an individual grew up or lives now, whether they are married or have children, how their religious affiliation guides them, and the amount and type of education they have. Finally, the fourth layer encompasses organizational influences related to factors such as seniority, the kind of work an individual does, their level within the company, and their work location (26-34). All of these layers together form one's own diversity filter.
             The human resource approach focuses on the relationship between people and the organization, and recognizes that cultural diversity includes every employee. It must be understood that people are the most important resource in an organization. The challenge is to successfully apply skills, insight, energy, and commitment to make an organization better. According to George Henderson, "an organization is only as effective as the people who operate it" (4). Henderson introduces several challenges that may affect diversity in an organization. First there is the challenge of getting women and minorities into senior level management positions. "Women and minorities account for more than fifty percent of the American work force but they comprise less than five percent of the senior management positions" (5). It is also important for management to know the difference between affirmative action, valuing diversity, and managing diversity. Affirmative action refers to legally stated written plans and statistical goals for recruiting, training, and promoting specific underutilized groups. Valuing diversity means that every member of an organization is to be valued and managing diversity emphasizes managerial skills and policies needed to maximize every employee's contribution to the organizational goals (6-8). Another challenge that must be met by many organizations is to design ways for employees to expand their individual comfort zones.
             Once diversity is accepted as...