Introduction
The paper intends to discuss the significance of critical thinking and system thinking approaches in solving the problems that may arise in the organizations. The prospect of the problems needs to be treated strategically irrespective of the nature of the problem to ensure the sustainable outcomes. However, it has been observed that the managers or the leaders regard even the complex problems as the simple ones, and that results in costing the business practices or even generating troubles to the global position of the business (Gharajedaghi, 2011). In this regard, the paper presents the problem of cultural diversity within the organization that entails critical significance at the global level.
Discussion
The organizations operating at global level incorporate multicultural workforce. According to Martin (2014), the culture of global work must have shared understanding of the regulations, visible rules, behaviors, and the deeper ethical values in the context of the globalization. Therefore, the personnel responsible for managing these crucial elements of the organizational culture must be proficient in this regard. However, the research yields the outcomes that certain organizations tend to ignore the cultural evolution and keep the entire organizational framework aligned with the local domestic cultural values. It makes the employees feel de-motivated that results in worsening their productivity; thus, affecting the organizational objectives.
Having a culturally diverse workplace requires the organization to be responsive towards its outcomes. If the managers consider it as a simple problem, they tend to adopt simple solutions for overcoming this issue. Although the adopted solution seems effective for a period, such a problem is not simple but a complex one that needs a critical approach for long-term effectiveness. There is a great extent of miscommunication, increasing barriers, and impractical adaptation behaviors all across the organization affecting its global recognition. The managers lack in determining the negative impacts of their approaches of over-simplifying the most critical problem of cultural diversity. According to Ackoff, Addison, & Bibb (2007), complex problems require critical solutions rather than the simple solutions of simple minded managers. Although having a culturally diverse workforce is effective in enhancing the employees’ creativity and competence, it demands to be managed effectively as it may turn out to be the most complex issue that in turns would result in organization’s decline at the global level.
Thinking Tools to Solving Complex Problems
The utilization of thinking tools for solving problems presented with complex nature depicts that these tools mainly concentrates on the problem rather than the whole system in which the problem is existing. In this regard, culture is considered as a hallmark associated with the lives of people that in turn is responsible for influencing their views, values, and belief. The complex problem related to cultural diversity can be solved by the adoption of significant approaches such as critical thinking and system thinking.
Critical Thinking Approach
Critical thinking is the approach that is underpinned by the process of conceptualization, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of gathered information. The information may generate by means of observing, experiencing, reflecting, or communicating for the purpose of action and belief. Criticism cannot be aligned with critical thinking as criticism may occur while understanding the attempts of communication put forth by a speaker or a writer. On the other hand, critical thinking focuses on the clarity of speaker’s intentions in terms of providing better understanding through communication.
In addition to this, the aim entrenched in critical thinking is to undertake the assessment of the premises which leads to the formation of an argument, alongside the manifestation of the logical structure possessed by the argument (Bowell & Kemp, 2002). Moreover, Bowell and Kemp (2002) depict that the prime interest of the individuals who practice critical thinking revolves around arguments regardless of the successful outcome for the provision of good reasoning so that action and beliefs can be aligned.
Conversely, critical thinking is also portrayed as an outlook through which a person can seek improvement by exploring ideas and ways for their implementation. In the area of management, the process of critical thinking is implemented in terms of demonstrating critical evaluation of an idea, usually entailing a framework or model that in turn is developed by an individual or a team. With the extensive increase in workers with varying culture, the limited understanding of the cultural practices of an organization and lack of information related to beliefs and norms can precipitate adverse outcomes by affecting the environment of the workplace. In this regard, the application of critical thinking can be carried out by gaining complete information regarding the purpose for which it is applied whether it applies to the circumstances or not.
According to Ackoff (1986), for the attainment of best possible outcomes through the implementation of critical thinking, it is necessary for the person to practice reading and thinking. The aforementioned practices play a vital role in the exploration of ideas as well as the discovery of frameworks that are required for the evaluation of the process in accordance with the sustainability of the circumstances that are gyrating around cultural diversity. On the contrary, the study of Kotter (2002) is presented with significant focus on the incorporation of emotional dimension in each steps of the process. In this context, major research areas in which change should be managed are entailed as awareness about the models and its updates, obtaining information regarding the areas in which the model cannot be fitted, examination of evidence for the purpose of model’s efficacy, and examination of new models for the determination of relevance and usefulness.
Additionally, ways of communication also play an essential role by facilitating with appropriate solutions regarding cultural diversity. According to Bowell & Kemp (2002), every day is instilled with different messages that are sometimes neglected and some are encountered by rejection. Their study further illustrates that development of ability to perform analysis for the commencement of persuasion can accurately provide assistance in the interpretation of what other people are trying to communicate and whether or not a good argument is attained. After this, the individual can begin to accept what others are trying to persuade without having complete information about good reasoning.
Conversely, use of language is considered as an entity of pride which is an extraordinary ability to carry out communication. In this regard, it is necessary for the manager to focus on language. As suggested by McMaster & Grinder (1993), language is placed at the mainstay as the principle means that facilitates with the encoding of matters associated with effective management. Encoding takes place through the provision of information and then coding is performed by utilizing preponderance of the attained information in language. Examination of cultural diversity within an organization requires efficient managerial and communication skills. Ambiguity in languages and cultural values and beliefs requires significant acknowledgment as they can be considered as signal leading to any negative outcome in the workplace.
System Thinking Approach
If a complex system requires being changed to attain the organizational objectives, there comes the necessity of approaching the change implementation differently rather than regarding it as a simple system. Therefore, system thinking assists in dealing with the complex problems arising in the organization among the employees belonging to different cultures. There lies a dynamic relationship between the internal components of the overall system. System thinking facilitates the characteristics of the internal elements along with the interconnections for comprehending the entire system in a better way (Meadows & Wright, 2008). There must be an agreement level between the cause and effect of the system complexity. In the case of cultural diversity and its impacts on the organization, the complexity of the system makes the personnel involved uncertain in taking the appropriate actions to overcome the devastating outcomes. Through systems thinking, it seems that the motivation of the employees towards comprehending the cultural diversity at the workplace yields sustainable outcomes that are attainable, valuable, and profitable. Such conditions yield in messes rather than just problems that require the managers actually to manage the messes than solving problems. Therefore, oversimplifying these critical conditions is not productive with respect to sustainable outcomes.
According to Ackoff (1979), systems thinking are the best solution for dealing with the organizational messes as the effective understanding of the critical elements assist in making more conversant decisions about how to be prepared for the expected futures. It is in accordance with the study of Meadows & Wright, (2008) that the approach of dealing with the issues declares the possible behavioral outcomes. Cultural differences within the organizational structure are not simple problems as the outcomes are extremely devastating. The employees do not trust the organization that results in a decline in their performance and an increase in the organizational turnover rate. An organization operating at a global scale cannot withstand in the market if the employees are not aligned with its objectives and vision accomplishment. According to Sherwood (2002), systems thinking enable the management to observe the situation systematically to take dynamic effects. The organizations face issues in dealing with the internal problems as the managers are under duress pertaining to their jobs that make them take hasty decisions to make the things done, which in turns affect their behaviors with the team members. Therefore, it is required to evaluate the environmental and social support of the marketplace for measuring the organizational performance. Nonetheless, it demands the leadership to be sustainable for determining the future impacts of the business on the economic, environmental and social aspects.
According to Avery & Bergsteiner (2010), sustainability-focused leadership assists the business in attaining competitive advantage in the market. These sustainable practices are essential to eliminate the issue of cultural differences for enduring value for all the stakeholders across the organization. Therefore, managers are required to deal with the uncertainties prevailing in the society and the internal environment of the organization through sustainability thinking in collaboration with the systems thinking (Gharajedaghi, 2011). However, the complex issues require the management to adopt the pluralistic approach of systems thinking as multiple perspectives tend to provide better prospects for outcomes that eradicate the possibility of undeserved harms (Kekes, 1990). In addition to this, the study of O'Connor & McDermott, (1997) systems thinking is carried out in loops that turn out to be a loop feedback system in which every interlinked part of the system has its effects on the others. Therefore, the feedback approach facilitates in determining the malfunctioning elements in the entire setup. Therefore, there comes the need of balancing loops as well to ensure system stability. The problems arising from the attainment of organizational goals are rectified far before affecting the stability through the approach of balancing loop. Besides, the causal loop mapping enhances the validity of systems thinking as it facilitates the management in comprehending the behavior of the system. It assists in taking effective solutions to the problems (Jackson, 2007).
Conclusion
In the area of management, some issues lead to the confrontation of pressure due to cultural diversity, expectations from senior executives, along with pressure exerted by peers, and expectations out forth by other stakeholders. The aspects mentioned above then result in the occurrence of the negative working environment which also limits chances of communication. In this regard, the adoption of critical thinking and system thinking approaches provide the manager with enormous opportunities through which effective solutions in terms of understanding different cultures can be obtained. Critical thinking approach is embedded in the aspect of awareness and inquiry in accordance with the ongoing organizational needs which further enhances the ability of the manager to identify as well as analyze assumptions by aligning it with various management models and theories whereas, system thinking is responsible for connecting the organization with the society. Thinking tools can be applied for solving complex problems related to cultural diversity.
List of References
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