Managing Workplace Diversity: The Role of Organizational Culture

1
Managing Workplace Diversity The Role of
Organizational Culture

• Ashley M. Guidroz and Lindsey M. KotrbaDenison
  Consulting

2
Background and Specific Aims

• Workplace diversity (WD) is increasingly
  important to organizations
• Purpose
• Identify which aspects of org. culture relate to
  perceptions of diversity management.
• Perceived absence of workplace barriers and the
  perceived development of diverse employees
  (Powell, 1993 Thomas, 1996).

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Diversity Management and Organizational Culture

• Organizations that emphasize collectivism may see
  more benefits of WD than organizations that
  emphasize individualism
• When business unit emphasizes collectivism
• Positive affects on group conflict and creativity
  (Chatman, Polzer, Barsade, Neale, 1998)
• Better cooperation between employees within
  demographically diverse departments (Chatman
  Spataro, 2005)
• Banks high in gender diversity performed better
  when they emphasized teamwork, participation, and
  cohesiveness (Dwyer, Richard, Chadwick, 2003).
• Organizational Culture is important to diversity
  management
• Present in models of effective diversity
  management (e.g., Agars Kottke, 2004 Allen
  Montgomery, 2001 Cox, 2001).
• Can impact how diverse employees are integrated
  in an organization (McMillen-Capehart, 2005
  Spataro, 2005 Williams OReilly, 1998)

4
Present Study

• Hypothesis 1 Employees will rate diversity
  management efforts highest when there is a strong
  culture of involvement
• Emphasize teamwork which foster better
  relationships and ameliorate in-group/out-group
  differences (e.g., Ashforth Mael, 1989)
• Promote identity within department/organization
  to move beyond surface level differences (Jayne
  Dipboye, 2004).
• Using the culture framework of Denison and
  colleagues that measures four aspects of culture
• Involvement, Consistency, Adaptability Mission

5
Method

• Participants 7,783 people employed worldwide for
  a large consumer products company. Participants
  grouped together to form 811 work groups.
• Procedure Participants invited to participate in
  the bi-annual employee opinion survey that was
  completed online (86 response rate).

6
Measures

• Dependent Variables
• Lack of Barriers (three items, a .84)
• Sample Item
• Company has a work environment with no barriers
  created by cultural differences among
  individuals.
• Perceived Development of Diversity by
  Organization
• Company provides opportunities to develop and
  grow at all levels without barriers or
  discrimination.
• Perceived Development of Diversity by Department
• Department actively encourages development of a
  diverse workforce (e.g., gender, age,
  nationality, etc.).
• Independent Variable Control Variable
• Organizational Culture Group Diversity
• Denison Organizational Culture Survey
  (DOCS) Blaus Index (1977) for gender, tenure,
  age diversity

7
Results

• Each dependent variable regressed on group
  diversity and org. culture
• Hypothesis 1 Supported

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Regression of Perceived Development by
Organization on Group Diversity and DOCS Traits
plt.05 plt.01 Demographic diversity explained
1 of variance Organizational Culture explained
48 of the variance in the dependent variable.
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Regression of Perceived Development by
Organization on Group Diversity and DOCS Traits
plt.05 plt.01 Demographic diversity explained
2 of the variance Organizational Culture
explained 42 of the variance in dependent
variable.
10
Regression of Perceived Development by
Department on Group Diversity and DOCS Traits
plt.05 plt.01 Demographic diversity explained
0 of the variance Organizational Culture
explained 28 of the variance in dependent
variable.
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Discussion

• Organizational culture predicted perceptions of
  diversity management after controlling for group
  demographic diversity
• Lack of Barriers and Perceived Development by
  Organization/Department are important outcomes
  for organizations that are concerned with
  successfully incorporating diversity in their
  workforce.
• Involvement was the strongest predictor and could
  be important for removing workplace barriers that
  may prevent people of diverse backgrounds from
  successfully integrating.
• This research suggests that some aspects of org.
  culture are important for judging efforts of
  ones department versus efforts of the
  organization as a whole.

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Implications for Future Research

• Employee Involvement could be a possible
  moderator between workforce diversity and group
  performance.
• Organizations with a high involvement culture may
  reap more benefits of workplace diversity by
  encouraging employees to work better as a team
  and fostering a sense of belongingness and
  commitment to the organization.
• Limitations
• Cross-sectional research limits our ability to
  infer causality.

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Reference Information

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