Diversity in the Workplace - Economic Aspects of Diversity - Desklib

Diversity in the Workplace
Mr Joseph Assaf
Managing Director, Ethnic Communications Pty Ltd., Australia
On an average day in Australia half a million telephone calls are made to 150 overseas destinations and on Christmas Day seven
million international telephone calls are made. The average week sees more than 2000 radio broadcast hours in more than 70
languages and over 400 hours of television in more than 12 languages. Over two and a half million copies of foreign language
newspapers are printed each week in Australia in more than 30 languages.
These are just some of the most obvious examples of cultural diversity at work in Australia. The impact of this diversity is
palpable; it touches every aspect of the way we live and work. Culturally diverse communities have existed throughout history,
bio- diversity has had positive or negative effects depending on how it was managed. Properly managed, it provides social and
economic benefits for the whole community; badly managed it can give rise to conflict and disintegration. In Australia, the good
management of our diversities has given us enormous benefits and the potential for even greater advantages; it has made us a
model of cultural global diversity.
The Roman and British empires flourished because they harnessed diversity; they appropriated the cultural and intellectual
achievements of their subject peoples. Of course, the collapse of those empires was an inevitable consequence of their
undemocratic character; however, it is significant that after independence, many ex-British colonies joined, and remain members
of, the free association of the British Commonwealth. Clearly the advantages to be gained from pooling resources in a culturally-
diverse alliance overcame memories of colonisation.
The advantages of creating a common bond out of diversity can be seen in the evolution of Europe since World War II. For
centuries European history has been dominated by the struggles of different nations trying to assert dominion over each other.
The advent of the European Economic Community, now the more closely allied European Union, brought about a gradual but
profound change of attitudes. The different peoples of Europe are now convinced that union gives them shared strength. They
share common goals and common wealth without sacrificing their separate cultural identities.
United, Europe makes a virtue of cultural diversity. Belgians still speak three different languages; Spain and Holland are still
monarchies; Italy and France are still republics; and there is queue of countries knocking on the door. Europe's prosperity lies in a
unity of purpose which is fortified by cultural diversity and which offers all the citizens of its member states equal access to wealth,
education and the political process.
By becoming a well-managed diversity, Europe has re-created itself as a super-power. In contrast, the political and social
convictions which governed the former Soviet Union failed to value the cultural diversity of its people. As the turmoil we are seeing
today demonstrates, the USSR and its East European allies failed utterly in their attempts to create a common bond through
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insistence on cultural conformity. Instead, by restricting the expression of cultural diversity, they seem to have entrenched and
quite possibly exacerbated cultural hostilities.
The unification of Europe's diversities has made it one of the strongest entities in the world but, in terms of global diversity, its
reach is limited by its continental Europeanness. Europe has 15 member countries with different languages and cultures. In
Australia we have more than 150 ethnic communities or, what I will call here today, cultural states.
The diversity of those 150 cultural states mirrors the cultural diversity of the globe and gives Australia a far greater potential than
Europe. Together, Australia's diversities, its cultural states, constitute a unity, what I call the multicultural statemulticultural
Australia.
Fifteen years ago I identified the emergence of the new cultural states; I saw them as global confederacies which transcend
traditional political and tribal confines. The economic significance of these groups is now widely acknowledged as what Joel
Kotkin calls the new global "economic tribes". As Kotkin points out, these "tribes"1 are not a new phenomenon; for centuries, the
Jews have operated as an economic tribe, dispersed throughout the world; they preserved a strong cultural identity and used their
community links to deal across the borders of their host countries. Kotkin draws a parallel between the historic economic role of
the Jews and that of the new, "economic tribes": Chinese, Indians, Vietnamese, Koreans, Lebanese, Armenians and Palestinians,
who have also been dispersed around the world; who also have strong cultural identities and powerful community ties; and who
are vigorously entrepreneurial.
I prefer to describe them as global cultural communities. To my mind, the word "tribe" connotes exclusivity and, as I see it, the
benefits deriving from the manifold achievements of these communities are felt globally, across national and cultural lines. They
operate from every part of the world; they maintain energetic global business, artistic, and community networks. Their activities
necessarily extend the cultural and economic perspectives of their host communities.
When one looks at the impact of these global cultural states, one can see that the communications revolution together with
increased international mobility are changing the dynamics of the global community. The motive force behind international cultural
and economic exchanges increasingly springs from the global cultural states which are, in economic, artistic and social terms,
diffusing the boundaries of nation states. That diffusion can be seen in the economic, cultural and social impact of the 50 million
overseas Chinese who are spread across the globe and who act as a global cultural state.
These global cultural states vary in size and they have settled in different numbers in different parts of the world. Latvians and
Lithuanians, for example, have settled in only two or three countries, while Indians are widely dispersed. The reasons for the
diasporas which gave rise to these global cultural states also vary; they occurred as a result of wars, occupations, persecution
and economic hardship. The Lebanese global cultural state is one of the most scattered. With the Lebanon's history of protracted
periods of political, economic and civic disturbance, contact and trade was often impossible for overseas Lebanese and they
developed a long history of mobility and international trade. There are Lebanese cultural states in the Arabian Gulf, North and
South America, Africa, Brazil, France, Britain and Australia. The Australian Lebanese cultural state is connected socially and
economically with all the others, as well as with the Lebanon itself.
The 150 cultural states of Australia are all represented around the globe and are themselves a global diversity. In addition, we
have the unique cultural states of the Aborigines and the Torres Straits Islanders as well as the largest cultural state, the Anglo-
Celts. This combination of cultural and linguistic wealth makes Australia a model multicultural state and, therefore, singularly well-
equipped to be the first host country for the first United Nations Conference on Global Cultural Diversity.
Like Europe, and in contrast with the former Soviet Union, Australia has pioneered the management of diversity for the common
good. In Australia the individual in each of the 150 cultural states has equal access to education, wealth and status. Good
management of diversity has brought social, economic, artistic and political progress; it has made our workplace very productive.
The benefits of this productive diversity in the workforce are felt on both the national and individual level. For years I have said
that if you want to do business in Vietnam, you should start in Cabramatta, a Sydney suburb, where there is a large Vietnamese-
Australian community. On a larger scale, it is known that two-thirds of all investment in mainland China is made by overseas
Chinese including the Australian-Chinese cultural state, and their investments are a long-term investment for Australia.