Effects of Workforce Ethnic Diversity on the Managerial Communication Process

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of personnel’s ethnic diversity on the process of managerial communication, since the majority of the literature during these years focused mainly on the communication as a way to promote diversity, without examining the implications of workforce diversity on the communication process itself. This research aims at examining the potential impacts of diversified ethnically workforce on the communication between managers and employees. In addition, it attempts to propose methods to manage competently the particular process and thus, benefit from the workforce’s ethnic diversity. The research is based on qualitative single case-study. The empirical data is collected through the semi-structured interviews from an ethnically diversified Finnish IT company, Flander.

In line with the theoretical framework, the results indicate additional level of difficulty involved in the interaction with ethnically diversified employees. Moreover, it identifies several aspects of communication style and perception as the potential effects of workforce ethnic diversity on the process of managerial communication. Knowledge of the ethnic cultural differences, their acceptance and the need for specific managerial skills are identified as factors that improve the communication process between management and ethnically diversified employees.