Managing Diversity and Inclusion - Literature review Example

LITERATURE REVIEW Student Institution Course Lecturer Date Managing Diversity and Inclusion Introduction Diversity is a terminology employed to differentiate people and groups from each other. It refers to appreciation of and respect of religion, education, sexual orientation, disability, nation of origin, age, gender, and ethnicity. It entails the diverse knowledge, work experience, and level of innovation which people can share to create prosperity. Inclusion on the other hand is a state of being valued, supported and respected. It regards centering on the needs of all people and ascertaining that the right conditions are put for every person to attain his or her full ability (Cliff and Mike, 2014, p.24). The main aim of this paper is to conduct a literature review on how diversity and inclusion management has been perceived by different writers in human resource management field. The paper allows critical analysis of these literatures to evaluate their actual contribution in the inclusion and diversity management field. Diversity and inclusion are normally enhanced to promote a healthy working environment where all individuals feel comfortable and valued despite of their differences (Jie et al., 2009, p.238). A high level of diversity management and inclusion can be obtained by training as indicated by (Leslie et al., 2008, p.336), development of policies and their effective implementation as defined by (David and Robin, 1996, p. 81), and by criticizing any prejudice and discrimination acts by bystanders (Jacqueline et al., 2011, p.226). Literature Review David A. Thomas & Robin Ely (1996) “Making Differences Matter: A New Paradigm for Managing Diversity”, Harvard Business Review, September/October, pp. 79-91. This article discusses the change of manager's perspective on diversity from an act that should be performed to adhere to the federal law and ethical requirements, to an act that should be performed as an organization necessity to improve the organization efficiency. The main strength of this article is that it uses a simple language that is easy to be understood by individuals at all levels of learning. The article is also well structured, with each page being divided into two columns. Each new idea is introduced with a topic and important points that need to be emphasized are numbered. The main weakness in this article is that the article does not consider other literatures in its discussions. It is written more like a book. The paper is based on longitudinal case study which was performed for a period of six year focusing on the importance of diversity and how to enhance it in an organization. The researchers worked in three organizations with high level of diversity and studied nine more organizations, working at different levels of diversity. Qualitative data collection techniques were employed in each case. This research facilitated the development of a new diversity pyramid which advocates for diversity for effective performance of an organization. The article gives a great contribution on the importance of diversity in an organization. It also gives a guidance on how diversity can be perceived and attained in an organization. The authors of this article have used different existing pyramids to demonstrate how diversity can be enhanced in an organization by fighting discrimination and promoting fairness. It focuses more on managers and practitioners in the field of inclusion and diversity management. Leslie Ashburn-Nardo, Kathryn Morris & Stephanie Goodwin, (2008) “The Confronting Prejudiced Responses (CPR) Model: Applying CPR in Organizations”, Academy of Management Learning and Education, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 332–342. This article discusses ways in which prejudice can be lowered by promoting communication regarding discrimination treatment dissatisfaction. The paper focuses on the use of confronting prejudice response (CPR) model in fighting prejudice in the workplace. The paper contains a standard organization structure which includes an abstract, literature review characterized by subheadings, evaluation of CPR model and a conclusion. It is organized in two columns to ease in readability. It is also clearly written with understandable language. The main strength of this paper is that it uses diagrams and well identified procedural steps to analyse the CPR model. This paper is also based on the on an extensive range of literatures. The main weakness of this paper it does not clearly define the main sections. One can only differentiate them by reading through the paper. This paper is basically based on a literature review where the researchers use different literature to analyse different steps involved in the implementation of the CPR model in solving prejudice in a diverse workforce. The model is basically meant to promote inclusion and to discourage discrimination and prejudice through education and implementation of the obtained knowledge. The paper makes a create contribution in the inclusion and diversity management field since it educate managers on how to enhance inclusion through education and provide them with a model they can use in doing so. This paper targets human resource managers and other diversity and inclusion management practitioners in an organization. Jie Shen, Ashok Chanda, Brian D’Netto&Manjit Monga, (2009) “Managing Diversity through Human Resource Management: An International Perspective and Conceptual Framework”, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 20, No 2, pp.  235-251. This article gives an intensive literature review on how diversity management can be attained through effective management of human resource. The paper discusses main objectives and issues of diversity management and evaluates the state of diversity management practices of human resource in an organization. Its structure includes an abstract, a lengthy introduction that is based on literature, literature review section which is guided by subtitles, discussion and conclusion session. The article's main strength is that it is based on extensive literature review and thus, it can act as a source of knowledge for effecting human resource diversity management. It also demonstrates how knowledge can be employed to create a solution to the current knowledge. Its main weakness is that it is founded on old journals that were written between 1990 and 2001, and thus, it does not consider the new changes as much it would be expected. This is an actual literature review paper which employs the evaluated literature knowledge to develop diversity management framework for human resource. This framework is said to have considered all aspects that would enhance diversity management in an organization to enhance the organization performance. The paper's major contribution in the diversity and inclusion management field is that diversity management can take place in operational, tactical and strategic level to ensure successful management. The paper also demonstrates how the current diversity management issues can be resolve by employing previous knowledge to build a new strategy to approach the problem. The paper targets on human resources managers and other diversity management practitioners in an organization. Lynn Perry Wooten (2008) “Guest Editor’s Note: Breaking Barriers in Organizations for the Purpose of Inclusiveness”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 47, No. 2, pp. 191-197. This paper focuses on implementation of diversity management and inclusion in different organizations. According to the writer, enough have been said and enough time has passed since the topic started to be considered important to the organization and thus, the writer gives various ways in which diversity and inclusion can be implemented. This paper is based on literature review that addresses various aspects of inclusion and diversity enhancement in an organization. It structure include an introduction where background information of diversity and inclusion is provided and a literature review section where readability is enhanced by use of subtopics, and finally, a conclusion. The paper is also divided into two columns to enhance its organization and readability. One of the major strength of this paper is that it transverse the diversity and inclusion topic by focusing on the past and the future goal. It also addresses aspects that prevent successful transformation from the current situation to the aspired situation. The paper major weakness is that it does not have a clear structure where the introduction, literature review or conclusion titles are provided. However, one learns about the structure transformation based on the information provided and the words used. The paper makes a major contribution on how strategic thinking can highly enhance diversity, and how inclusion can be enhanced in an organization. This paper targets managers and practitioners in organizations. Jacqueline Nelson, Kevin Dunn & Yin Paradies (2011) “Bystander Anti-Racism: A Review of the Literature”, Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 263–284. This is a literature review article that focuses on the racial discrimination as one of the aspects that undermines diversity and inclusion in an organization. The paper addresses the public policies put in place to promote anti-racial, pro-social action and how most racial discrimination witnesses employ these policies to fight racial discrimination in the society or at individual level. The paper is well structured with an abstract, introduction, definition of key terms, aim and scope of the paper, the literature review section, and a conclusion where the challenges of policies and research are addressed. The paper is also written in a simple language that is easy to understand. The main paper's strength is that it is based on extensive range of credible literatures, both old and new, but with more new literatures and thus, the argument considers the most recent literatures. The paper main weakness is that it does not have definite titles to show structural transition. One has to use own judgment based on the provided information to classify every section. This paper is basically a literature review focusing more on how the racial discrimination bystanders fail to employ the power they are given by racial discrimination policy to fight racism. This paper is systematically developed from the most basic aspects of understanding bystanders, to demonstrating how ant-racism bystanders help the society when they stand up to curb racism in public places. The authors support their arguments by use of empirical research, underlying theories and origins associated with bystander anti-racism. Although this article does not focus on racial discrimination in an organization but in the entire social, it provides crucial information on how bystanders can fight racial discrimination in the society which include organizations. It gives an inclusive solution to racial discrimination in all social settings. This paper focuses on all individuals in the society, especially employees who witness social discrimination and do nothing about it. Cliff Oswick & Mike Noon (2014) “Discourses of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion: Trenchant Formulations or Transient Fashions?”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 25, pp. 23-39. This article focuses on the change of trend from diversity which was given so much attention in the past to inclusion which is being focused on today. The paper traces the change of trend from diversity to equality and then inclusion in workplace by use of biometric evaluation of published work, to evaluate their relation with management style. The paper adapts a standard structure that include an abstract, introduction section, literature review section, which is organized with subheadings, evaluation of trend using biometric analysis, results discussion and a conclusion. The paper is divided into two columns to ease the reading process. The paper's main strength is that it has an in-depth analysis of the literature using a systematic way which gives a clear understanding of the transition that has taken place. In addition, the paper gives a clear representation of the analysis results by use of tables and graphs, and thus, it is easy to understand. The paper is also based on an intensive range of literature. Its main weakness is that the paper is a bit extensive and complex to understand, especially in the biometric part of data analysis. The research in this case involves a review of previous literature on diversity, equity and inclusion with aim of noting the change of management trend based on the change of three aspects. A biometric evaluation is conducted on the identified journal with their publication ranging between 1969 and 2010. The texts biometric analysis proposed that there is a popularity cycle related to anti-discrimination disclosure. Anti-discriminatory disclosure was found to consistent with fashions of management, with regard to trends as well as rhetoric approaches employed proponents to determine the dominance of the preferred approach. The paper contributes to diversity and inclusion management field by demonstrating how researchers play a main role in the process by providing credibility, exposure and shape to anti-discrimination solutions. The paper targets academicians by identifying their main role in effecting diversity and inclusion management in organizations, and directing them on the trend they must follow to establish the new solution for current problems. Michele E.A. Jayne & Robert L. Dipboye (2004) “Leveraging Diversity to Improve Performance: Research Findings and Recommendations for Organizations”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 43, Nol. 4, pp. 409-424. The article reviews the association between workforce diversity and organization's performance. It aims on establishing whether workforce diversity guarantees the organization performance or whether this is determined by the manner in which this workforce is managed. The paper has a standard structure that includes an abstract, introduction, literature review characterized by sub headings, and a conclusion. The paper is also organised into two columns to ease in reading. The main strength of the paper is that it is based on an extensive range of literature and thus, its ideas are strongly built. The paper research evaluations are also well organized in tables and thus, making it easier to understand the papers evaluation. Its major weakness is that it is very extensive and thus, one has to spend some time reading all the content to understand the aspect that led to the development of conclusion. This paper is basically a literature review which focuses on previous empirical research on workforce diversity and how it influenced the organization performance in various cases. The authors evaluate the gap between research findings and diversity rhetoric. The research established that increasing the workforce diversity frequently entails problems that include conflict and dissatisfaction. In addition, diversity alone does not ensure tangible, immediate improvement in individual, group, or organization performance. However, attaining a diverse and effective workforce management can results to great benefit. This paper makes a great contribution to diversity and inclusion management in assisting the managers to attain the benefits of diversity and evade diversity efforts problems. Therefore, the paper targets human resource managers and other practitioners. Zhanna Soldan & Alan Nankervis (2014) “Employee Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Diversity Management in the Australian Public Service: Rhetoric and Reality”, Public Personnel Management, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp.543-564. This article focuses on the effort the Australian organizations and the government is employing to embrace the foreseen workforce diversity in the coming future. The paper analyses the current gap in the government commitment to diversity management and its implementation. The paper has a standard structure that includes an abstract, introduction, literature review, research methodology, data analysis and discussion and finally a conclusion. However, the paper does not have a literature review title. A topic of discussion is written instead, where a number of previous literature findings on the topic are analyzed. The main strength of this article is that it is founded on previous literature findings and its conclusion is based on actual research. Thus, the results are more viable to the targeted population. The main disadvantage is that it focuses on limited population and thus, its conclusion can only be applicable in Australia. A case study is conducted to evaluate the gap between the government commitment to diversity management in Australian organizations and the implementation gap. This study was conducted in one of federal government agencies in Australia, where qualitative data collection techniques were employed. It was established that although there are a number of commitment made to enhance diversity management in the organization, the level of implementation is very low in these organization. The paper assists in identification of diversity management implementation gap in any organization, based on the provided policies. The paper targets on the policy makers, managers and implementers of diversity in Australia. Lynette Harris & Carly Foster (2010) “Aligning Talent Management with Approaches to Equality and Diversity: Challenges for UK Public Sector Managers”, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, Vol. 29, No. 5, pp. 422–435. This article focuses on evaluating the implementation of intervention of talent management in the of public sector organization in the UK. The paper focuses on talent management as a form of embracing diversity and promoting inclusion in an organization. The paper has a standard organization which includes an abstract, introduction, research methodology, finding, analysis and conclusion. The paper main strength is that it is clearly structured and written with a simple language that is easy to understand. Its main weakness is that it does not directly focus on diversity and inclusion but on talent management where diversity is considered. This paper is founded on a case study of two UK public sectors on talent management. Data is collected using qualitative data collection techniques. The research established that talent management implementation presented certain tensions for managers of public sector, specifically with regard to alignment with well-embedded equality and diversity policies as well as their own views of fair treatment in the workplace. This paper contributes in the field of diversity and inclusion management by showing how talent management can be used to promote diversity and equality in an organization. This paper targets on human resource manager who are also concerned on talent management. Angela D. Akorsu, & Fang Lee Cooke (2011) “Labour Standards Application among Chinese and Indian firms in Ghana: Typical or Atypical?” The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 22, No. 13, pp. 2730-2748. This article evaluates the impacts of Indian and Chinese investments in African Countries. The paper focuses more on the employment practices of these companies with regard to the international labour standards and national labour law. It is anticipated that based on low economic status of Ghana, the Indian and Chinese companies are less likely to adapt multinational corporation standards in Ghana. This paper adapts a standard structure with an abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, finding and analysis, discussion and conclusion. The paper is written in a simple language. The paper major weakness is that the paper does not specialize on the diversity and inclusion but on all problems experienced by African workers in the international companies. The research is based on a case study where data were collected using face-to-face interview. The research findings revelled that workers were experiencing harsh working condition including low wages. Discrimination was highly founded on gender and nationality, with women experiencing low chances of promotion and Ghanaian having slim job opportunities in the two companies. This paper clearly shows the behaviours of most international companies in Africa. This paper contributes to the diversity and inclusion management field by putting to light how less concerned international organizations can be in less developed nation. The paper acts as a challenge to the Ghana government and Africa at large on their enhancement of work and employment policies in their countries to ensure fair treatment of their citizens in foreign companies. Masud Chand & Rosalie L. Tung (2014) ”The Aging of the World's Population and Its Effects on Global Business”, Academy of Management Perspectives, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 409-429. The paper focuses on the effect of the aging population on the business operations worldwide. America is experiencing a high number of aging populations and thus, there is anticipated decrease in the workforce. This may force the country to outsource a huge number of workers from foreign countries. The paper has a standard structure which includes an abstract, introduction, a literature review which is organized using subtopics, evaluation of the themes identified in the literature review and a conclusion. The paper is organized in two columns to ease in readability and it is written in a simple language that is easy to understand. This paper is based on extensive literature, and this acts as one of its strengths. Its major weakness is that the paper is not more focuses on the inclusion and diversity goals, but on general effect of aging population. This paper is a literature review evaluating the effect of the aging population on the global economy and the business workplace. It focuses on establishing the major effect that businesses might suffer due to the increase of aging population and decrease in the rate of workforce. This is done by developing themes which defines specific problems that are anticipated. Arrival of foreign workers is identified as one of the changes that will be experienced and thus, creating diversity and inclusion issues. This paper does not specifically focus on inclusion and diversity management field, but it identifies the aspect of outsourcing that can easily influence the performance of the field. This paper focuses on the entire management in the business field, however with regard to the topic of study, the paper enlighten HRM in America and other western nations on possible diversity changes that they are probable to experience. Kristen Lucas, Dongjing Kang & Zhou Li (2013) “Workplace Dignity in a Total Institution: Examining the Experiences of Foxconn’s Migrant Workforce.” Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 114, pp. 1-16. This article focuses on human dignity case in one of Chinese company that employed a number of young immigrants and that focused more on profit maximization than human dignity and work environment enhancement in the organization. This resulted to a number of workers committing suicide and a number of attempted suicides. The paper has a standard structure that include an abstract, introduction providing the situation at Foxconn, literature review on workplace dignity, research methodology, finding and interpretation, discussion and a conclusion. The paper main strength is that it is well structured and it uses a simple language that is easy to understand. Its main weakness is that it does not purely discusses inclusion and diversity, but discusses human dignity which does not necessary regards workforce diversity, but the way an organization handles all workers in general. The paper is basically structured as case study. However, the actual research methodology involves a review of records from different online publications regarding the working environment at Faxconn. The aim of the research was to evaluate the actual hindrance of human dignity in the company. The results blamed this on the company's organization culture. This includes overworking of the employees, abuse, mismanagement of human resource, autonomy incursions, and disrespect to human life among others. This study does not make a direct contribution to diversity and inclusion, but clearly shows the effect of lack of consideration of human dignity and cultural diversity in an organization. The paper targets mostly Faxconn management and other Chinese companies that disregard human values or that fail to employ inclusion measures in their diverse workforce. Conclusion Diversity and inclusion management is one way human resource managers can ensure that there is a health working environment in organizations. In this regard, human resource managers, especially those working in international companies are employing all possible measure to enhance this. According to the analysed literatures, this can be achieved by employing diversity and inclusion policies made by the government. It can also be enhanced by rebuking public prejudice and discrimination by bystanders, as well as through training where workers are educated on how to be accommodative and respective of other people's differences in an organization. All this can be used to create a health working environment that is very necessary for effective organization performance. References Angela D. Akorsu, & Fang Lee Cooke (2011) “Labour Standards Application among Chinese and Indian firms in Ghana: Typical or Atypical?” The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 22, No. 13, pp. 2730-2748. Cliff Oswick& Mike Noon (2014) “Discourses of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion: Trenchant Formulations or Transient Fashions?”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 25, pp. 23-39. David A. Thomas & Robin Ely (1996) “Making Differences Matter: A New Paradigm for Managing Diversity”, Harvard Business Review, September/October, pp. 79-91. Jacqueline Nelson, Kevin Dunn & Yin Paradies (2011) “Bystander Anti-Racism: A Review of the Literature”, Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 263–284. Jie Shen, Ashok Chanda, Brian D’Netto&Manjit Monga, (2009) “Managing Diversity Through Human Resource Management: An International Perspective and Conceptual Framework”, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 20, No 2, pp.  235-251. Kristen Lucas, Dongjing Kang & Zhou Li (2013) “Workplace Dignity in a Total Institution: Examining the Experiences of Foxconn’s Migrant Workforce.” Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 114, pp. 1-16. Leslie Ashburn-Nardo, Kathryn Morris & Stephanie Goodwin, (2008) “The Confronting Prejudiced Responses (CPR) Model: Applying CPR in Organizations”, Academy of Management Learning and Education, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 332–342. Lynette Harris & Carly Foster (2010) “Aligning Talent Management with Approaches to Equality and Diversity: Challenges for UK Public Sector Managers”, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, Vol. 29, No. 5, pp. 422–435. Lynn Perry Wooten (2008) “Guest Editor’s Note: Breaking Barriers in Organizations for the Purpose of Inclusiveness”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 47, No. 2, pp. 191-197. Masud Chand & Rosalie L. Tung (2014) ”The Aging of the World's Population and Its Effects on Global Business”, Academy of Management Perspectives, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 409-429. Michele E.A. Jayne & Robert L. Dipboye (2004) “Leveraging Diversity to Improve Performance: Research Findings and Recommendations for Organizations”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 43, Nol. 4, pp. 409-424. ZhannaSoldan& Alan Nankervis (2014) “Employee Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Diversity Management in the Australian Public Service: Rhetoric and Reality”,Public Personnel Management, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp.543-564. Read More