Fundamentals: The Culture Values Approach

With the increasing movement of people across the EU and the globalisation of numerous businesses, companies, individuals, families and social spaces constantly encounter new challenges. One of these is dealing with cultural diversity. For businesses it is of central importance to generate resource oriented increase in value from this diversity and to make it available for successful management. The demographic changes will also challenge society and its economy in new ways. The junior workforce decreases constantly, so that the resource which older employers and also working women represent grows not only more important but becomes indeed a central factor for survival.

Migration and integration happen across all the various areas of social and economic life and should be dealt with as thematic cross-sections. The workplace is here for most migrants the first place of contact with the host culture and forms the basis for the subsequent integration.

The project idea puts the situation at the workplace in the foreground based on the fact that in the Anglo-American and European world employment and economic success represent an important measure of social integration. Employment forms the basis for socio-economic security and independence, for social interactions and acceptance, in short it creates identity and determines to a large degree a person's sense of self-worth. At the workplace people of different age, gender and ethnic and religious backgrounds meet, be it because of the internationalization of companies or as a consequence of different types of work migration. Therefore the situation at the workplace may be considered a unique interface of diversity. Culture values intends to research this special social space and to come up with measures which will encourage peaceful and constructive relations between minorities and the dominant society in a multicultural context. Cultural and ethnospecific education of immigrants as well as the native population shall facilitate business within the company, and shall convey on an individual basis language competence and knowledge about cultural and religious value systems which in turn influence individual behaviour. In this way mutual intolerance, racism, and xenophobia may be reduced and multicultural competence created.

The project Culture Values may be understood as a kind of economic and social catalyst. Generating culture-and ethnospecific as well as socio-economic knowledge, and disseminating relevant contents will utilize unused potential and further the social and economic development of the involved regions and countries. Not only will individuals profit from an enhanced intercultural competence, but as learning organizations companies will benefit from mobilizing and using the implicit knowledge and potential of their co-workers.

Culture Values is a project that seeks to improve social interactions and to use cultural potential within organizations. The goal is to utilize the knowledge of co-workers about formative cultural elements for the reduction of conflict, the better distribution of information, and greater identification with the company. Misunderstandings and friction within organization and production may be directly prevented, motivation and satisfaction with their place of employment will be enhanced for employees, and absences from work and labour turnover rates will be decreased.

On the basis of the examination of different models that are relevant to the areas in question two possibilities have crystallized above all; 'Managing Diversity' and the 'Balanced Scorecard.' Description of the development of these approaches you'll find at seperate pages under "Fundamentals". In addition the content of the project touches the areas of inter-cultural management, corporate social responsibility and internal marketing which will equally be considered for the composition of the consortium.

Perspectives and Dimensions regarding Culture Values

The financial perspective includes also the economically defined opportunity costs which should be considered as income and which have been lost while an action alternative was missing. This realization benefits the idea 'Culture Values' in so far as it permits to recognize the non-financial aspects which have been created through the interactive processes. At the same time, however, fluctuation and absences from work, scores and indicators may partially be determined. EU-experiences with reduction of fluctuation rates and sickness costs demonstrates, that the conscious acknowledgement of diversity has benefits.

On the basis of personal and behaviour characteristics internal processes and their results may be derived and illustrated within companies. Highlighted are those aspects which concern employees and which are of central importance for the project 'Culture Values.':

In the concept 'Managing Diversity' the personal levels and those of the internal processes correspond to the thrust of the "learning and effectiveness paradigm" and have as their goal organizational learning as well as the utilization of existing potential by adapting it to particular functions and tasks.

Extraorganizational influences on the individual such as social environment, family structures, value systems, and socialisation influence significantly the behaviour within the company and are therefore responsible for the quality of interactions, the formation and cohesion of working groups, their horizontal and vertical communication regarding open and hidden conflicts. Work relations and interactions which are determined by motivation, trust and knowledge exchange may be identified as factors critical for success in order to achieve strategic business goals such as process efficiency, quality assurance, optimization of costs and profits as well as customer loyalty.

Conditions at the workplace such as stress influence in turn the use of leisure and, related to this, the social support that reduces stress. The impact of employment on the integration of foreigners and their family structures or social environment would in itself be a fascinating study. It is, however, not possible within our time-frame, that characteristics of the social environment such as family and use of leisure which influence employees at their workplace will be included in the project. The greater the integration of migrants into society, the greater the benefit for society including businesses.

It also demonstrates that different intervention strategies which take into account internal as well as external determinants are possible and in the broadest sense promising. Examples are risky use of leisure, healthcare and, more negatively, personal problems such as relationship crises, divorces, drugabuse etc.; these may also, depending on the project's priority, be included in 'Culture Values.'

On the basis of further examination of various relevant studies we would like to draw attention to the following explorations:

An EU study recommends the following measures:

• Development of a compendium of case studies in the area of staff diversity in which the implementation process, the cost-benefit-relationship and the methods of measuring success are described.
• Support of a EU-wide network of demonstration projects in the economy.
• Development of a EU-wide network of organizations which will support staff diversity and national studies.
• Support of national studies.

Phases

During the realisation of the pilot projects in the companies, eight steps will be taken:

1. Vision and Strategy
2. Definition of concrete targets
3. Derivation of a cause-and-effect diagram
4. Definition and selection of measurement categories
5. Development of a set of measures
6. Implementation of the chosen measure
7. Integration into the Management Information System
8. Monitoring of the measurement categories and Controlling

Advance of proposed project
All examined studies, dissertations and other literature look at the topic from a theoretical point of view and collect data about current states. The project 'Culture Values' intends to go into greater detail and to implement suggested measures in appropriate companies. This means that during the organizational analysis the companies will be examined with regards to the implementation and use of diversity management instruments. Deficits in the paradigms will be determined and rectified through the creation of cause-and-effect diagrams and the implementation of appropriate measures. Based on the findings these measures shall be modified and a practicable model shall be developed. The results may then be applied to the various theoretical frameworks and be developed further.

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