview allows a researcher to understand

how participants think and feel about something in relation to something else. Thus, my goal was

to provide respondents with a flexible set of questions whereby they could easily express their

opinion about diversity.


Before the interview, respondents were provided with a written explanation of the

purpose of my study in detail by using an interview protocol (See Appendix A). In this regard,

Creswell (2013) proposed that the interview protocol includes the purpose of the study, the time

of the study, the questions, and the implications (i.e., who will benefit from the study).

The location for each interview was the participants’ home. Furthermore, each interview was

audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim for data analysis.

Data Analysis

I began my data analysis examining each interview transcript multiple times. While I was

reading the transcripts, I took notes on the side of each document. Drawing from the data of the

three transcripts, I created a new document whereby I arranged participants’ relevant quotes into

categories, which pertained to the key areas included in my interview protocol (i.e.,

organizational culture, diversity, and diversity training). By analyzing and comparing

participants’ relevant information, I reflected upon the data by comparing similarities and

differences among the answers provided by my participants. Through this last step, I was able to

identify thirteen codes, which were subsequently categorized into three main themes and ten

subthemes. Creswell (2013) affirmed that codes enable a researcher to define themes and

subthemes to adequately report findings. Therefore, this process was essential in creating a

principal framework in order to obtain a valuable interpretation of employees’ perspectives of

cultural diversity in the workplace.

Verification Strategies

After completing my data analysis, I was concerned about the trustworthiness of my

findings. In fact, it is crucial for a researcher to validate the data in order to have a clear and

descriptive interpretation of the findings. In this regard, Creswell (2013) postulated that


validation entails the use of specific strategies to meet proper standards of interpretation. Thus, I

used triangulation and rich, thick description to effectively report my data. While triangulation

refers to a technique that relies on multiple methods to provide evidence, rich, thick description

allows a researcher to recognize interconnected details through participants’ descriptions

(Creswell, 2013).

When I was examining employees’ accounts about the culture of the organization, I

employed Schein’s model of organizational culture (1990) to guide the formulation of the theme

related to that area. In a different way, rich, thick description helped me find shared features

among participants’ definitions of diversity and its impact for training, which was pivotal to

effectively represent the employees’ experiences into a main story and to appropriately

categorize other themes.

Ethical Considerations

Like other types of studies, ethical decisions are fundamental for qualitative research

(Glesne, 2011). Prior to conducting my study I reflected upon the background of my participants.

This enabled me to adopt adequate ethical measures to protect participants’ rights before the data

collection process. In particular, I utilized Creswell’s (2013) recommendations to ensure proper

ethical guidelines throughout my research: disclosing the purpose of the study to my participants,

respecting their privacy by using their information only for research purposes, avoiding the

pressure of signing the consent form, respecting their identity by using fictitious names to protect

their real identity, and sharing my research findings with my participants. In this regard, I

addressed ethical considerations by providing my participants with an informed consent form

(See Appendix C), which participants were required to sign before starting the interview.


Findings

As I previously mentioned, participants for this study were three employees of different

departments in a private financial institution. I decided to select participants from this

organization because of its large size (i.e., seven locations nationwide with more than 5,000

employees) and multi-ethnic workforce. The purpose of my research was to understand how

employees experience diversity in the workplace. Therefore, I was hoping that employees’

narratives could reveal useful insights to understand diversity in corporate America.

Themes

My data analysis revealed similarities and differences among participants’ perceptions of

organizational culture and the impact of diversity on the financial institution. Specifically, I

identified thirteen specific codes, which were further categorized into three main themes and

nine subthemes. Employee Culture was the first main theme, which included the following

subthemes: Diversified Workplace, Flexibility, Friendliness and Caring, People-Oriented

Environment, and Helping the Community. The second main theme, which pertained to

diversity, was Different Views with the following subthemes: Understanding and Accepting

Others, Communication and Relationships, Hiring, and Opportunities. The final main theme,

Management Training, reflected the impact that corporate training has in promoting diversity in

the workplace.

Theme 1: Employee Culture

This theme emphasized unique characteristics of the culture of the institution and its

potential linkages to understand diversity. It is important to note that this theme was the one that

revealed most commonalities among employees, which are specifically reflected in the following

subthemes.


Subtheme 1: Diversified Workplace

All participants indicated that diversity was a pivotal aspect in the institution. Although

employees had different definitions to define diversity, their perspectives were compatible to one

another. Max explained that he noticed a wide range of diverse people in his department. He

continued by stating: “We have so many different countries and they all came together and

working together” (M. Line 23). This focus on diversity was also reported by Himal who

explained that the company comprises a diverse amount of individuals working in various

departments. Further, the significance of diversity was also well-represented by Nicole:

What I love from my department is that is very diversified with a lot of international

people. Actually, in my department there are thirteen people and only two of them are

Americans. The two managers are internationals and all my team, I mean we have people

from China, India, and Kazakhstan (N. Line 27-29).

Along with Max’s and Himal’s descriptions, Nicole’s quote denotes how diversity has an

essential role in the culture of the organization, which is constituted by a welcoming work

environment for people from different cultural backgrounds.

Subtheme 2: Flexibility, Friendliness and Caring

Through the interviews, it clearly emerged that the institution represents a friendly

environment where employees are understood by management. For instance, Nicole expressed

that the company is very flexible and caring toward employees. Similarly, Max indicated the

following: “They care about you and your family, they take care of you when you need to leave

and for your family there. You know, they are really flexible and make you work from home

sometime” (M. Line 12-14). While I was interviewing Max, I could recognize his sense of


attachment to the institution. The fact that the organization is flexible in regard to his personal

life seemed to highlight Max’s respect and commitment to his workplace.

In a different way, Himal explained how the company is friendly and helpful to

accomplish any task. Moreover, he expressed how valuable these characteristics are for the

culture of the organization: “When I was there, I have never felt left out or just going to work. It

was completely different.” (H. Line 22-23). In essence, participants’ comments seemed to mirror

a company that values its employees by meeting their needs and allowing them to be comfortable

in the workplace.

Subtheme 3: People-Oriented Environment

According to Max, the organization is a relationship-based setting where employees can

openly talk about anything. From this statement, it is possible to comprehend how employees are

a fundamental concern for the organization. Himal also mentioned this point but in a different

way. He explained that management invests in its own people. This aspect is exemplified by this

quote: “It was a sense where you felt like home, where you wanted to go that extra mile. And,

the incentive was just because you are treated nice and fair” (H. Line 164-166). This means that

Himal was likely to put more effort and dedication in the workplace because the institution

respected him as an individual. In contrast, Nicole described that the culture of the company is

family-oriented. In this sense, the organizational culture of the institution aimed at developing a

good work context in which employees are fully understood.

Subtheme 4: Helping the Community

Another key component of the culture of the institution was the community. Although

participants offered different perceptions in this area, they all concurred how the institution is

highly involved in the community. In this regard, Himal suggested that “the beauty of the area


and the culture around the area were developed by the organization itself” (H. Line 110-111).

Hence, the institution plays an essential role not only in guiding employees with unique values,

but also in contributing to help the local community. During the interview, Max recalled a few

instances of specific initiative that allow both the company and its employees to actively serve

the community:

They give back to the community. They really care about the community, and that’s

something inside me I really give out, something that I want to do, and something that I

really identify with the bank. And, they are always talking about, you know,

volunteering, building houses, and all that. So, that’s something that I like to do and I find

it there, and that’s really unique, and I really like it (M. Line 52-56).

By caring about the community, the company also stimulates employees to take part in

various activities for the good of the local area. In this sense, Nicole explained that “the bank

gives the opportunity to employees to volunteer, to use their time to work as a workday to go as a

volunteer” (N. Line 62-63). Therefore, employees are not required to take extra hours outside of

work to volunteer. Ultimately, contributing to the community is crucial for employees and for the

organization as a whole. In fact, this conveys a strong image about the organization, which is

committed to its employees and the people in the community.

Theme 2: Different Views

This theme encompassed employees’ perspectives of diversity in the workplace.

Although all participants alluded to the pivotal role that diversity plays in organizations, they

offered different definition to describe diversity and its benefits for the institution. In particular,

this was reflected in the first subtheme. However, I found more similarities among participants’

accounts in the remaining subthemes.


Subtheme 1: Understanding and Accepting Others

With a main focus on reporting participants’ personal meaning of diversity, this section

highlighted multiple facets to understand the intricate nature of diversity in the workplace. Max

and Nicole addressed that diversity entails acceptance of different people. However, their

definitions drastically differed from one another. According to Max, diversity entails that people

are open and understanding despite of where you come from. When I was interviewing him, he

also suggested that one’s willingness to cooperate with other people is important. Conversely,

Nicole defined diversity as “making sure that you are taking out the best from a different person

regardless if it’s culture wise or if this person is different in some other way” (N. Line 75-77).

Both definitions of diversity amplify the necessity for people to be open-minded and inquisitive

towards individuals from other cultures, so that effective multicultural collaboration can occur in

the workplace.

Himal expressed diversity by providing a significant and detailed definition, which

reflects the complexity of the term:

Diversity is in the way of thinking. It is the way a person perceives things, how a person

handles certain situations. Unity in diversity is the most important aspects of everything.

Yes, people speak different languages and they have different types of food. But,

diversity is the ability, I think in my personal own view, to have people of so many

different backgrounds, so many different ways of thinking and mixing them u together

and yet try to achieve a common goal in the same place (H. Line 212-218).

In short, Himal’s definition of diversity embraces an individual’s tendency to recognize

cultural differences in the workplace, but also the need to use them effectively in order to obtain


a common objective. Although participants’ definitions varied, they were equally meaningful to

understand the notion of diversity in a modern institution.

Subtheme 2: Communication and Relationships

Participants suggested that communication constitutes a focal component for diversity.

As Max indicated, diversity depends on fostering communication and relationships in the

workplace. Thus, diversity can be enhanced by how individuals communicate within the

organization. In a different way, Himal expressed that people can learn from one another to find

out what they need to achieve. In essence, it seems that employees can benefit from diversity

because they learn to better themselves by collaborating with others, they communicate more

effectively, and they find solutions together.

Subtheme 3: Hiring

Hiring constituted an important area related to how the institution promotes diversity in

the workplace. Nicole suggested that the company demonstrates diversity by hiring international

people. During my interview with Himal, I could also recognize the focus of the bank on hiring

employees from different cultural backgrounds. In particular, he mentioned that it takes a lot for

an organization to hire an international individual. From here, it is possible to realize that

diversity is valuable for the institution in order to create equal opportunities. This was further

articulated by Himal when he recalled his hiring process:

I mean the qualification anybody else would have gotten them. But, why me with an

accent? It was much cheaper for them to ship calls overseas, but still they put me in that

pool. And, that made me wonder. And, that is the diversity we had over there, there is no

sort of discrimination (H. Line 257-260).


Himal’s quote reinforces how the company encourages the presence of a diverse

workforce by hiring international people. As Himal declared, there is no discrimination in hiring

people from different cultural background. Hence, this is essential to promote diversity

throughout the whole organization.

Subtheme 4: Opportunities

Another important aspect of diversity, which is related to the culture of the institution, is

represented by the opportunities available to employees. According to Max, the company

promotes and offers opportunities to all employees. For instance, Max mentioned that each

employee can look at other employees resumes in the company, so that each individual can

display his or her own skills for possible career advancement. Being known in the workplace, it

is important for employees to reach professional development. In this regard, Himal explained

that he began to work in the call center, and within three months he attained a business analyst

position in the same department.

Similarly, in my interview with Nicole, she indicated that a women from one of her

neighboring countries successfully moved up to a leadership role. This means that opportunities

are made available for all employees who are eager to grow in the organization. Additionally,

Nicole emphasized that opportunities for international people arise because many Americans do

not want to pursue certain jobs. Specifically, she stated that “by having good diversity you can

attract a lot of internationals that are skillful, in this for example math statistics” (N. Line 213-

215). In this example, diversity seems to be beneficial for two main reasons. First, it enriches the

organization by bringing a diverse set of skills and perspectives in the workplace. Second, it

enables international people to demonstrate their potential.


Theme 3: Management Training

Looking at how the institution encourages diversity, this theme revealed participants’

similarities and differences about their perception of diversity inclusion in corporate training.

Nonetheless, employees were able to clearly indicate the strengths and weaknesses of the current

training program in relation to diversity.

Subtheme 1: Networking

Networking was the first indispensable component for participants to get acquainted with

the job. This was expressed differently by each participant. Himal explained that the training is

aligned with the culture of the organization. This means that the company aims at conveying its

values among employees since the beginning of the job.

Additionally, Himal mentioned that corporate training included a variety of activities

(i.e., treasure hunt) that helped him to connect with other employees. Hence, training facilitated

Himal to feel more comfortable and to relate to others in the workplace. Likewise, Max asserted

that training gave him a huge network and the possibility to understand how to work together

with his team. By examining Himal and Max’s accounts, it seems that training enabled them to

gain that basic knowledge to be prepared for the job.

This also emerged in my interview with Nicole. In fact, she stated that the training

principally focus on the tasks of the job. However, when I asked her about how corporate

training promotes diversity, she was the only participant who immediately indicated that there

was no presence of diversity in the training program. Her comment was extremely relevant to

understand the effectiveness of diversity inclusion in training, which is explained in my

discussion section.


Subtheme 2: Encouraging and Improving Diversity

When I asked Max what he would recommend to improve diversity training, he recalled

the career building opportunity that he previously stated while we were talking about

opportunities. However, he suggested that the company should advertise diversity and give

employees an opportunity to tell their story. Thus, in Max’s view, the institution could further

enhance its focus on diversity by making it more visible to the outside world. This is also

reflected in the following quote: “Because community is a big diversity, so there are different

backgrounds, and even knowing that there is an organization to do that, it is a huge plus for the

organization” (M. Line 207-208). In essence, making diversity more visible can represent good

publicity for the image of the institution. Similarly, this can enable the organization to attract

employees from different cultures.

In contrast, Nicole affirmed that diversity training can be useful for both Americans and

international employees. She exemplified this point by stating that there are many departments in

the bank that are culturally mixed; therefore, diversity training could be extremely advantageous

for all employees. Nicole’s comment emphasized that there is certainly room for improvement

for diversity training. Therefore, both Max and Nicole reinforced the necessity for the

organization to improve diversity in the workplace.

Himal expressed this point differently, by relating back to the knowledge he gained

through training. During my interview with him, I could see that he put a lot of emphasis on how

the company made him a more knowledgeable worker. Regarding diversity, he emphasized that

“it is up to the individual to choose the benefits and how” (H. Line 497-498). While Max and

Nicole indicated that the institution could do more to improve diversity, Himal perceived


diversity as an individual choice. This means that employees must also put an individual effort to

understand the benefits of diversity in the workplace.

Discussion

The findings of this study enriched the existing literature on organizational culture and

diversity. By using a narrative approach to explore how employees experience diversity in the

workplace, this study addressed the following questions: 1) How, if at all, does organizational

culture promote diversity?, 2) What does diversity mean to you?, and 3) What role, if any, do

corporate training programs play in helping organizational cultures promote diversity?

Employees’ narratives allowed me to identify and report their experiences to generate a main

story of diversity in the workplace (Fisher, 1989). In this sense, I aim at interconnecting

participants’ experiences to have an in-depth understanding of the data.

Interviews reflected many similarities about participants’ perceptions of the

organizational culture of the institution. However, significant differences emerged when

employees described the role in and impact on diversity in the bank. The first research question,

which relates to the first theme, sought to understand the role of organizational culture to

promote diversity. By analyzing my participants’ accounts, I immediately noticed how the

culture of the organization is tailored to its employees. Employees concurred that the institution

is comprised of a diverse workforce that reflects a welcoming environment. Moreover, as

interviews progressed, I could clearly identify three values embedded in the organizational

culture. According to Schein (1990), values reflect the norms, ideologies, and philosophy of an

organization. Specifically, interviews emphasized the following values: caring, people-

orientation, and community. Participants indicated that the bank cares about employees. While

for Max the company cared about employees’ family, Himal suggested that everybody in the


bank was helpful. Thus, the institution aims at fostering an effective environment to meet

employees’ needs, so that they can effectively perform their job.

The other value is people-orientation, which entails the focus of the organization to invest

on employees’ potential. According to Nicole, it was entailed in the fact that the company is

family-oriented. This allowed her to rely on a comfortable work environment. Max instead

acknowledged how easy it is to openly communicate with everyone in the bank, making it a

relationship-based context. Recalling Himal’s quote, for him “it was a sense where you felt

home, where you wanted to go the extra mile” (H. Line 164-165). From these descriptions, it is

evident that the bank’s goal is to offer a healthy and friendly environment for employees’ well-

being in the workplace. Ultimately, this instills employees’ sense of commitment to the bank.

With an employee culture, the organization is also involved in the community. This is the

third value that I recognized during interviews. Helping the community is essential for the

organization, which encourages employees to make their contribution in various ways (e.g.,

donating and volunteering). In this regard, Nicole stated that employees can volunteer during

their workday. Thus, this enables employees to take part in opportunities that can benefit the

community while they are at work. Additionally, Max explained that the bank builds houses to

provide families in need with a safe shelter. Not only does the organization invest on its own

employees, but it also reaches out to other people to enrich the surrounding community.

Although participants’ accounts slightly differed from one another, they all reinforced

that the bank’s main focus is on its employees and the community. This shared feature continued

to emerge throughout my data analysis. In this view, employees had similar basic assumptions

about their workplace. Schein (1990) claimed that basic assumptions represent the core level of

organizational culture, which entails employees’ personal meaning of the workplace. Looking at


the data, all participants had the same understanding of the philosophy of the bank. It is crucial

for employees to have a common view of the organizational culture of the institution.

The second research question, which is addressed in my second theme, examined

participants’ personal interpretation of diversity. Although employees’ definitions varied, the all

alluded at emphasizing that diversity entails accepting different views. This finding is in

accordance with prior literature, which argued that diversity does not indicate the preference of a

system over another, but rather the ability to recognize a variety of points of view (Guo et al.,

2014). This aspect is further developed in my first subtheme, Understanding and Accepting

Others, where participants emphasized the importance of understanding cultural differences.

Max and Nicole affirmed thee need to allow people from different cultures to express themselves

in the workplace. In other words, diversity means valuing an individual regardless of his or her

cultural background. Instead, Himal stated that diversity is “the way a person perceives things”

(H. Line 212). This quote is quite significant, as it denotes a person’s effort to accept multiple

ways of thinking.

Furthermore, Max and Himal indicated that communication is key for diversity, as it

allows employees to learn from each other. Similarly, communication can enable people to

collaborate and find solutions together. Although cultural differences are part of the workplace,

these can coexist together to help employees achieve a common goal. Hiring was another

subtheme that emerged from the data analysis. For all participants, the institution recognizes the

importance of diversity by hiring international people. In particular, Himal reinforced the fact

that there is no discrimination in the organization. Hence, the bank promotes diversity through its

policies, which create equal opportunities for new and existing employees.


Another important area related to diversity is related to the subtheme Opportunities.

While Max pointed out the opportunity to make employees’ resume visible to the entire company

for future career growth, Himal accentuated his promotion as business analyst after being three

months in the bank. Both comments revealed how employees can take advantage of career

opportunities in the organization. Moreover, Nicole explained that opportunities are available for

international individuals because there is a lack of skills in a specific area (e.g., math and

science). Therefore, international employees can demonstrate their skills by bringing to the

organization something that the host culture may not have.

The third and final research question investigated the impact of corporate training on

promoting diversity. One common feature that emerged from the interviews was the possibility

to network with other employees. The training enabled employees to get acquainted with their

job responsibilities while connecting with other people in the workplace. Specifically, Max and

Nicole reported that training was crucial to be prepared for the job.

As my data analysis continued, I identified my final subtheme, which is Encouraging and

Improving diversity. During my interview with Himal, he referred to the knowledge provided by

corporate training to adequately approach the job tasks, but he did not mention how diversity

could be improved through training. Although Himal’s account did not generate insightful

reactions in this area, Max and Nicole suggested clear examples on how the bank could improve

diversity. Max affirmed that the institution could give employees an opportunity to tell their

story. This comment was important to reinforce that diversity must be visible in the workplace.

Moreover, he reinforced this last point by stating that advertisement could help the bank to

improve their focus on diversity. In the end, this would benefit the bank’s image within the

community.


Furthermore, Nicole was the only participant that explicitly expressed that there was no

presence of diversity training at the beginning of the job. Granted that diversity may be

embedded in the management plan of the bank, it is not fully implemented through corporate

training (Hon & Brunner, 2000). This raises some important considerations for the company to

include diversity as a fundamental component of corporate training. Although the culture of the

institution is tailored to its employees by fostering good relationships among employees, it does

not encompass any diversity training. By providing employees with diversity training, the

organization can bring a positive change in the workplace. As Nicole previously emphasized,

knowing about diversity can benefit both American and international employees.

Limitations and Future Research

This study used a narrative approach to understand how employees experience diversity

in the workplace. Although the implications of this study offered a fruitful perspective of the

pivotal role of diversity in a corporate setting, it has a few limitations. First, the nature of this

study implies that findings cannot be generalized to any other organization. Given the subjective

nature of the data, findings can be only limited to this organization. Second, this research did not

include participants from the host culture. Since the goal of this study was to explore diversity, it

would have been interesting to see how Americans perceive and define diversity in the

workplace.

The findings of this study have direct implications for corporate governance to effectively

implement diversity training in the workplace. It is essential to focus on diversity because any

corporate environment in the United States is comprised of culturally diverse employees. Like

previous studies (Guo et al., 2014; Hon & Brunner, 2000), my research addressed a dearth of


diversity in corporate training. Moreover, it was found that communication facilitated

participants to build personal and professional relationships in the workplace.

Future studies should further explore the role of communication to enhance diversity. For

instance, examining communication styles used in an organization could represent a prolific

territory to better understand how diversity is promoted by management. In addition, leadership

could also be explored to understand how management perceives and implements diversity in the

workplace. In this regard, managers of different levels (i.e., top and middle management) could

offer valuable information to broaden the scope of research on diversity.


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Interrogating Culture to Understand Diversity

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