Harnessing Cultural Diversity to Stimulate Organizational Learning

Abstract

This chapter explores the potential links between cultural diversity and organizational learning and discusses implications of the relationship. It shows that cultural diversity of employees in organizations has the potential to stimulate significantly organizational learning. To explore potential synergy between cultural diversity of employees and organizational learning, the chapter presents relevant ideas from multicultural diversity, cross-cultural, organizational learning, and learning organization literatures. It highlights parallels between individual learning in multicultural environments and organizational learning, and suggests an alternative way to conceptualize organizational learning. The potential relationship between cultural diversity and organizational learning is discussed, including inherent benefits and implications for organizational practice. The chapter focuses on cultural diversity in organizations spanning national borders or having employees from numerous national/ethnic cultures. It argues that one of the most important benefits of cultural diversity stems from its potential to stimulate both individual and organizational learning and the resulting expansion of frames of reference used to understand what the organization does.