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1 – 10 of over 55000Jennifer D. Oyler and Mildred Golden Pryor
The emergence of diversity in organizations is typically traced to the 1960s when legislation was enacted in the USA to prohibit discrimination against ethnicity, gender, national…
Abstract
Purpose
The emergence of diversity in organizations is typically traced to the 1960s when legislation was enacted in the USA to prohibit discrimination against ethnicity, gender, national origin, race, and religion. However, Peter Drucker found that workplace diversity had its origin in the aftermath of World War I. In response, this paper aims to address the historical evolution of workplace diversity through the lens of Drucker.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper traces the historical evolution of Drucker's perspective on workplace diversity and the circumstances that catapulted him to advocate for understanding and valuing diversity in organizations. Further, it uses passages from Peter Drucker's published accounts to illustrate his understanding of demographic trends and how these trends impacted the competitiveness of the organization and management of workplace diversity.
Findings
Drucker's early life experiences influenced him to become a tenacious advocate for workplace diversity. As a reflection of these experiences, Drucker's understanding of human resource management led him to implore his readers to use human resource practices to leverage the power of evolving demographic trends. Drucker later refined his prescriptions on workplace diversity by incorporating several assumptions from the strategic human resource management literature into his research.
Research limitations/implications
Future workplace diversity research would benefit from evaluating Drucker's propositions on leveraging the power of demographic trends through human resource management practices.
Originality/value
This historical analysis of Drucker's vast body of research provides substantial insight into his practical arguments for understanding and valuing diversity in organizations. To the best of one's knowledge, organizational researchers and management historians have not extensively evaluated Drucker's contributions to the workplace diversity literature.
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Abdulfattah Yaghi and Ihsan Yaghi
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the few countries where nationals make up less than 20 percent of the total population and less than 2 percent of the workforce. Hence…
Abstract
Purpose
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the few countries where nationals make up less than 20 percent of the total population and less than 2 percent of the workforce. Hence organizations in the public and private sectors are highly diverse in terms of their employees' nationality, language, religion, race, and gender. The purpose of this paper is to examine how employees perceive human resource diversity and what they consider successful diversity to be.
Design/methodology/approach
The main research instrument is a questionnaire which measures diversity in human resources. Exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression, and descriptive statistics were used in order to analyze 795 survey responses.
Findings
The findings reveal that perception of human resource diversity in the UAE vary by employees' gender, educational level, nationality, professional experience, job level, previous experience in diverse workplace, and second language competency. Analysis of employees' responses helped to construct a four‐factor model, which can be utilized to improve diversity practices in organizations.
Research limitations/implications
Although the literature on the UAE is limited, the study proposes four factors needed to achieve perceived successful diversity practices: legal, personnel, bureaucratic, and political factors. Researchers are encouraged to use comparative approaches to test the proposed model.
Originality/value
The study offers important insights for researchers and practitioners of human resource management in the UAE.
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Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour, Fernanda Serotini Gordono, Jorge Henrique Caldeira de Oliveira, Jose Carlos Martinez and Rosane Aparecida Gomes Battistelle
The objective of this study was to analyze the major challenges and benefits of diversity management in Brazilian companies by assessing the role of human resources.
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study was to analyze the major challenges and benefits of diversity management in Brazilian companies by assessing the role of human resources.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 15 case studies were carried out on companies that operate in Brazil. Brazil is a country with considerable diversity and multiracial backgrounds.
Findings
It was found that diversity management in Brazilian companies is still an emerging issue, and the major challenges are related to discriminatory actions taken by coworkers. Among the 15 companies studied, only four had adopted a consistent set of diversity management and human resources practices. These four companies were the only companies to affirm that diversity management requires the strong support of top management and continuous organization to sustain efforts toward incorporating diversity.
Originality/value
Research studies on diversity management in Brazil are scarce. The findings of this study, however, can be useful to academic professionals and company directors in countries that exhibit similar characteristics to those of Brazil, or to those who are interested in learning more about Brazil.
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This paper aims to explore the relationship between human resource attributes and the operating performances of accounting firms by sampling data from the 2012-2013 Survey Report…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the relationship between human resource attributes and the operating performances of accounting firms by sampling data from the 2012-2013 Survey Report on Accounting Firms, as compiled by the Financial Supervisory Commission in Taiwan.
Design/methodology/approach
Multiple regression analysis is conducted to measure operating performances with various measurements, such as operating profits and business diversification. The independent variables include male to female ratio, percentage of senior executives, percentage of employees with higher education backgrounds, organizational vitality, human resource diversity, percentage of employees with certified public accountant (CPA) qualifications and human resource costs (HRCs). The control variables are the firm history, market shares and ownership structures since the inception of the firms.
Findings
The empirical results regarding the operating profits model suggest that the higher the male to female ratio, the percentage of employees with higher education backgrounds, organizational vitality, human resource diversity, percentage of employees with CPA qualifications and HRCs, the greater the operating profits. Meanwhile, the findings regarding the business diversification model indicate that the higher the male to female ratio, percentage of senior executives and human resource diversity, the greater the business diversification.
Originality/value
It is intended that the research findings can assist the management of accounting firms to understand the human resource attributes critical to operating performances, which will help to enhance the competitiveness of employees, mitigate the operating risks and improve the operating performances of the firms.
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Fernando Martín Alcázar, Pedro Miguel Romero Fernández and Gonzalo Sánchez Gardey
Workforce diversity is considered one of the main challenges for human resource management in modern organizations. Despite its strategic importance, the majority of models in…
Abstract
Purpose
Workforce diversity is considered one of the main challenges for human resource management in modern organizations. Despite its strategic importance, the majority of models in this field implicitly consider workforce as a generic and homogeneous category, and do not take into account cultural differences among employees. The aim of this paper is to present a systematic review of the literature on diversity among employees in strategic human resource management (SHRM). The objective of this conceptual analysis is to identify limitations in previous research and unresolved issues that could drive future research in this field.
Design/methodology/approach
To develop this conceptual analysis, the paper reviews previous literature on SHRM, drawing on the distinction between the universalistic, contingent and configurational perspectives. Each of these approaches is explored, looking for the way in which they have treated workforce diversity and cross‐culturality.
Findings
The paper concludes that managing a heterogeneous workforce requires a holistic transformation of human resource strategies. Nevertheless, efforts to define cross‐cultural and diversity‐oriented models still remain undeveloped. Limitations of previous research in the diversity‐SHRM field are indentified in the paper.
Research limitations/implications
Drawing on the limitations of the treatment given to diversity in SHRM research, the paper identifies four research questions that still need to be addressed: deeper analysis of the concept of diversity, introduction of psychological processes mediating the diversity‐performance relationship, development of diversity oriented SHRM typologies and redefinition of performance indicators to measure the effects of diversity.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a theoretical model to illustrate present state of the art and future research lines in the fields of diversity, cross‐cultural management and SHRM.
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The significance of human resource management in managing workforce diversity has been emphasized by researchers and various practices have been identified and prescribed in…
Abstract
Purpose
The significance of human resource management in managing workforce diversity has been emphasized by researchers and various practices have been identified and prescribed in literature. However, there is lack of HR typologies to understand different diversity management alternatives. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to develop a typology of diversity-oriented human resource management (DHRM) practices for clear understanding.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs factor analysis approach for developing typology. In total, 31 human resource management practices covering the five functions of HR, i.e. recruitment, selection, performance evaluation, compensation and training were identified from literature. These practices were analyzed to investigate whether and how these 31 practices cluster into higher order DHRM practices categories.
Findings
From factor analysis, seven categories of DHRM practices emerged. The findings showed marked differences in these seven DHRM practices categories aimed at managing diversity.
Research limitations/implications
Future, survey researchers can use this typology of DHRM practices to design instruments that allow a more in-depth and differentiating analysis of role of HRM in managing diversity than those that have been carried out in previous research.
Practical implications
Managers can use the seven types of DHRM practices identified as criteria to choose an adequate pattern for HRM practices to manage diversity.
Originality/value
The typology developed in the study has foundations in specific diversity-related HRM practices rather than based on generic HRM typologies.
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Brian D’Netto and Amrik S. Sohal
Workforce diversity has become an important issue in Australia. This study examined the extent to which human resource management practices were being used by organisations in…
Abstract
Workforce diversity has become an important issue in Australia. This study examined the extent to which human resource management practices were being used by organisations in Australia to manage workforce diversity. The study also assessed the perceived challenges and benefits of diversity in the workforce. The findings of this study indicated that overall, management of workforce diversity is only “mediocre”. In particular, inadequate diversity management practices were found in the areas of recruitment and selection and training and development. As migrant employees do not create any problems and are very compliant, the challenges that workforce diversity presents does not receive adequate attention by organisations in Australia. However, these organisations seek several benefits from their multicultural workforce. The implications of these findings are discussed.
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