Search results

1 – 10 of over 10000
Book part
Publication date: 10 April 2019

Ifedapo Adeleye, Abayomi Fawehinmi, Toyin Adisa, Kingsley Utam and Vivian Ikechukwu-Ifudu

The literature on equality, diversity, and inclusion in organizational and societal contexts has grown in leaps and bounds over the last two decades or so. Our understanding of…

Abstract

Purpose

The literature on equality, diversity, and inclusion in organizational and societal contexts has grown in leaps and bounds over the last two decades or so. Our understanding of these phenomena in a global context is, however, limited, as attention has mostly been paid to the United States and other Western countries. This chapter aims to address this gap by exploring workplace diversity in Nigeria, an under-researched context, characterized by high diversity and low inclusion. Our goal is to understand the factors that shape diversity management operating in such a challenging context and to analyze the problems and prospects of building a highly diverse and inclusive environment.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Using a case study approach, the chapter analyzes four dimensions of equality and diversity (ethnic, religious, age, and HIV/AIDS) across four organizations.

Findings

This exploratory study highlights the challenges of building a diverse and inclusive workplace in a weak institutional environment. We identify competing logics of managing diversity in Nigeria: institutionalizing ethnic representation vs building a meritocracy (ethnic), maintaining religious neutrality vs promoting religious freedom (religion), keeping the elder tradition vs harnessing the power of youth (age), and managing safety and reputation vs providing employment security (HIV/AIDS).

Originality/Value

This study sheds light on the importance of underlying thoughts on the effectiveness of diversity policies and argues that managers and organizations need to know how to balance competing logics and manage paradox effectively. It accentuates the importance of the national institutional environment in shaping diversity practices and provides insights for practitioners and policymakers.

Book part
Publication date: 3 May 2017

Joana Vassilopoulou

This chapter focuses on the management of ethnic diversity and investigates Diversity Management practices in an organization which is a member of the Diversity Charta in Germany…

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the management of ethnic diversity and investigates Diversity Management practices in an organization which is a member of the Diversity Charta in Germany and even won a prize for its outstanding Diversity Management initiatives. However, this chapter illustrates that in this company Diversity Management can only be understood as window dressing, rather than as a serious attempt to manage diversity and particularly ethnic diversity. The case study data derives from a larger study, which examined the habitus of managing ethnic diversity in Germany. The case study data consists of observations, interviews with key internal stuff as well as employees, a focus group, documentary analysis of company data (policies, annual reports, brochures, as well as employee statistics), information about company history and lastly visual data in the form of pictures.

Details

Management and Diversity
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-550-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2011

Alexander Mohr and Gonzalo E. Shoobridge

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of ethnic workforce diversity for the internationalisation of small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Using the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of ethnic workforce diversity for the internationalisation of small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Using the resource‐based view, it is argued that an ethnically diverse workforce can help SMEs in overcoming barriers to internationalisation and increase the degree to which they benefit from globalisation.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper using the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm to investigate the importance of work force diversity.

Findings

The paper identifies a series of mechanisms that link ethnic workforce diversity to increased internationalisation of SMEs as well as a range of contingencies of this relationship. It calls for a stronger appreciation of individual employees' external, co‐ethnic networks and knowledge as a hitherto largely ignored resource in the initiation, management and expansion of SMEs' international operations.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of the paper have implications for research and practice by shedding light on the importance of this so far largely neglected phenomenon. The findings are limited in as far as they are yet to be tested empirically.

Practical implications

The paper provides a framework of mechanisms that can sensitise practitioners with regard to the importance of workforce diversity for internationalisation activities as well as human resource management practices.

Originality/value

The paper addresses an issue that is shown to be of increasing importance to SMEs, but has so far been largely neglected in research on SMEs.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 28 August 2019

Joana Vassilopoulou, Andreas Merx and Verena Bruchhagen

This chapter is partially based on an unpublished Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) background report, titled ‘OECD Research Project on Diversity in…

Abstract

This chapter is partially based on an unpublished Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) background report, titled ‘OECD Research Project on Diversity in the Workplace: Country Report Germany’, which was written by the authors of this chapter. While the OECD country report illustrates how diversity policies and related diversity instruments targeting various diversity dimensions have developed in Germany over recent decades, this chapter focuses solely on the management of ethnic diversity and its related policies. Diversity policies are broadly understood as any policy that seeks to increase the representation of disadvantaged social groups such as migrants and ethnic minorities, women, disabled persons, older workers and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, intersex and queer/questioning (LGBTIQ) in the workplace, both in the public and in the private sector. The central idea of this chapter is to provide an overview of which policies and instruments have been implemented for migrants and ethnic minorities at the workplace and to evaluate their success or failure where possible. In doing so, this chapter also discusses obstacles, success factors and challenges for policy implementation for the past and for the future.

Details

Race Discrimination and Management of Ethnic Diversity and Migration at Work
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-594-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 May 2019

Andri Georgiadou, Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez and Miguel R. Olivas-Luján

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the research presented in this edited volume.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the research presented in this edited volume.

Design/Methodology

This report is based on 13 chapters, which vary in terms of research approach, design, and method, yet aims to present different types of diversity in organizations.

Findings

The chapters shed light on existing practices promulgating the value of diversity, while opening the road toward diverse definitions of diversity. Contributors provide a critical reflection of the current discourse on different types of diversity around the world. Findings indicate that multinational organizations are regularly confronted with the absence of the necessary sensitivity on behalf of their top management team and spokespeople. Empirical studies advocate strategies that could potentially facilitate both organizations and immigrants to overcome a plethora of challenges.

Originality

The report summarizes and integrates novel insights on how organizations approach, view, and manage different types of diversity.

Abstract

Details

Understanding Intercultural Interaction: An Analysis of Key Concepts, 2nd Edition
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-438-8

Book part
Publication date: 18 November 2020

Duygu Acar Erdur

This chapter focuses on the diversity management concept which emerged in the United States at the end of the 1980s. As a strategic tool for effective use of the diverse…

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the diversity management concept which emerged in the United States at the end of the 1980s. As a strategic tool for effective use of the diverse workforce, the concept started to diffuse globally in recent years. However, there are concerns about the transferability of diversity management as a readymade practice. From this point of view, this chapter questions the universality of diversity management by providing evidence from the Turkish context. Findings reveal that due to cross-national differences and the local sensitivities, diversity management is subject to customization in the different contexts. In a sense, the local context reconstructs the content of the practice. On this basis, the chapter demonstrates the need for a context-specific diversity management approach.

Article
Publication date: 20 April 2012

Rebecca Eposi Ngeve and Rogers Tabe Egbe Orock

The paper begins from the premise that the efforts of the two regimes of Cameroon to manage ethnic diversity on the basis of a multicultural public policy, known as “balanced…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper begins from the premise that the efforts of the two regimes of Cameroon to manage ethnic diversity on the basis of a multicultural public policy, known as “balanced regional development”, constitutes an acute problem, exacerbating rather than attenuating the struggles that are often associated with ethnic diversity in postcolonial states in Africa. The purpose of the paper is to examine this public policy in the broader context of the inter‐linkages between ethnicity and politics in Cameroon.

Design/methodology/approach

The study rests on a two‐step methodology. First, the authors conducted a review of the conceptual literature around the state‐ethnicity diversity conundrum in postcolonial Africa, especially in terms of struggles for access to state resources and opportunities. Second, the authors used these conceptual insights to ground the historical and critical analysis of primary (newspaper articles, computed statistics from public records, national laws, long‐term unobtrusive observations of everyday inter‐ethnic struggles as a result of the authors' permanent stay in Cameroon) and secondary (local and international publications on the subject) sources.

Findings

While these measures of managing ethnic diversity in Cameroon's public sector‐related benefits, such as employment into the country's public service may, in themselves, not be the best approaches to the problem, the main finding of this study is that the greatest obstacle to their potential to yield any serious measure of national integration lies in the tendency for their politicization and capture by those ethnic groups that are more powerful.

Originality/value

The management of ethnic diversities in postcolonial states in Africa is a major development and social policy concern. While most scholars propose succinct analyses of the challenges these may pose for postcolonial nation‐building and conflict‐avoidance, through the notion of a constitutionally grounded “Human Resource Bank” an original policy solution is proposed in this paper that may suit the Cameroonian context and possibly beyond.

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 10 April 2019

Abstract

Details

Diversity within Diversity Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78754-821-3

Book part
Publication date: 28 August 2019

Semra Karakas and Mustafa F. Özbilgin

In this chapter, we examine the notion of ethnic diversity with a view to explore Europe-wide differences in defining and managing ethnic diversity and equality. When compared to…

Abstract

In this chapter, we examine the notion of ethnic diversity with a view to explore Europe-wide differences in defining and managing ethnic diversity and equality. When compared to gender diversity, ethnic diversity does not enjoy similar level of success in Europe. Our analyses show that this is due to the fact that ethnicity and ethnic categories are national. In fact, there are different levels of discussion on ethnicity, where the debate is limited due to historical, cultural and legal differences.

Details

Race Discrimination and Management of Ethnic Diversity and Migration at Work
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-594-8

Keywords

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