Answers:
1. It has been found that when a dysfunctional group requires to be made much efficient, then the change agents should put more emphasis on setting of the following skills. These include – the change agent should be able to complete various types of activities (team building). Moreover, the agent should work in a synchronized manner along with its team leader. The change agent should be capable enough to aid in each aspect regarding development of team (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014). These are managing conflicts, facilitation of team meeting, decision-making, problem solving and development of team expectations and ro jobles. Lastly, the change agent should be capable to understand and analyze the group culture. Thus, it can be said that this understanding might assist in incorporating all the changes as per the change strategy.
The problems that exist between the managers regarding the implementation of the change management are – loss of status of their job within the firm, the employees working under each manager might get surprised and might suffer due to the fear of unknown (Sparrow, Brewster & Chung, 2016). Moreover, the peer pressure might occur, climate of mistrust might rise, fear of failure might occur among the employees, lack of tact and misunderstanding among the managers and ego issue might occur.
It has been found that if the managers refuse to consider the help of the change agent, then either the managers have to learn the techniques and skills of the change agent. On the contrary, the managers will be unable to implement any changes in the organization through change management successfully.
2. Yes, it can be said that it is important to understand, acknowledge and value the differences in an organization as the traditional notion regarding the diversity in the workplace has been changed that used to refer to genders, races and religious backgrounds. However, at present days, the variables that are considered include cognitive style, age, personality, background, education, skill set and many more. Nowadays, the diversity of workplace mainly puts emphasis on the individual promotion in a firm and acknowledging each individual is capable to bring in certain different and innovative ideas to the company (Budhwar & Debrah, 2013). Therefore, the corporations that are committed to diverse workforce aim to exploit a pool of individuals having unique qualities as this leads to potential growth of the firm. Moreover, this also helps in nurturing and developing the potentiality of every individual.
It has been found that with the acknowledgement and honor of the cultural diversity, the managers intend to determine new ways for maximizing and capitalizing the various styles, skills and sensibilities of the staffs from various cultures. The diversity in culture helps in recognizing, appreciating and utilizing the unique imminent, perceptions as well as backgrounds of others. This helps in avoiding discrimination and any kind of disrespectful behavior.
Moreover, cultural diversity develops a particular environment that is comprised of trust, tolerance and respect. In addition to these, the cultural diversity within an organization appreciate the operations of a business for its diversity as this influences the bottom line of the corporation (Storey, 2014).
References
Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Budhwar, P. S., & Debrah, Y. A. (Eds.). (2013). Human resource management in developing countries. Routledge.
Sparrow, P., Brewster, C., & Chung, C. (2016). Globalizing human resource management. Routledge.
Storey, J. (2014). New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
