heme 8 part 2
Managing a culturally diverse workforce: diversity perspectives in organizations
Introduction
Diversity is relevant to interpersonal as well as intergroup relations in the workplace
context.
Social identity and perceived similarity have consequences for intergroup relations at
culturally diverse workplaces. This can be negative, leading to discrimination, equal
employment disparities, stereotyping, and conflicts but also positive, fostering
creativity innovation and better problem solving.
Diversity strategies
Reinforcing homogeneity: means to avoid or even reject a diverse workforce.
Organization ignores potential cultural differences and also reject cultural diversity
favor of a homogenous workforce.
Attraction-selection-attrition hypothesis suggests that organization tend
to attract, hire, and retain similar types of people. This tendency to
drive out diversity can be explicit or implicit.
Color-blind and fairness: these perspectives stretch the importance of ensuring equal
and fair treatment and avoiding discriminatory practices. But they are different in
their reason for ensuring equal opportunities:
o Color blindness focuses on equal employment opportunities but without
acknowledging potential differences due to different cultural back grounds.
o Fairness ensures equal and fair treatment through addressing the need for
specific support for minority groups, reducing social inequalities.
Access: this perspective sees diversity as a business strategy that provide access to a
diverse customer base and international markets by internally reflecting and
organization’s external environment.
The integration and learning perspective: is broader than the access perspective,
suggesting that everyone can benefit from a diverse work environment, the
organization as a whole as well as its employees. Diversity creates a learning
environment where everybody also within the organization can benefit from a diverse
work context.
o This perspective is the most strategic.
Both access and integration and learning refer to advantages specifically gained from
diversifying the workforce not only by being aware of and accepting diversity but also
by creating a productive work environment and making use of a diverse talents to
meet organizational goals. Whereas the access perspective considers diversity more as
a business case by gaining access to diverse customers and international markets as
well as reflecting the demographics of an organization’s external environment, the
Integration and Learning perspective moves beyond business-related demographic
reasons and appreciation. Equal and fair treatment of everyone is stressed without
specific support for minority groups—not because potential inequalities are ignored
but because the organization has moved beyond distinguishing between different
groups of people to acknowledging the unique and specific expertise of each
individual employee and his or her valuable contribution.
In sum, the five diversity perspectives can be seen on a continuum from defensive
(not doing anything, resisting) to reactive (legal responsibility or addressing
, intercultural conflict) to proactive ( acknowledging the economic benefits of diversity
and encouraging diversity as a learning opportunity for the whole organization)
Discussion
The aim was to identify the different ways organizations approach diversity and how
these approaches are related to perceived benefits and costs of diversity and
implemented diversity management practices.
All five perspectives were found in the organizations they studied, but organizations
differ in their priorities regarding diversity.
In study 1 it was shown that Access (2nd integration and learning) was the most highly
valued and in study 2 it was reinforcing homogeneity (positively c to cost of diversity
and negative to benefits)
Diversity perspectives were associated with specific assumptions about the cost,
appreciation, and benefits of diversity on the organizational and group level.
Managing a culturally diverse workforce: diversity perspectives in organizations
Introduction
Diversity is relevant to interpersonal as well as intergroup relations in the workplace
context.
Social identity and perceived similarity have consequences for intergroup relations at
culturally diverse workplaces. This can be negative, leading to discrimination, equal
employment disparities, stereotyping, and conflicts but also positive, fostering
creativity innovation and better problem solving.
Diversity strategies
Reinforcing homogeneity: means to avoid or even reject a diverse workforce.
Organization ignores potential cultural differences and also reject cultural diversity
favor of a homogenous workforce.
Attraction-selection-attrition hypothesis suggests that organization tend
to attract, hire, and retain similar types of people. This tendency to
drive out diversity can be explicit or implicit.
Color-blind and fairness: these perspectives stretch the importance of ensuring equal
and fair treatment and avoiding discriminatory practices. But they are different in
their reason for ensuring equal opportunities:
o Color blindness focuses on equal employment opportunities but without
acknowledging potential differences due to different cultural back grounds.
o Fairness ensures equal and fair treatment through addressing the need for
specific support for minority groups, reducing social inequalities.
Access: this perspective sees diversity as a business strategy that provide access to a
diverse customer base and international markets by internally reflecting and
organization’s external environment.
The integration and learning perspective: is broader than the access perspective,
suggesting that everyone can benefit from a diverse work environment, the
organization as a whole as well as its employees. Diversity creates a learning
environment where everybody also within the organization can benefit from a diverse
work context.
o This perspective is the most strategic.
Both access and integration and learning refer to advantages specifically gained from
diversifying the workforce not only by being aware of and accepting diversity but also
by creating a productive work environment and making use of a diverse talents to
meet organizational goals. Whereas the access perspective considers diversity more as
a business case by gaining access to diverse customers and international markets as
well as reflecting the demographics of an organization’s external environment, the
Integration and Learning perspective moves beyond business-related demographic
reasons and appreciation. Equal and fair treatment of everyone is stressed without
specific support for minority groups—not because potential inequalities are ignored
but because the organization has moved beyond distinguishing between different
groups of people to acknowledging the unique and specific expertise of each
individual employee and his or her valuable contribution.
In sum, the five diversity perspectives can be seen on a continuum from defensive
(not doing anything, resisting) to reactive (legal responsibility or addressing
, intercultural conflict) to proactive ( acknowledging the economic benefits of diversity
and encouraging diversity as a learning opportunity for the whole organization)
Discussion
The aim was to identify the different ways organizations approach diversity and how
these approaches are related to perceived benefits and costs of diversity and
implemented diversity management practices.
All five perspectives were found in the organizations they studied, but organizations
differ in their priorities regarding diversity.
In study 1 it was shown that Access (2nd integration and learning) was the most highly
valued and in study 2 it was reinforcing homogeneity (positively c to cost of diversity
and negative to benefits)
Diversity perspectives were associated with specific assumptions about the cost,
appreciation, and benefits of diversity on the organizational and group level.
