TUTOR: Well,you've both been looking at differentstyles of managing individuals in companies and theworkplace.How's the research going,Philip?
PHILIP: Well,I've been looking at whyindividualism,I mean individual differences,are suchan important area of management studies.When youthink about any organization,be it a family businessor a multinational company,they are all fundamentallya group of people working together.But it's whatthese individuals contribute to their places of workthat makes you realize how important they are.Ofcourse they bring different ideas,but it's also their attitudes and their experiences oflearning.Diversity is important in these areas too.
TUTOR: So why do people behave so differently from one another at work?
PHILIP: There are lots of reasons but research has shown a lot of it comes down topersonality.And the other factor is gender.It's a well known fact that men and women do lotsof things in different ways,and the workplace is no different.
TUTOR: Did you look at the effects of this variation on companies?
PHILIP: Yes,I did.On the positive side,exposure to such diversity helps encouragecreativity which is generally an asset to a company.But unfortunately individual differences arealso the root of conflict between staff and they can lead to difficulties for management,whichcan sometimes be serious.