UNIT 8

Managing the Challenge of Diversity

Session 1: Diversity
 LEARNINGOUTCOMES

Explain how organisations respond to demographic changes in

the global marketplace

Explore definitions of diversity

Explain the benefits and challenges associated with managing a

diverse workforce

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 DOYOUKNOWYOURBIASES?

As a manager, your day-to-day behavior will send signals about your

biases and values
Some of our biases are active while others are unknown

Todays workplace is a mosaic of diverse people

To capitalize on a diverse consumer base, workplaces need to be

diverse
Diversity is no longer just the right thing to do. It is a business
imperative

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 THECHANGINGWORKPLACE

Diversity in the United Kingdom

Aging Workforce
Growth in Women and Ethnic Minorities Workers
Minority Purchasing Power
Growth in Foreign-born Population

Global Diversity
The aging population is a global phenomenon
Social and cultural differences are creating challenges
The meaning of diversity differs around the world
National cultures are intangible, pervasive, and difficult to comprehend
Global businesses have global customers, employees, suppliers, and stockholders

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 WHYISDIVERSITYIMPORTANT?

Successful global organisations recognise the diversity of the world marketplace

and are able to cope with the uncertainties of doing business
Hill (2009)
Successful management of todays increasingly diverse workforce is among the
most important global challenges faced by corporate leaders
Mor Barak (2005)
It became clear that workforce diversity was the bridge - greater workforce
diversity could help attract more diverse customers
Thomas (2004)

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 THEDIVERSEGLOBALMARKET

The task of understanding diversity of the global market is huge:

Political Diversity: autocracies vs. democracies
Economic Diversity: national wealth disparities
Regional Diversity in distribution of wealth & population
Cultural/linguistic Diversity: approx 10,000 linguistic and cultural
groups in the world
Developmental Diversity: Developing vs. developed countries
Demographic diversity: 3.1 billion people born in Africa, Asia
and India between 2000 and 2050
Hill (2009)

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LEADERSIN
CORPORATEDIVERSITY

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MILESTONESINTHEHISTORY
OFCORPORATEDIVERSITY

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PROJECTEDCHANGESINU.S.
LABORFORCE;2008TO2018

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 DIVERSITYONAGLOBALSCALE

Social and cultural differences can create difficulties

Europe has very complex social and cultural systems

National cultures are intangible, pervasive, and difficult to

comprehend
It is imperative to understand local cultures

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 MANAGINGDIVERSITY
Diversity is all of the ways in which people are different
Companies are embracing a more inclusive definition of diversity
Spectrum of differences: how employees approach work, interact, derive satisfaction and define
who they are

Traditional Vs Inclusive Models of Diversity

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MANAGINGDIVERSITYINAGLOBAL
MARKETPLACEREQUIRESMANAGERSTO:

Create a climate in which the potential advantages of diversity are

maximised while the potential disadvantages are minimised
Nurture a diverse workforce
Diversity is not a transient phenomenon; it is todays reality, and
it is here to stay
Connect and maintain integrity with contrasting cultures when
doing business at home and abroad
Homogeneous societies have become heterogeneous, and this
trend is irreversible

Mor Barak (2005)

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 DIVIDENDSOFWORKPLACE
DIVERSITY

The dividends of diversity include:

Better use of employee talent
Increased understanding of the marketplace
Enhanced breadth of understanding in leadership positions
Increased quality of team problem solving
Reduced costs associated with high turnover, absenteeism, and
lawsuits

Source: Robinson, G. and Dechant, K, (1997) Building a case for Diversity Academy of management
Executive 11, no.3 21-31

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