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The following report will discuss diversity within Exxon Mobile and how they manage diversity from over 100 different international locations. The report will discuss an overview of Exxon, how they manage diversity in the workplace, how they manage diversity in teams, and Exxon’s recommended approach to managing diversity. Exxon Mobile was chosen as a topic due to its global status and current public scrutiny. The company has had a number of success and failures over the years. Exxon Overview Exxon Mobil Corporation is a U.S.-based oil and gas company that maintains an employment level approximately 82,100 employees in over 100 different countries (ExxonMobile, 2007). These different countries and locations bring together tens of thousands of people from different backgrounds and cultures. ExxonMobile must manage these differences and coordinate the work of these individuals in order to be successful. In the first quarter of 2008 Exxon has seen tremendous profits of $11.66 billion (Herbst, 2008). These excessive profits in a poor economy create both risk and opportunities for one of the world’s larges oil and gas providers. Some of the risks relate around political backlash as seen in recent congressional discussions on oil subsidies as well as the possibility of changing Exxon’s business model and moving into alternative fuels. More then 63% of oil sales are distributed to North America and Europe (ExxonMobile, 2007). The company’s culture is tied to the cultures of these two regions of the world and must live and exist within this European cultural medium. Therefore, the U.S. based company must traverse international oil exploration within the context of a European market. As oil at $300 dollars a barrel becomes a distinct possibility in the next decade (mh497, 2008) both nations and people see “big oil” with suspicion and hostility. The higher fuel prices, declining economies, and record breaking profits have increased more pressure on oil companies like Exxon Mobile to be more transparent and accountable for their actions. The public will likely have their eye on the companies operations. The potential for big changes is high among Exxon Mobile as the company begins to rethink its current strategy. Currently, explosive debates between current shareholders, CEO Rex Tillerson and the Rockefeller family on the other side have been brewing over whether or not to move into alternative energy sources (Evans, 2008). The cultural diversity of the company as well as political pressure may end up playing a major part in this battle for the company’s future strategic approach. Managing Diversity in the Workplace Diversity is a standard business mantra that is common in today’s largest corporations. Diversity is based on the necessity of the market that requires more innovation and better appealing products that span many different cultures around the globe. Companies still must be able to manage diversity as well ensure that a diversified workforce meets objectives. Communicating between diverse cultures and people comes down to language. Language is built and made through the values and symbols each culture holds. The more different the values and symbols the more likely there will be differences in the way in which people perceive their realities and the more likely inter-group conflict will arise. Managers should consider the language as well as the values and symbols that create that language when conversation begins to break down (Stevens, 2007). Something as simple as the concept of informality can create cultural divides between people. For example, saying a simple, “hello” with a slight wave of the hand may be too informal for some cultures and peoples. They would prefer a “Good day Mr. Jones” which is seen as a more proper sign of respect. The language, both verbal and nonverbal should be considered when managing such diverse people. Strong interpersonal relationships can help breed more understanding between diverse people (Hudson, 2007). The more people come to know each other as well as understand each other the more likely they are going to be able to deal with each other as well as understand each other’s verbal and nonverbal language. This is one of the reasons why it is important for organizations to foster warm up sessions and outings to break the ice. When diverse teams engage in regular communications they begin to develop trust which helps bridge the cultural gap (McLean, 2007). With familiarity and trust diverse people’s can begin to understand and know with intimacy the individual personalities of the people they work with. The likelihood of confusion and misinterpretation is reduced. Language, familiarity, and trust appear to be main ingredients to ensuring the success of managing a diversified workplace. Without this familiarity, language and trust it is likely that teams will soon break down into confusion and nonperformance. The simple process of getting to know each other and conformability with each other appears to have an influence on overall success. If nothing else, meetings are one big communication forum whereby important pieces of knowledge must be transferred across the table. Managing Diversity in Teams Teams and diversity are common wholesale phrases in today’s business world. When problems arise managers might likely get a response listening to scholars and educated professionals that, “Teams and Diversity” is the road to success. Teamwork and diversity are seen as necessary components to being successful in today’s global world. With Anglos and Hispanics being the lion’s share of the countries population they make an appropriate avenue of study. A study found that when Anglos and Hispanics were placed in a team of diversified people their satisfaction dropped significantly (Ash, 2008). The greater the difference of the team members; the more the satisfaction decreased. Perceived differences seem to lower the desire to be contributing members within highly diversified teams. Let us say for a moment that researchers used all Hispanics and Anglos just to determine whether or not there was still a drop in satisfaction if they simply had members of different genders. Interestingly we find that gender differences that create some fault lines also produce less new idea generation from the team (Pearsall, Ellis & Evans, 2008). In other words, gender conflicts reduce creativity. For many managers this becomes confusing because they have heard “Diversity and Teams” for the past decade or so will solve all of the employers problems like a magic wand. If diversified teams produce lower satisfaction and lower creativity how would one overcome such obstacles in a global world? The answer is coaching (Peterson, 2007). Without coaching and with out emphasizing the benefits of these teams it is likely that many of them will not produce the results that where expected. It would appear from a slice of the available research that culturally diversified teams can actually be counter productive and not all businesses should say, “Teams and Diversity” are their vanguard into success without considering how well the ground has been prepared. Managing Diversity at Exxon Exxon also recognizes the need for diversity within its organization. With a presence in over 100 different companies the company has a wide swath of people ranging from nearly every major nationality contained within its organization. The success of the Company depends, in part, on the success of managing the way in which people interact. Exxon has a number of key concepts when it comes to managing diversity (Sheridan, 1994). 1.) Awareness and understanding: Companies must be aware of the cultural differences that exist within their organizational ranks. By being aware of such differences they can better anticipate where the cultural fault lines are and ensure that they are not broken. 2.) Provide support for people accepting change: People take time to change and it isn’t easy to change old thought processes and habits quickly. Organizations must not only foster change but also must support it. 3.) Making Diversity Real in the Workplace: Diversity must be more then an amebic concept in the world of academia. Diversity needs to be important, relevant, and concrete in order for it to be successfully implemented. 4.) Demonstrate that Management is Serious about Diversity: “Walk the Talk” is a concept that helps embody the idea that managers need to do more then simple lip service to diversity. It needs to be acted upon by those in power. 5.) Celebrating Success: When success is had it should be celebrated among the members. New milestones in the organization’s development should be reciprocated with a public event. References Ash, S. (2008). Hispanics and Anglos: The role of group composition on satisfaction. Public Personnel Management, 37, (1). ExxonMobil Corporation SWOT anaysis, 2007). ExxonMobile.. Evans, H. (2008). Big oil’s state of denial. U.S. News & World Report, 144 (16). Hudson, V. (2007). The human touch. Industrial Engineer: IE, 39 (9). McLean, J. (2007). Managing global virtual teams. British Journal of Administrative Management, 59 (16). Mh497 (2008). Be Bullish. Land of Black Gold. Retrieved June 25, 2007 from Ebscohost database. Pearsall, M., Ellis, A. & Evans, J. (2008). Unlocking the effects of gender fault lines on team creativity: is activation the key? Journal of Applied Psychology, 93 (1). Peterson, D. (2007). Executive coaching in cross-cultural context. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice & Research, 59 (4). Sheridan, J. (1994). Dividends from diversity. Industry Week, 243 (17). Stevens, C. (2007). Creating and managing a diverse team of employees. New Hampshire Business Review, 29 (26).
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