Approaches to the Management of Diversity - Research Paper Example

Many authors agree with this definition saying that diversity should be seen to apply to everyone in the organization in order to produce its intended effect. As long as there are distinctions within a group, diversity will always exist (Li, Cho and Curry 17). Another definition considered inclusive and constitutive defines diversity as “the collective amount of differences among members of a social unit.” (Harrison and sin 196) From all these definitions it is evident that diversity goes beyond the issues of race and gender to address other issues such as differences in talents and abilities, age, social status, economic status etc.

of people at the workplace or in any functional group (Harrison and sin 196). There are four dimensions to understanding diversity. Some researchers from the CAN Corporation studied the impact of diversity on Air Force mission performance. they looked at four dimensions to diversity: (1) Demographic diversity: these include personal characteristics such as age, race/ethnicity, religion, and gender; (2) Cognitive diversity: these will include personality types, such as extrovert/introvert and Type A/Type B, thinking styles, such as quick, decisive thinking versus slow, methodical thinking etc.; (3) structural diversity: organizational background characteristics including service, work function and component; and (4) Global diversity: and this include national affiliations (Riche and Amanda Kraus 5-10).

Diversity management has been defined as “the as the craft or process of making quality decisions in the midst of differences, similarities, tensions, complexities, etc. the distinction between diversity and diversity management is important. If you do not properly manage diversity, you can lose representation.” (Lim, Cho and Curry 20) Another author considers diversity as a “liability” until and unless processes are put in place to manage the negative dynamic and to release diversities