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With focus on cultural identities like ethnicity, race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, etc., this study views cultural competence from the lenses of intergroup theory and workplace diversity. This paper has two highlights. First, the major focus is on using qualitative inquiry to offer a framework for culturally competent behaviors of organization and its personnel. This framework offers themes and categories on what behaviors of individuals and organization help them in dealing with cross-cultural situations effectively at workplace. Second, the findings also suggest how culturally competent behaviors of members and leaders of the organization groups affect the intergroup relations (group boundaries, power differences, affective patterns and cognitive formations including 'distortions') that involve identity groups and organization groups. Directions for future research are also discussed.
Key Words: Cultural Competence, Workplace Diversity, Intergroup Theory, Qualitative, India
INTRODUCTION
Intergroup theory views social groups as units embedded in a larger social context. These units are connected to its surroundings through its members and through its activities with other groups (Alderfer and Smith, 1982; and Berg and Smith, 1990). When this social context is the organization itself, Intergroup perspective offers due importance to identity groups as well as organization groups. Identity group members are those who share a common identity in terms of either or all these three: (a) biological characteristic (such as sex or race); (b) participation in equivalent historical experience(s); and (c) certain social forces, and a result share similar world views (Alderfer, 1986). Most commonly recognized identity groups are those based on gender, family, ethnicity, and age (Alderfer and Smith, 1982). On the other hand, organization groups are those where members share common organization positions based on the principles of division of labor and hierarchy of authority. In these groups, members have common work experiences and hence, have similar organizational views. Thus, the identity of people in an organization is a function of both their identity group membership and their organization group membership. Alderfer and Smith (1982) use the term "embedded intergroup relations" for intergroup relations involving the interaction between identity groups, organizational groups and the suprasystem in which they are embedded. For example, because the upper management positions in the western countries are usually occupied by White older males, this identity group can be seen as...