Assessing Cultural Needs – Kareem versus The Culture at ABC Corporation
Kareem’s Cultural Needs
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Cultural needs are the things that are considered helpful or necessary to accommodate a person’s cultural background. One of Kareem’s cultural needs is his religious beliefs. Kareem’s religious beliefs require him to pray five times daily to honor his Muslim faith. Kareem’s religious beliefs significantly impact his performance within the organization because some of the time he should spend working is spent in prayer, leading to conflict between him and his seniors. The second cultural need is inclusion.ABC Corporation does not have a policy supporting the inclusion of different religious practices within the organization. According to Olusegun (2019), although religious freedom in American law and culture is prioritized, there has been a significant religious disagreement between Muslim employees and employers (p.41). The disagreement between Kareem and Thomas at ABC Corporation can be classified as a religious disagreement because Kareem’s poor performance is influenced by his religious beliefs, requiring him to take five daily breaks to pray.
ABC Corporation’s Organizational Culture
ABC Corporation has a market and hierarchy culture. A market culture focuses on results. For instance, ABC Corporation emphasizes high employee performance. The performance is determined by the number of calls that an employee receives. The company uses the hierarchy culture to ensure that performance expectations are communicated to employees and that all performance-related complaints are handled effectively. The hierarchy culture includes the use of a structure, levels of authority, and established procedures.ABC Corporation’s levels of authority consist of managers and supervisors. For instance, Kareem reports to Janet, his supervisor, and Janet reports to Thomas, the call center manager. The company’s operating procedures also promote diversity, but it does not promote inclusion. For example, the company employs employees from different backgrounds but does not have an inclusion policy specifying how employees’ beliefs and culture should be accommodated within the workplace.
Gaps between Kareem’s Culture Needs and the ABC Corporation Organizational Culture
The conflict between Kareem and Thomas was caused by a gap between Kareem’s cultural needs and the ABC Corporation’s Organizational culture. The main gap was the lack of a clear diversity and inclusion policy.ABC Corporation’s organizational culture did not have a diversion and inclusion policy embracing the employees’ cultural backgrounds and religious beliefs. Therefore, Kareem could not express his cultural and religious beliefs without violating the organization’s policies and procedures. The lack of a clear policy on diversity and inclusion in the organization also made it hard for Kareem to defend his actions because they were not acknowledged in the company’s policies and procedures.
Recommendation of Strategies for Individual Stakeholders in ABC Corporation that can be used in Conflict Resolution
One of the strategies that ABC Corporation’s stakeholders can consider for conflict resolution is using mediation to gather facts from all parties involved in the conflict. For instance, the company should appoint a mediator with interpersonal skills and empathy to encourage the employees to feel free to express themselves and share their thoughts about the conflict and the approach being taken to resolve it. Engaging a mediator in conflict resolution can also prevent conflict escalation, especially in a situation where the employee feels that they are being harshly judged. According to Green (2013), a conversation focusing on an employee’s attitudes can and will likely get out of control because the leader and the employee will be discussing something that cannot be observed (p.79). Therefore, a mediator can monitor the conversation between the leader and employee by putting the conversation on hold when they identify the likelihood of conflict escalation to ensure that the conflict is resolved effectively.
Additionally, the corporation should encourage employees to give feedback about the organization’s decisions. Knight (2015) argues that conflicts can be resolved by suggesting alternatives or solutions (p.5). Therefore, allowing the employees to give feedback about the organization’s decisions would create room for alternatives to what the organization should do. Moreover, the company should create an antidiscrimination policy that allows all employees, regardless of their background or rank, to be given an opportunity to give their feedback during the conflict resolution process. According to Crain Corporations Inc. (2005), having a policy preventing discrimination is essential in an organization, but employers must also educate employees about their legal rights and create a culture of mutual cooperation and respect in the workplace(p.1). Therefore, the company should integrate employee cultural awareness into the diversity and inclusion policy training program to prevent discrimination.
References
Crain Corporations Inc. (2005). Bias has no place at work. Business Insurance. https://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20050814/story/100017358/bias-has-no-place-at-work
Green, M. E. (2013). Painless performance conversations: A practical approach to critical day-to-day workplace discussions.
Knight, R. (2015, August 12). How to handle difficult conversations at work. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2015/01/how-to-handle-difficult-conversations-at-work
Olusegun, J. (2019). The Impact Of Workplace Politics On Organization Development: A Theoretical Perspective. Journal of Management and Corporate Governance, 11(1). https://doi.org/chromeextension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.cenresinjournals.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/PAGE-1-141315.pdf
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Question 
Kareem versus The Culture at ABC Corporation
Prompt: This short paper will help you synthesize information from the readings for this module and inform your thinking when you work on Section IV of the final project. Using the final project case study transcripts provided and the articles “Bias Has No Place at Work” and “Workplace Religious Accommodation Issues for Adherents of Islam” from the module resources, assess the cultural needs of Kareem versus the culture at ABC Corporation. Where did you identify gaps? What should ABC Corporation do to meet Kareem’s needs while still maintaining performance expectations?