Changing perspectives on organizational culture: Emberacing multiculturalism

Abstract

This article proposes that in order to cope with the national trends toward a widely multicultural workforce, public administrators must reframe their perspectives and work to promote the organizational processes that allow mutual learning among organizational members. Three different cultural perspectives presented illustrate the changes necessary in the patterns of administrative thinking and organizational policy design regarding cultural diversity. The article also suggests that in order for future public managers to effectively understand and intervene with culturally diverse employees and clients they will need not only to change their mental frames but also to develop new skills to enhance employee participation.