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This paper aims to introduce the theme of the special issue – diversity management beyond the business case. It addresses two main questions: first, how increased diversification within workgroups or labour is dealt with via diversity management, and second what the effects are of this increased diversity for group performance.

The different contributions are embedded into two important discussions in the literature: problems with the concept of diversity and problems with outcomes of diversity management.

Reflecting on the contributions to this special issue, it is argued that solely emphasizing business case arguments for supporting the implementation of diversity management may be rather risky. They conclude with a plea for emphasis on arguments of justice and sustainability of the employment relationship and discuss future avenues for research.

The paper shows the difficulty of universally applying the concept of diversity and diversity management. In addition, it shows that the claimed positive impact of diversity management is contingent on several factors.

The purpose of this study is to extend the findings from a very limited number of studies that have focused on the potential antecedents of firm diversity. Specifically, the authors examined the extent to which a set of firm-level diversity management initiatives, which included diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) policies and oversight structures, senior leader values and utility perceptions about DE&I and DE&I dissemination strategies, may be related to firm-level reported diversity – overall, and that which is specific to gender, ethnicity, race and disability.

The data for this study were gathered from a national sample of 200 US restaurant and foodservice companies during the third quarter of 2021 by an independent data collection firm.

After controlling for firm size, age, ownership structure and chain affiliation, the results from a series of regression analyses showed that formal diversity management policies and procedures (e.g. policies beyond those legally mandated), structural oversight of diversity management initiatives (e.g. designated diversity leader) and beliefs among senior leaders regarding the utility of diversity management initiatives, were positively related to firm-level diversity. There were also several notable differences in the significance of the findings across the four diversity groups, indicating support for a contingency explanation.

There are two unique contributions to this study. First, by considering a more support-based (vs compliance and control) approach to managing DE&I that is authenticated by senior leadership’s beliefs about the utility of DE&I, the findings advance the understanding of the nature and scope of diversity management initiatives that may influence firm-level diversity – in general, as well as that which may be specific to restaurant and foodservice settings. Additionally, the findings offer industry-specific insights regarding the extent and relevance of DE&I policies and practices that have been adopted by restaurants and foodservice organizations and prescriptive guidance for future inquiry on this topic.

The lack of career movement of members of ethnic minority groups in work organizations has been widely documented. The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into conditions for the realization of diversity goals in the case of talent development.

In a case study of management development in the Dutch national tax administration, the practice of fostering vertical mobility of ethnic minority personnel through diversity management has been analysed. The authors make use of theories regarding effective diversity management and career advancement of ethnic minority employees. Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews with 12 participants in the management development course, and a further 25 functionaries involved in the project.

With regard to diversity management as a means of fostering talent development of ethnic minorities, the authors come to the conclusion that key success factors mentioned in the literature such as top level commitment and strategic integration, are insufficient and overrated conditions. More important are “non‐issues” in the formulation of diversity strategies, organizational alignment of relevant organizational players, strategic coherence and organizational culture.

The case study design used in this research facilitates case‐sensitive analysis, but is limited in estimations of validity and explanatory strength of factors mentioned in the literature, as it is in generalizing across organizations.

Interventions aimed at fostering ethnic diversity in talent development should start with precise analysis of cultural and organizational conditions and processes underpinning standard practices of talent and career development, and not only seek strategic integration and top management commitment but arrange for broad‐based organizational alignment.

While there are many theoretical and normative models tracing diversity outcomes to organizational conditions and diversity management strategies, there is a dearth of empirical studies in this field. The case study explores the merits of these models and adds new insights on an empirical basis.

Empirical evidence concerning the relationship between diversity and firm performance continues to produce mixed results that are context-dependent (Guillaume et al., 2017). Additionally, little is known about the relationship between workplace diversity management and corporate ethics and whether diversity management is a contextual factor to consider in ethics research. This study assesses whether diversity management's contributions to firm performance are maximized through its effects on the firm's ethical processes. This paper examines three manifestations of diversity management (diversity recruitment, diversity staffing, and valuing diversity) and their relationship with firm performance as mediated by internal and external ethics.

The study used a sample from the Fortune 500 list of companies. The variables were constructed using several relevant indicators and applied to archival data collected from corporations' websites. The hypotheses on the relationship among diversity management, corporate ethics, and firm performance were tested using regression from the data gathered on 109 firms.

The analysis indicated that diversity management relates to both aspects of corporate ethics (internal and external ethics) but that only external ethics relate to firm performance. Results also found that external ethics partially mediate the relationship between diversity management and firm performance.

There are limitations to using corporate websites as sources of data. Furthermore, the research design assumed that diversity is an antecedent of ethics. Nevertheless, the findings convincingly demonstrate that diversity management has a strong positive relationship with both aspects of corporate ethics. Recommendations for further research are offered.

The paper shows the value of diversity management and its impact on corporate ethics. Knowing that diversity management efforts contribute positively beyond their intended purpose may encourage managers to continue or implement such efforts, which could lead to more diverse and ethical workplaces and increased firm performance.

The paper addresses critical gaps in research and responds to repeated calls for studies integrating the business case for workplace diversity with its moral imperative (Alder and Gilbert, 2006; van Dijk et al., 2012; Yang and Konrad, 2011). The paper also provides evidence of a link from diversity management to firm performance through external ethics.

The purpose of this study is to understand how the concept of diversity management is translated and adapted into the Danish societal context. The authors therefore seek to answer these questions: to what extent do larger Danish companies experience a need to practice diversity management? Do they also have specific diversity policies? And how do these Danish companies discursively construct and manage diversity?

The authors surveyed 100 Danish firms and performed a discourse analysis of two frontrunner firms' diversity documents.

The Danish firms in the survey experienced a need for diversity management, but were somewhat reluctant to introduce diversity policies. The two frontrunner firms drew on a discourse of diversity as a business case intertwined with a discourse of social responsibility with focus on helping minority groups having difficulties accessing the job market. The findings indicate that concepts must be translated for the local context in order to be accepted by local actors.

Further studies should look closer into local practices of diversity management to increase understanding of how this seemingly universal management concept is translated.

Danish society, which until recently was relatively homogeneous, forms a specific cultural context for diversity management that differs significantly from American and British multicultural societies.

Originating from the USA in the early 1990s, diversity management has been “imported” to Europe to become a fashionable practice in many business organizations. The aim of this paper is to provide further insight into whether and how the diversity management discourse challenges and replaces existing local discourses on equality and diversity, and how diversity management is given content and meaning in a specific local context.

Statements on diversity, diversity management and equality on both the Dutch and the international websites of ten leading companies in the Netherlands are analyzed.

The analysis shows that translations of diversity management may in fact not actually replace existing local discourses, but rather leave the existing local discourse more or less intact and alter the original diversity management discourse to fit into this local discourse.

This paper offers some important lessons for management practice.

While prior research has emphasized the importance of diversity management for the betterment of future workforce, the role of managerial actors in leading the diversity management movement has not been substantiated. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of managers in practicing diversity management and the extent to which inclusive leadership affects employee performance.

The study draws on a large survey data (n=415,696) with a representative sample of employees in federal government in the USA.

The quantitative results show that diversity policy alone predicts performance less strongly for employees of racial minority than for whites. In contrast, the study finds that inclusive leadership predicts performance more strongly for nonwhites.

The embodied approach to diversity management proposed in this paper expands the understanding of diversity management research by exploring the interaction effect between diversity policy and diversity leadership.

The paper is unique in proposing an interaction effect between diversity policy and diversity leadership in managing diversity.

Previous studies in the literature surprisingly neglected to take into account the role of leader behavior in managing diversity. As the study shows the significant moderating role of diversity leadership in diversity management, organizational leaders are encouraged to critically assess and provide training for those team leaders and middle level managers to promote diversity in the workplace.

This is the first empirical study to distinguish and examine the relative impact of diversity policy and inclusive leadership on employee performance in the public sector.

This study developed and tested a moderated mediation model on workplace diversity management. The analysis examined whether diversity management affects job satisfaction via perceived discrimination, depending on employees' openness to experience.

Building upon the assumptions of social identity theory, social cognitive theory and Big-Five theory, this study proposed and tested a model that analyzes the process through which diversity management influences perceived visible diversity discrimination and job satisfaction, depending on employees' openness to experience.

This study found support for the proposed moderated mediation model, which suggests that diversity management interacts with employees' openness to experience personality to influence their job satisfaction through perceived visible diversity discrimination. The results indicated that diversity management increased employees' job satisfaction in the workplace and that the relationship between diversity management and job satisfaction was further mediated by employees' perceptions of being discriminated against because of their age, gender and racial identities. The effect of diversity management on job satisfaction through perceived visible diversity discrimination was stronger when employees had high levels of openness to experience.

The results of the study suggest that the diversity management is an important organizational intervention to improve job satisfaction by providing a scientific explanation of its underlying psychological process and identifying the factors associated with the process, such as personality and perception of being discriminated.

This study contributes to extend the diversity management literature by applying the assumptions of social identity theory, social cognitive theory and Big-Five theory together to identify the relationship between diversity management and job satisfaction and the effect of perceived discrimination and openness to experience in the relationship.

Diversity management plays a significant role in the organization’s outcomes. This study seeks to provide a brief review of the history of diversity management and to identify the articles published on diversity management since 1991. A systematic review of the literature has been carried out to understand the literature in more detail to know the future scope of research.

This study provides a comprehensive systematic review of quantitative, qualitative and theoretical studies published in leading peer-reviewed management journals from 1991 to 2018 and identifies 123 articles that fall within its established search inclusion criteria.

The literature review highlighted several aspects related to diversity management. The findings of the study revealed that there is a high concentration of researches in the USA and most number of articles published in the Academy of Management Journal. Although diversity management is a very emerging topic across the globe in management literature yet there is a lack of research in developed countries. Furthermore, most studies are found empirical in nature and the majority of the studies were published during the period of 1996–2000. This finding suggests that age, gender and racial diversity have been repeatedly discussed in diversity management research while other forms of diversity have given less attention

This study is one of the first systematic studies that describe the in-depth analysis of diversity management literature. The significant contribution of this study is to propose the integrated model with contemporary trends and patterns of results reported in diversity research, as well as contextual factors that have received more attention to date.

The purpose of this paper is to present a review of diversity management research published in hospitality and tourism-specific and business discipline-based journals. The study objectives include attempting to assess the progress of diversity management research in hospitality and tourism, identifying gaps between the general business diversity management literature and the hospitality and tourism literature and providing hospitality and tourism scholars with suggestions to advance knowledge in diversity management.

The study is a critical review of the existing diversity management literature in the general business and hospitality and tourism disciplines in an attempt to identify gaps and make suggestions for expanding this knowledge in the hospitality and tourism fields.

There are significant gaps between the diversity management scholarship conducted in hospitality and tourism disciplines and the general business field. Diversity management research in general business is far more in-depth and uses sociological and social psychological theoretical frameworks.

There are lessons to be learned from the general business literature that uses strong theoretical foundations deeply grounded in sociological, psychological, social-psychological and management theories. The general management literature also explores the conditions under which diversity management adds value or creates challenges for organizations.

The hospitality and tourism industry has employed large numbers of ethnic minorities, women and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community for decades. As such, it is critical that scholars explore the implications of such a diverse workforce not only on organizational outcomes, but also on individual and group performance. The general business diversity management research suggests that workgroup composition can influence individual and group performance, as well as the quality of co-worker relationships. Given the team-oriented, interdependent nature of work in the hospitality and tourism industry, it is imperative that researchers conduct studies that help practitioners understand the most effective perspectives and approaches to diversity management.

The critical literature review demonstrated that there is extremely scarce research on diversity management focusing on employees with disabilities. It is imperative to shed more light on best diversity management practices, workplace etiquette of this under-represented group of employees and their interaction with their co-workers.

This study’s results provide insight into areas of exploration that can significantly enhance the scholarship on diversity management in the hospitality and tourism literature.