Diversity (business)

The "business case for diversity", theorizes that in a global marketplace, a company that employs a
diverse workforce (both men and women, people of many generations, people from ethnically and
racially diverse backgrounds etc.) is better able to understand the demographics of the marketplace it
serves and is thus better equipped to thrive in that marketplace than a company that has a more limited
range of employee demographics.
An additional corollary suggests that a company that supports the diversity of its workforce can also
improve employee satisfaction, productivity and retention. This portion of the business case, often
referred to as inclusion, relates to how an organization utilizes its various relevant diversities. If a
workforce is diverse, but the employer takes little or no advantage of that breadth of that experience,
then it cannot monetize whatever benefits background diversity might offer.
In most cases, US employers are prohibited by federal and state laws from giving race or ethnicity any
consideration in hiring or assigning employees.[citation needed] However, the US Supreme Court has
upheld the use of limited preferences based on race, ethnicity, and sex, when there is a manifest
imbalance in a traditionally segregated job category.*1+*2+
[edit] Workplace diversity
Cultural diversity includes the range of ways in which people experience a unique group identity, which
includes gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnic and age. An organizations culture tends to determine
the extent to which it is culturally diverse.

While diversity in the workplace brings about many benefits to an organization[citation needed], it can
also lead to many challenges. It is the responsibility of managers within organizations to use diversity as
an influential resource in order to enhance organizational effectiveness. In the Journal of Applied
Behavioral Science, C.L. Walck defines managing diversity in the workplace as "Negotiating interaction
across culturally diverse groups, and contriving to get along in an environment characterized by cultural
diversity"[3].

In a journal entitled The multicultural organization, by Taylor Cox, Jr., Cox talks about three organization
types which focus on the development on cultural diversity. The three organization types are: the
monolithic organization, the plural organization, and the multicultural organization. In the monolithic
organization, the amount of structural integration (the presence of persons from different cultural
groups in a single organization) is very minimal. "In the United States, this organization usually
represents white male majorities in the overall employee population with few women and minority men
in management jobs"[4]. "The plural organization has a more heterogeneous membership than the
monolithic organization and takes steps to be more inclusive of persons from cultural backgrounds that

differ from the dominant group"[4]. The multicultural organization not only contains many different
cultural groups, but it values this diversity.

[edit] Benefits of diversity in the workplace

Diversity is beneficial to both the organization and the members.[citation needed] Diversity brings
substantial potential benefits such as better decision making and improved problem solving, greater
creativity and innovation, which leads to enhanced product development, and more successful
marketing to different types of customers[4]. Simply recognizing diversity in a corporation helps link the
variety of talents within the organization [5]. The act of recognizing diversity also allows for those
employees with these talents to feel needed and have a sense of belonging, which in turn increases their
commitment to the company and allows each of them to contribute in a unique way[6]. Diversity also
provides organizations with the ability to compete in global markets[7]. Diverse organizations will be
successful as long as there is a sufficient amount of communication within them. Because people from
different cultures perceive messages in different ways, communication is vital to the performance of an
organization. Miscommunication within a diverse workplace will lead to a great deal of challenges.
Diversity is not only about preventing unfair discrimination and improving equality but also valuing
differences and inclusion, spanning such areas as ethnicity, age, race, culture, sexual orientation,
physical disability and religious belief.

Scott Pages (2007) *8+ mathematical modeling research of team work supports this view. He
demonstrated that heterogeneous teams consistently out-performed homogeneous teams on a variety
of tasks. Page points out that diversity in teamwork is not so simple in the messy real world. Too often
the cultural differences create problems. The goal is to manage diversity to take full advantage of it.

[edit] Challenges of diversity in the workplace

There are challenges to managing a diverse work population. Managing diversity is more than simply
acknowledging differences in people. [9]

Many organizational theorists have suggested reasons that work-teams highly diverse in work-relevant
characteristics can be difficult to motivate and manage. There are many challenges which face culturally
diverse workplaces, and a major challenge is miscommunication within an organization. In an article
entitled Developing Receiver-Centered Communication in Diverse Organizations, written by Judi
Brownell, she explains that meanings of messages can never be completely shared because no two
individuals experience events in exactly the same way. Even when native and non-native speakers are
exposed to the same messages, they may interpret the information differently[10]. It is necessary for

employees who are less familiar with the primary language spoken within the organization to receive
special attention in meeting their communication requirements[11]. "In high context cultures,
communicators share an experiential base that can be used to assign meanings to messages. Low
context cultures, on the other hand, provide little information on which to base common
understandings and so communicators must be explicit"[12]. Because of this fact, it is better to view all
diverse organizational environments as low-context cultures.

Cultural bias is an additional factor which challenges culturally diverse work environments. Cultural bias
includes both prejudice and discrimination. "Prejudice refers to negative attitudes toward an
organization member based on his/her culture group identity, and discrimination refers to observable
adverse behavior for the same reason"[4].

Another challenge faced by culturally diverse organizational environments is assimilation. According to

the journal Cultural Diversity in the Workplace: The State of the Field, Marlene G. Fine explains that
"Assimilation into the dominant organizational culture is a strategy that has had serious negative
consequences for individuals in organizations and the organizations themselves. Those who assimilate
are denied the ability to express their genuine selves in the workplace; they are forced to repress
significant parts of their lives within a social context that frames a large part of their daily encounters
with other people." She goes on to mention that "People who spend significant amounts of energy
coping with an alien environment have less energy left to do their jobs. Assimilation does not just create
a situation in which people who are different are likely to fail, it also decreases the productivity of
organizations"[7].

[edit] Creating the Multicultural Organization

Main articles: Racial quota and Equality of outcome
"The key to managing a diverse workforce is increasing individual awareness of and sensitivity to
differences of race, gender, social class, sexual orientation, physical ability, and age"[7]. There are
several ways to go about creating the multicultural organization that performs extremely well.

Cox mentions language training as a way to promote a multicultural organization. "Language training is
important for companies hiring American Asians, Hispanics, and foreign nationals. This type of training
helps to communicate to employees that languages, other than English, are highly valued". Equal
opportunity seminars, focus groups, bias-reduction training, research, and task forces are methods that
organizations have found useful in reducing culture-group bias and discrimination"[4].

In her article, Judi Brownell identifies three skills which help to develop effective communication in
diverse organizational environments. These skills include self-monitoring, empathy, and strategic
decision-making. Self-monitoring refers to a communicator's awareness of how his or her behavior
affects another person, and his or her willingness to modify this behavior based on knowledge of its
impact. Empathy enables the receiver to go beyond the literal meaning of a message and consider the
communicator's feelings, values, assumptions, and needs. Strategic decision-making implies that the
communication sources and channels used to reach organization members, as well as the substance of
the messages conveyed, are mindfully selected[13].

[edit] Managing diversity tools

Managing diversity goes far beyond the limits of equal employment opportunity and affirmative action.
High performing diversity managers recognize that specialized skills are necessary for creating a
productive, diverse workforce. They seek out continuous learning opportunities and some go as far as
acquiring certification. Managers must be willing to work towards changing the organization in order to
create a culture of diversity and inclusion. Assessment skills and diversity education are key elements of
culture change. However, the leaderships support of the change cannot be understated.

[edit] Implementation
Diversity issues change over time, depending on local historical and dynamic conditions. Overt "diversity
programs" are usually limited to large employers, government agencies and businesses facing rapid
demographic changes in their local labor pool and help people work and understand each other.[citation
needed] The implementation of diversity is often limited to the Human resources department[citation
needed] when there is also a good economic case for UK companies to use it as a tool to reach new
market shares.

[edit] Legal frameworks

US anti-discrimination laws prohibit employers giving any consideration to customers preferences for
being served by employees of a given gender, ethnic group, or color. In general, the laws also prevent
consideration based on religion, although the law allows major exceptions of this provision for religious
organizations. Many countries are also introducing anti-discrimination laws (for example the DDA in the
UK) forcing companies to be more aware of diversity. The law student organization Building a Better
Legal Profession generated significant controversy in October 2007 for reporting data suggesting that
most private law firms themselves lacked demographic diversity