The Global Diversity Desk Reference: Managing an International Workforce

1.4. GLOBALIZATION AND DIVERSITY

While domestic concepts of diversity were vital tools for economic and social change in the United States, they fall short in a new, global environment. As we've seen, the values underlying U.S. domestic diversity initiatives do not translate wholesale to other cultures, nor do they adequately reflect the importance of culture itself. Yet, as Ellis Cose, author of The Rage of a Privileged Class, says, "It is going to be awfully hard to forge a globally competitive workforce if the races can't learn to work together." As Cose notes, managing diversity domestically is a prerequisite for succeeding globally. Conversely, because of the increasing internationalization in home markets, addressing global diversity issues ...