Diversity Management at Marketing Companies in Memphis, Tennessee

Introduction

In the era of globalization and decreasing barriers between cultures, companies worldwide experience higher rates of workplace diversity. Similar to most other fields, the marketing industry has been affected by this phenomenon. Moreover, diversity is particularly important to it as it now needs to consider a higher number of consumers who exhibit a broad range of characteristics. With that said, diversity is also known to be a source of challenges that can undermine its benefits, such as “differences of opinion, conflict, fear, and discrimination” (Triana, 2017, p. 342). Diversity management is necessary to mitigate these problems, but it is currently a discipline still in development, and the degree to which best practices are used is unclear. This paper aims to investigate the adoption of diversity management in marketing companies using a sample of businesses from Memphis, Tennessee.

Background of the Problem

Historically, the concept of diversity in an organization was understood as the degree of responsibility, equal remuneration, and mutual respect, which an employee could rely on regardless of their skin color or culture (Barak, 2016). However, in modern settings, diversity should be understood as a broader and more multifaceted term (Sabharwal, 2014). Many senior executives, chief executive officers (CEOs) and heads of organizations concluded that diversity is a factor that can make business more successful because every person has a different background and life experience, both positive or negative, which can help them to contribute to a common cause (Harvey & Allard, 2015). By applying their unique skills and perspectives in work, employees from diverse backgrounds can bring value to the company as they might offer innovative solutions, connect with clients, or introduce new ideas. Collaboration and mutual efforts of diverse employees promote creative thinking and the development of unity, thus helping companies to achieve better performance (Harvey & Allard, 2015).

Still, diversity can also have a variety of adverse effects on companies. Martin (2014) showed that when culturally diverse employees had to work together, they were more prone to interpersonal and team conflicts. Opinions, beliefs, and traditions are significant in decision-making, and when they are distinctive, it may lead to workplace disputes, thus undermining organizational performance (Martin, 2014). The contrasting findings suggest that the effects of diversity depend on management and that successful diversity management could help companies yield the benefits of diversity while avoiding its adverse impact.

Problem Statement

With the advent of globalization, companies have increased their ability to reach markets throughout the world dramatically. As such, the marketing firms they work with have to consider markets with which they may not have interacted previously. With that said, they can also benefit from the ability to hire workers globally, which is another consequence of globalization. As a result of firms hiring employees familiar with markets in other regions and overall increased migration, they are becoming more culturally heterogeneous. However, diversity is known to cause a variety of issues that stem from regular interactions between people of different cultures and worldviews. Without adequately-informed management, these problems can escalate into conflicts and damage the company’s performance. For instance, research by Thatcher et al. (2003) found that groups with very diverse members experience higher rates of conflict and impaired communication compared to homogenous groups, and thus also show decreased morale and performance. Another study by Mahdieh (2015) highlighted the relationship between communication, conflict, and performance, noting that groups reporting decreased communication and growing levels of conflict also showed poor performance. This suggests that the lack of diversity management could directly affect firm performance and reduce the company’s profitability. To address the situation, it is first necessary to understand whether marketing firms adopt diversity management and to what degree they do so.

One of the primary drivers of increasing diversity is globalization, which is defined as the disappearance of barriers to the movement of information, capital, property, goods, services, and labor (Barak, 2016). In the contemporary context, diverse ideas, preferences, values, behavioral stereotypes, and cultural patterns have become integrated globally, leading to changes in various communities and groups (Barak, 2016). It should be mentioned that the melting pot theory, as such, originated in the 1920s; it replaced the Anglo-conformist ethnic model, and is still in effect (Montalvo-Barbot, 2019). In any society, regardless of its cultural and historical characteristics, social class structure, state structure, social system, there is diversity. In the United States, people of different ages, cultures, and backgrounds work together, which requires the establishment of an inclusive workplace environment (Harvey & Allard, 2015). At the same time, diversity management as a separate area in human resources management originated in the USA. It was a reaction to the widespread situation when the staff of the company includes employees of different age, nationality, race, religion, etc. It is based on the principle that differences between people should not prevent them from working together and even can bring benefits to the company. Regarding this, it is expected that leaders not only promote diversity in their organizations but also manage diversity properly (Harvey & Allard, 2015). Therefore, diversity management should be researched to support leaders in responding to changes in the global business environment.

Memphis, Tennessee, is a suitable context to research diversity in the marketing industry because there is a variety of firms working in this sphere. Some of the most prominent include Archer Malmo, Creative Communications Consulting, Hemline, Ding! Marketing Studio, Sullivan Branding, and others. The city itself is diverse, with 63% of its citizens classified as Black, 27.45% White, 6.2% Hispanic, 1.7% Asian, 1.4% mixed, and 0.2% other (Statistical Atlas, 2018). As such, it is likely that the employees at the businesses mentioned will also display a high degree of diversity and the associated issues. By investigating a context where diversity management is necessary and evaluating the practices employed, this research can contribute to the understanding of the concept’s relevance to marketing and best practices that firms should follow.

Purpose of the Study

This study aims to provide suggestions for the improvement of diversity management at marketing firms in Memphis, TN. It will do so by identifying the concerns of the workers at a selection of businesses and reviewing the diversity management practices used. The lack of workplace diversity management is a significant issue in contemporary marketing businesses because it exacerbates the harmful effects of diversity, including poor communication, workplace conflict, and discrimination. These issues can have a significant impact on the performance of teams and companies, thus affecting the business in general (Mahdieh, 2015; Thatcher et al., 2003). Consequently, the study will contribute to marketing business management in the age of globalization by highlighting what companies can do to mitigate diversity-related concerns and decrease their negative effects on business performance.

A mixed-method design will be applied to gain sufficient depth and detail in responding to the research questions (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). To collect relevant data, two or three marketing companies located in the Memphis area that have 200 or more employees will be contacted and offered to participate in the proposed study. To maintain its focus on diversity, the study will emphasize women, minority group members, and LGBTQ individuals, as these groups enhance diversity but often experience issues in the workplace (Adams, 2018). Upon the agreement of companies’ management, employees will receive written invitations and informed consent forms that will clarify the purpose, objectives, and data to be collected. Anonymous surveys and open-ended interviews will be used as data collection tools, while the process of data collection will continue for approximately one month.

The firms’ diversity management policies will be the independent variables in the study. They will likely differ between the companies analyzed, potentially informing variations in diversity-related issues. These problems will be the dependent variables, expressed through employee concerns collected through the surveys. With that said, due to the small number of companies analyzed, many similar policies will likely be discovered. As such, the applicability of the quantitative segment for identifying best practice will be limited, though it will highlight prominent concerns. Open-ended interviews with participants will address this problem, as they will present an opportunity to discuss specific policies and their effects on work. Moreover, workers will be able to propose their ideas for diversity management improvement, contributing to the advancement of the discipline.

Nature of the Study

A mixed-method study (sequential explanatory) will be conducted involving women, minority groups, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) populations (vulnerable groups) that lack support in the workplace since it allows focusing on attitudes and perceptions of the participants as well as provides a room for describing details (Engel & Schutt, 2014). The quantitative portion will help determine the severity of the problem and the effects that some policies have on their prevalence. Issues that workers are most concerned about should be the focus of changes, and if policy differences between companies can be connected to variance in issue severity, the effectiveness of these practices can also be determined. The qualitative aspect will help determine worker concerns and collect opinions about potential policy improvements. Through this combination of methods, a comprehensive overview of the situation can be produced.

Furthermore, the study will ensure the completeness and reliability of the data by achieving empirical confidence that new data cannot be collected. When a researcher observes the repeating patterns in survey and interview answers, it will mean that no additional data can be obtained (Hargittai, 2020). Once the description of the categories and behaviors is comprehensive enough to form a theory, it will mean that data saturation is achieved. At the same time, the researcher will pay attention to ensuring that no new information can be collected from participants and that its addition will not enrich the study (Grønmo, 2019).

Significance of the Study

Workplace diversity contributes to innovation, as the workers have a larger collective pool of ideas from which they can draw. Using the different employees’ broad knowledge and numerous skills, companies improve their flexibility and can address challenges efficiently (Barak, 2016). Any company can achieve prosperity if it has enough resources, and the more of these resources there will be, the better. Moreover, members of different cultures may exhibit unconventional thinking patterns, disrupting established procedures and creating opportunities for unique ideas to emerge (Barak, 2016). This trait is particularly relevant in marketing, which constantly aims to disrupt the market and attract attention to the products that it is promoting. As such, to firms in the sector, increased diversity is both an inevitable consequence of globalization and a strategic objective.

Along with benefits to business, workplace diversity management contributes to employees’ professional and personal growth. As noted by Harvey and Allard (2015), the goals of diversity management include awareness, continuous education, and a positive perception of the differences between employees of an organization. Valuing diversity goes beyond the policy of equal opportunities since it is based not only on changing the level of representativeness of different employee categories in the workplace. At the same time, the recognition of the uniqueness of every employee contributes to the creation of a friendly atmosphere in which awareness and respect for members of other cultures are encouraged (Harvey & Allard, 2015). The main issue is the quality of work experience rather than the mere presence of minority or female representatives in certain positions.

One should note that cultural differences stimulate innovation and improve the practical results of companies. Several studies have confirmed that the results of organizations that include cultural diversity and inclusiveness in their activities are superior to those of their competitors (Sabharwal, 2014). An equally important implication is to understand that not all employees of different backgrounds receive enough support and resources that promote their engagement in the workplace and help to prevent discrimination or mistreatment by other employees. Therefore, it is essential to actively encourage leaders to use opportunities that they may not know about and utilize diversity management techniques.

Research Questions

Two research questions were formulated to account for the mixed methods nature of the research. While the first question is concerned with the qualitative perspective of the study and accounts for the interview method, the second question will be quantitative and account for the survey method of data collection. Based on the above problem identification and significance of the study, the following questions may be formulated to address the problem of workplace diversity in marketing companies located in Memphis, Tennessee:

• Research Question 1. What are the women and minorities experiences and expectations regarding workplace diversity in marketing companies, and what potential solutions to the problem do they offer?
• Research Question 2. What is the connection between negative/positive attitudes toward diverse workers and their experiences working in marketing companies?

The identified research questions will be answered during data analysis, and the subsequent recommendations will be provided as appropriate.

Hypotheses

It is possible to hypothesize that the study will reveal significant drawbacks regarding the current organization of workplace diversity in marketing companies located in Memphis, Tennessee. Based on the research questions, the following hypotheses can be generated:

• Hypothesis 1. In companies where diversity management is poor, women and minorities experiences will be negative, and they will report discrimination, harassment, conflicts, poor communication, and other issues.
• Hypothesis 2. The correlation between attitudes to diverse workers and their experiences will be positive. Negative attitudes toward diverse workers will produce negative experiences of vulnerable groups, whereas positive attitudes will result in positive experiences.

The first hypothesis concerns qualitative data and focuses on the first research question, which is why it is not possible to say exactly what the results are likely to reveal. Based on the literature review, it can be suggested that diversity management practices of a company will be related to the experiences reported by workers. Hence, in companies where diversity management is poor, some workers just leave and do not report anything.

For the second hypothesis, Research Question 2 was considered, which focuses on quantitative data. Given current knowledge of diversity and diversity management, it is suggested that attitudes to diverse workers will be positively correlated with their experiences working in a specific company.

Brief Review of the Literature

This section of the dissertation aims at providing a brief literature review to specify the stated problem, research area, contribution to the literature, and the context of the issue under consideration. In addition, the studies related to diversity management in the United States organizations will be situated within the research area and aligned with the problem to be considered. Ultimately, any gaps existing in the recent literature will be revealed and discussed as appropriate.

Characteristic of the Research Area and Problem

A broad spectrum of research studies explores diversity management opportunities and challenges in the context of the United States. While this concept presents a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, it is primarily associated with culture and plurality. However, there is a gap in studies in terms of evaluating diversity practices in the marketing sphere. The evidence shows that the mentioned country was founded by many immigrants and Native Americans, yet multicultural reporting occurred only recently (Klarsfeld, Ng, Booysen, Christiansen, & Kuvaas, 2016). It should be emphasized, in this regard, that not only culture but also disability, gender identification, and other peculiar features compose the meaning of diversity. Having traced the history and the current in the United States, a scholar may confidently claim that the demographic distribution of labor is unequal. The latest estimates illustrate that approximately 80 percent of the labor force is taken by the white population, while African Americans and Asians constitute 12 and 6 percent, respectively (Klarsfeld et al., 2016). Such a situation contributes to the emergence of work-related conflicts based on the underrepresentation of one or another culture or ethnicity.

Elaborating on the fact that the underrepresentation of minorities in the workplace, and in the marketing sphere, is critical in the United States, it is essential to note that ethnic distribution of employees across America is disproportionate since women and minorities turn out to be the most vulnerable populations in this context. Klarsfeld et al. (2016) stressed that the executive positions are especially difficult to achieve for the mentioned groups. If women hold more than 58 percent of all labor positions, they comprise merely 14.1 percent of jobs at the executive level, as reported by Klarsfeld et al. (2016). In their turn, Healy and Oikelome (2017) examined racial inequality and discovered that there is considerable reliance on the workforce provided by immigrants due to their capability to perform heavy work for a relatively low remuneration. The above data clarifies the research area and points to the challenges that require further resolution.

The issue of controlling diversity management in marketing companies should also be discussed as the one that is particularly pertinent to the research problem. The commixture of cultures in the workplace frequently makes it difficult to find a common platform (Harvey & Allard, 2015). While the whole bulk of opinions, attitudes, and perceptions of people with various backgrounds seem to promote business development, it also causes biases, frustration, and conflicts. In this connection, communication may be regarded as the critical stumbling-block that causes conflicts based on authority, autonomy, and other issues, the pursuit of which may be less or more significant for a person, depending on his or her culture (Harvey & Allard, 2015). As a result, harassment, bullying, as well as discrimination occur in response to a lack of relevant diversity management.

Contribution of the Study to the Literature

The present study will contribute to the existing literature by adding more valuable information to the theory of diversity management. It is expected that the elaborated literature review and the analysis of the Unites States’ organizations will allow for formulating credible recommendations that may be considered by other scholars. As stated by Harvey and Allard (2015), the contemporary literature fails to meet the needs of managers, leaders and CEOs who work in diverse organizations, thus leaving them without effective strategies and tools to adjust to the changing conditions. Therefore, this study will benefit the literature by offering a new perspective on the research topic.

The results of the given study will generate new ideas and drawbacks that may be observed in diverse workplaces. In turn, it will allow for scrutinizing the available literature and aligning it with the newly acquired data (Healy & Oikelome, 2017). In other words, it is expected to enrich the current research as well as pinpoint the further needs of organizations and employees that should be considered in the light of diversity management. The theoretical findings that will be obtained during the present study will also be useful for scholars as the basis for their research efforts.

Contribution to the Context of the Problem

The context of diversity management is composed of corporate culture, which forms integrity and provides valuable unity of employees and employers. At the same time, there is a harmonization of human interests and those of an organization as well as their mutual stimulation (Hajro, Gibson, & Pudelko, 2017). On the one hand, an employee translates his or her personal values in the external environment, thereby enriching the existing culture of an organization. On the other hand, a person internalizes current values and norms and becomes the bearer and distributor of the culture that emerged at the time of his or her appearance in an organization. In the context of Tennessee marketing companies, the research will be especially beneficial because there is a lack of studies that explored this specific setting.

While exploring the context of the problem, it is also critical to pay attention to the concept of the corporate culture. This culture becomes an essential element in an organization, capable of ensuring the cohesion of the management team and the collective, contributing to the implementation of the strategic goals as well as being a system-forming factor in creating a unified space with significant potential (Hajro et al., 2017). The main contribution of this study to the context of the problem is associated with the enrichment of the latter through an in-depth understanding, particularly given the narrow focus of the research. The findings and recommendations provided by the study would be essential for CEOs and managers who work with employees with different backgrounds (Hajro et al., 2017). Thus, the practical contribution of the given research would be the potential improvement of diversity strategies and approaches used by managers working in the marketing industry in Memphis.

Similar and Related Studies

The management of diversity acquires special significance in the context of globalization and the internationalization of business. The increasing diversity of staffing, inclusion of migrants, mobility of employees, and the involvement of skilled professionals from different countries with professional qualifications determine the relevance of diversity management as a solution to conflict prevention (Hajro et al., 2017). Diversity is not an obstacle to the organization of workplaces as it gives organizations vast advantages. The consideration of diversity in the context of related studies such as change management and talent development allows understanding these benefits deeper.

This study relates to others as it emphasizes the integration problem regarding representatives of individual cultures that is now particularly relevant. Diversity management is of particular importance for companies that try to implement most of the positive aspects of globalization. Appropriate corporate training on organizational diversity and development programs would contribute to employees’ loyalty, culture of diversity, better knowledge sharing and team work, and can result in synergy effect due to systemic approach to organizational diversity. Another important source of talented and hard-working employees is the involvement of all categories of the population in workplaces. Like other related studies, this one pinpoints the role of proper relationships and communication in the workplace (Healy & Oikelome, 2017; Hajro et al., 2017). Consequently, the existing literature is related to the problem being researched.

Gap in the Literature

Despite the studies that prove the vital role of diversity management, some gaps may still be noted. Evident fact is that significant efforts were made towards equality; however, much should be done to ensure proper attitudes to diversity in workplaces. Companies that work in conservative and stable directions do not eagerly adopt similar ideas. At the same time, as experts argued, diversity is practiced more in large international companies, while smaller firms prefer not to follow diversity principles (Hajro et al., 2017; Healy & Oikelome, 2017). In addition to this, there have not been any studies that focused on workplace diversity in Memphis marketing companies, and the current research can address this issue. Therefore, additional research is required to eliminate these gaps.

Conceptual Framework

Clarification should be provided about the fact that each of the factors mentioned below was obtained from the available scholarly literature. In combination, they led to the problem of poor diversity management in the workplace that may cause even worse consequences. This part of the research will focus on the creation of the conceptual framework by aligning all three factors and situating them in the context of marketing companies in Memphis, Tennessee.

Factor 1. Employees’ clashing beliefs, attitudes, and work-related practices are resulting in conflicts. Grounded theory supported the exploration of this factor by finding evidence from qualitative and quantitative data and synthesizing it for analysis. Companies whose employees or managers are biased toward diverse workers may not be competent enough to target their marketing efforts to the diverse population of the United States on a broad scale, and Tennessee on a narrow scale. Since the ideas of diversity and inclusivity that have gained massive coverage in political and social affairs are now of high importance, the inability of companies to align with their target audiences presents a problem. The argument aligns with grounded theory, which is a systematic methodology primarily used in qualitative research; however, quantitative research may also benefit from this theory (Engel & Schutt, 2014). Grounded theory is an exploratory method that includes several components, such as theoretical sampling, coding, and the writing of methods. Within the approach, theoretical sampling requires researchers to provide insights gained because of data collection and analysis. Within the context of data analysis, scholars use various coding ways for developing new ideas that initially appear in codes and later in specific categories for research.

Factor 2. Managers lack proper understanding and equipment to handle such situations. This factor needed special support from the theoretical framework due to the need to look for specific social patterns explaining why some managers do not have the proper understanding of handling conflict situations with diverse workers. Because of applying grounded theory, a form of sociological theory is obtained, which is created gradually based on careful naturalistic observation of the chosen social phenomenon. The theory derived is deeply rooted in the data, both qualitative and quantitative (Engel & Schutt, 2014). Researchers that use grounded theory to help with the formulation of a study method can apply any type of data needed, for instance, images, observations, texts, videos, spoken word, and so on. The goal of the grounded theory is to construct a theory of a phenomenon, but not to falsify it; at the same time, several procedures for the validation of the theory are used (Hargittai, 2020). The task of a well-founded study is to build a theory, maximizing it based on the mentioned factors and data to be obtained.

Factor 3. There is an insufficient theoretical background to support problem elimination. It should be mentioned that problem elimination was only possible by studying the adverse impact of diversity-associated issues in the workplace. The conceptual framework for the study was developed on the basis ion the synthesis of available evidence suggesting that diversity in the workplace harms both professional and personal relationships within organizations because of the differences in perceptions, values, and communication patterns (Birks & Mills, 2015). As sexual and ethnic minorities were found as the most vulnerable populations to be mistreated in the workplace, the study claims that the marketing industry lacks representation from these populations. Grounded theory as a research tool enables scholars to seek out various social patterns, in this case, attitudes toward diverse employees, and structure newly-found data through continuous comparisons. In the beginning, a researcher implements an inductive approach for generating substantive codes from gathered data. Then, a theory is developed to identify the next steps for data collection and which specific questions should be asked. This stage refers to the deductive phase in the process of grounded theory application. The main issue with grounded theory lies in the fact that without collecting and analyzing data, the researcher may not be entirely sure of what they are going to study in particular.

The grounded theory strategy is divided into three different types, each providing its own procedure and various principles. Originating from cooperation between Glaser and Strauss in 1967, it was then divided, and, now, it includes the system design of Strauss and Corbin, who ascended and developed the design (Birks & Mills, 2015). In this research, attention is paid to the description of system design as it contains the most rigorous and structured procedural recommendations for conducting research based on the grounded theory strategy. According to Engel and Schutt (2014), such rigor is provided, first, due to the need of orientation to the paradigmatic model, which is a sequence of the following elements: causal conditions, problem, context, intermediate conditions, interaction strategies, and implications.

Speaking of the integration of the stated factors through the grounded theory as the conceptual framework, one should stress that it is inductively derived from the study of the phenomenon that it represents (Birks & Mills, 2015). In other words, it is created, developed, and verified in different conditions by the systematic collection and analysis of data relevant to the phenomenon being studied. Thus, analysis and theory are in mutual relation to each other in the given field of research, and everything that has to do with this area would support the study arguments (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). Such a definition may also be met in other works devoted to the features of constructing a valid theory (Birks & Mills, 2015). At the same time, if one considers the specifics of the research strategy itself, the following definition will be more appropriate: the research method that uses a systematic series of procedures for the development of an inductively derived grounded theory of a phenomenon.

There are four requirements that should be followed to ensure the provision of a well-designed study: relevance, understanding, generalization, and control (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). Scientific relevance is an essential component because it implies filling a gap in the existing research literature. Enhancing relevance is possible by aligning the initial research question, hypothesis motivation, and study implications. Understanding is linked to the process of scientific discovery and getting to know how the research was designed, conducted, and disseminated. Generalization entails looking at the bigger picture despite using only a section of the population for testing a hypothesis. Lastly, control in scientific research is associated with having an experiment (or observation) created for reducing the impact of dependent variables to increase results’ reliability.

Utilization of the grounded theory is expected to allow for sticking to the set design and using it as guidance. The selection of the mentioned theory may also be justified by its advantages, including the fact that it is not necessary to have extensive knowledge and experience about the analyzed social phenomenon, which eliminates stereotypes and frames of thinking. In addition, this theory allows for an early stage of the study to conduct a primary analysis, being systematic and detailed (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). Thus, the opportunity to continue further investigation when new data appears and not re-start the analysis will be provided.

Assumptions, Limitations, and Delimitations

After reviewing the literature review and the conceptual framework identified above, the researcher might suggest that the issue of diversity management challenges and opportunities in the United States context will be adequately explored. Presumably, it will be discovered that employees and managers in marketing companies are in need of comprehensive approaches to prevent workplace conflicts. The participants of the study are anticipated to answer honestly and thoroughly. The data analysis will be performed in a candid manner, and an extensive discussion will be provided to align quantitative and qualitative data, interpret it, and provide reliable recommendations that managers could apply in practice. Most importantly, it is expected that all research questions will be addressed as appropriate.

Limitations

The limitations of the present study concern the factors that cannot be controlled by the researcher. First, unknown conditions related to the workplace of participants may affect their answers and lead to bias. Some situations and events that are unidentified by the study may occur, thus impacting its outcomes and data analysis. Second, one more factor that cannot be regulated is associated with generalization levels. Since the study will cover only several marketing organizations, its findings cannot be fully generalized to other companies. Nevertheless, some recommendations may still be useful to other companies in the United States. As can be observed from the previous sections, the study will also be limited to American companies, and firms in other countries might differ in terms of their cultural or social contexts, which would also limit the application of the findings by their managers.

Delimitations

Contrary to limitations, delimitations are the factors that can be monitored and adjusted by a researcher. The main delimitation to the given study may be defined as the participant exclusion criteria, which may be controlled while determining the target population. In other words, the boundaries of this population will be specified by a researcher. Second, objectives and research questions also compose the category of delimitations as these elements can be controlled, and they are usually set at the beginning of the study. Data collection and analysis methods may also be mentioned in terms of delimitations.

Definition of Terms

Conflict management. This term refers to a combination of efforts targeted at mitigating and reducing the adverse impact of a misunderstanding (Thakore, 2013). Conflict management depends on the nature of a situation and can also change from one individual to another.

Diversity. This is a broad concept that has been defined in various ways over the years. At the most basic level, diversity refers to the variations between people in terms of gender, age, race, culture, religion, ability level, and many other characteristics (Thatcher et al., 2003). Workplace diversity, in turn, reflects the variations in characteristics of employees working together in one company.

Diversity management. Diversity management refers to the recognition and acceptance of individual differences in the workplace, as well as to managerial practices seeking to promote collaboration and cooperation between diverse staff members (Barak, 2016). Activities that improve diversity management in the workplace may include education, teambuilding, anti-discrimination policies, and similar tools.

Globalization. It is a process of uniting or converging economic, social, and cultural norms, as well as habits and principles, in countries where the economy and society had pronounced national features (Klarsfeld, Booysen, Christiansen, & Kuvaas, 2016). Among the critical signs of globalization, there are a single labor market, information systems, and universalization of cultures.

Leadership. This concept has always been hard to define because of the different approaches that scholars had. In most contexts, leadership is the ability of an individual to “share a vision which gives point to the work of other people” (Silva, 2016, p. 2). Thus, it relies heavily on the way leaders interact with their followers.

Workplace communication. This term is significant to the study because inadequate diversity management often leads to impaired communication. Based on scholarly definitions, workplace communication is defined as interactions between workers in a company, ranging from upper management to staff in entry-level positions (Quintanilla & Wahl, 2017). Workplace communication can be classified into formal and informal communication, with the former focusing on official messages and discussions and the latter describing personal interactions between employees (Quintanilla & Wahl, 2017).

Conclusion

This chapter included an outline of this study, the background of the problem, and research questions. An in-depth review of the literature follows in Chapter 2, which will expand upon the development and significance of the study and its background. Chapter 3 includes a discussion on the methodology of the data collection. In Chapter 4, the results and analysis of the data will be presented. Finally, Chapter 5 consists of comments on the study combined with suggestions for future studies stemming from this research effort.

Literature Review

A literature review on diversity management was prepared based on the literature matrix comprised in preparation for the study. Overall, most articles on the topic contain contemporary perspectives on diversity management, including its challenges and benefits in modern organizations. Some information on the historical development of the issue was also found, and it confirms the view that diversity management is a relatively new subject that evolved as a result of socio-cultural changes in America and other countries. Some gaps that should be addressed in future research were also located and discussed in a separate section.

Historical Development of the Topic

Historically, the topic of diversity management was tied to social and cultural shifts. Specifically, it was influenced by the increasing diversity of communities, which prompted people from various backgrounds to communicate and collaborate with one another (Ayega & Muathe, 2018). As explained by Goldthorpe (1996), cultural and religious diversity developed due to limited interaction between communities in the past: “in the neolithic world of limited communications, human communities in relative isolation developed different cultures” (p. 149). Religious and linguistic differences, in a similar manner, were prompted by the social and geographic distance between settlements. In addition to that, biological and economic forces created variations among people based on skin color and socioeconomic status, which are also used to distinguish between groups of individuals.

Attitudes to diversity have been pivotal to the development of the topic of diversity management. Homogeneity in terms of looks, values, and characteristics has always been important to humans, and thus, in many cases, differences between people formed the basis for conflicts, discrimination, and segregation (Ayega & Muathe, 2018; Goldthorpe, 1996). Goldthorpe (1996) shows that, in the case of cultural diversity, these conflicts often resulted in the domination of one culture and the segregation of the others. The same can be said about religious and racial diversity. This is particularly true in America, where centuries of slavery, racial segregation, and discrimination had a significant impact on the lives of people from minority backgrounds, including the Indigenous communities and black people (Goldthorpe, 1996). The impact of these factors on vulnerable populations’ employment and education continues to this day. For example, racial and gender inequality in the United States prevented companies from recruiting women and minority groups until the 20th century (Ayega & Muathe, 2018). Thus, the workforce of companies in the U.S. consisted primarily of white men, with little to no diversity evident. These companies had no need for diversity management, as the cultural, ethnic, and gender composition of the workforce was relatively homogenous.

However, cultural and social forces shaped the environment for diversity, changing people’s attitudes to it, and questioning centuries-long beliefs. In America, the fight against slavery and racial segregation, as well as for women’s rights, has changed the socio-cultural environment significantly (Ayega & Muathe, 2018). By removing barriers separating cultural groups, activists and policymakers created diverse communities and workplaces where people from different cultural, socioeconomic, religious, and ethnic backgrounds had to find ways of working together effectively (Ayega & Muathe, 2018). For instance, advancements in gender equality and civil rights improved the employment of black people and women into mainstream professions, thus facilitating workplace diversity (Ayega & Muathe, 2018). In this context, diversity management became essential to businesses both in the United States and across the globe due to the increased diversity of the people employed by businesses and institutions.

Therefore, the topic of diversity management draws from centuries of cross-cultural, ethnic, and gender conflicts and from critical social movements that sought to remove barriers to inclusive employment and education. Until the 20th century, most American workplaces were relatively homogenous in terms of culture, and jobs were strictly segregated (Ayega & Muathe, 2018). At the time, diversity management was nonexistent since there was no need to facilitate cross-cultural and inclusive communication among employees. When the composition of workplaces changed as a result of socio-cultural forces, managers and scholars realized the need to facilitate collaboration between diverse individuals. This prompted the emergence of diversity management as a topic and established foundations for its future development in the 20th and 21st centuries, in particular, after women in the 1980’s entering the workforce made significant changes to the workforce composition and overall HR landscape.

Colonial America

The history of diversity in America began in colonial times when settlers from various European countries arrived to establish colonies in the newly discovered land. As noted by Zinn (2015), there were four countries with the largest settlements in America: England, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. The goals of the new settlers were to explore the land and collect resources for export. The first colonizers believed that they would find a lot of gold on the continent, but this soon turned out to be untrue (Zinn, 2015). While they found gold in some locations of South America, most colonizers who stayed in Northern America sought to seize more lands and export raw materials to the European market (Zinn, 2015). Given the rivalry for land and resources between the colonies of different countries, there was almost no space for collaboration, and thus people from diverse nations rarely worked together. Similarly, most encounters with the Native Americans were hostile. In this context, national and racial diversity was seen as a threat.

Negative attitudes to diversity at the time were also prompted by the need to establish a solid identity and develop a sense of community in the new world. On the one hand, colonizers typically sought to maintain ties with their home countries, which reinforced their sense of national identity. According to Brysk, Parsons, and Sandholtz (2002), colonies typically display characteristics of collective identity with their imperial powers, which is described as a ‘friendship’ or a familial relationship. This means that colonizers often retained distinctive cultural characteristics connecting them to their home nations (Brysk et al., 2002). These were crucial to the formation of their socio-cultural identity. However, this feature also impacted people’s attitudes and their acceptance of cultural diversity. When attempting to retain a collective identity with the empire, colonizers often refused the influence of other cultures, seeing them as rivals rather than potentially useful connections (Brysk et al., 2002). This was instrumental in retaining the identity of their home cultures.

On the other hand, the shared experience of living in a colony and entering a completely new environment also created local identities that, despite retaining the empires’ values and characteristics, were distinct from the primary European settlements (Beeman, 1977). People had to interact with one another consistently and share their struggles or victories. Moreover, being away from their homeland and families created the need to form a communal identity specific to colonial settlements (Beeman, 1977). As a result of these forces, colonies developed complex socio-cultural identities that distinguished them from other parts of the empire while supporting the people’s connection to it.

Identity formation in the context of Colonial America has been an important topic of study for archaeologists and sociologists alike. In their article, Nassaney (2008) discusses identity formation in the context of a French colonial outpost. The scholar notes that the cultural identity of the settlement combined French influences with new values and beliefs developed as a way of surviving as a community in the new world (Nassaney, 2008). For instance, because French official diplomacy did not have enough power to battle with the Native populations, marriages between the French colonizers and Native American females were practiced as a way of establishing collaboration between the two cultures (Nassaney, 2008). This feature has affected the development of the local socio-cultural identity by introducing new influences. In a similar manner, other settlements adapted to the conditions they faced, resulting in combined cultural influences on identity formation. With a large number of distinct local identities and the desire to preserve a sense of community stemming from the colonial experience itself, attitudes to diversity remained negative for the vast part of the colonial period.

Nevertheless, some scholars note that there were significant class and religious diversity among individuals, particularly in colonies established by England and France. Zinn (2015) notes that colonizers practiced a variety of religious beliefs and that there were Catholics, Lutherans, Jews, Puritans, Baptists, and Anglicans living in the same colony. People who came to America also varied in terms of their socioeconomic status. Some of them were rich and famous in their homelands, whereas others were people from the working class who simply wanted to earn money for their labor. Thus, while collaboration between people of different nations and races was limited, there was still some diversity in colonies, requiring people to work and communicate with those from different backgrounds.

Slavery and Racial Segregation

The period of slavery is among the most gruesome times in American history; this is relevant to the historical development of the topic because it shows negative attitudes to diversity and their effect on populations. Slavery became widespread in America in the 17th century, and most scholars believe 1619 to be the year when first slaves were brought to the colonized land (Wallis, 2016). However, there is substantial evidence that slavery was widespread even before that, particularly in some Spanish colonies (Guasco, 2017). Slavery continued to be a common practice in America for over two hundred years until the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865, which ruled slavery as unconstitutional and abolished it throughout the United States. Throughout this period, African Americans were used and sold as slaves. Many slaves worked in agriculture, producing tobacco, cotton, and other goods for export (Wallis, 2016). Some slaves were also kept as house servants by merchants and wealthy persons.

One significant aspect of slavery in America, which makes it particularly relevant to the topic of diversity, is that it created a foundation for racial discrimination and white supremacy. Indeed, according to Wallis (2016), slavery in other lands and time periods was not based on race. However, at the time of colonization, many European countries, and England have already begun to promote ideas of human rights, equality, and freedom. In this context, trading people, torture, and killing for economic profit seemed to go against the beliefs of European society (Konde, 2005; Foster, 2009; Wallis, 2016;). In order to facilitate slavery, those involved in the slave trade used racial and cultural differences between people to demonize African and American Indian people, making them less human in the eyes of the masses. Wallis (2016) states, “the ideology of white supremacy, of course, was economically motivated – slavery was enormously profitable – but it had to be philosophically and religiously tied to false ideas of white superiority and black inferiority” (p. 74). In other words, the ideas that have largely shaped the lives of non-whites in the United States have been invented as a justification for greed and cruelty.

The views that originated during the time of slavery had a lasting impact on non-whites in the United States after the abolition of slavery. Racial segregation, for instance, was a common practice for decades following the 13th Amendment. It involved African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics working, studying, and living separately from white people (Wallis, 2016). Segregation was prominent in all aspects of life, and even in the armed forces, black soldiers were separated from others. The social division, maintained by segregation policies and attitudes, has influenced people’s views on racial and cultural diversity in the United States. People from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds were “the other,” which led to widespread discrimination. Even today, racism thrives in the U.S.A and, to this day, some people continue to hold racist views, which threatens diverse workplaces (Karsten, 2016). For instance, if a white person has a prejudice against people of color, this will impair trust and collaboration in the workplace, leading to unwanted consequences. This means that the history of slavery had a profound impact on American society, and it still creates challenges that require diversity management.

Gender Inequality

Another prominent theme in workplace diversity studies is gender, because the history of women in Europe, America, and most other parts of the world has influenced their integration into workplaces. As noted by historians and scholars, women’s position in society of the past was very different from the one they have today. First, women had little to no rights because they were seen inferior to men (Kimble & Röwekamp, 2016). This was evident in all aspects of life, and thus women of all ages experienced this issue. For instance, before marriage, young women were rarely allowed to make any choices, as all decisions were made by their fathers or brothers. Women were seldom considered as heirs of fortune or property, and usually, their brothers would receive those after the parents’ death (Kimble & Röwekamp, 2016). After marriage, women were controlled by their husbands, who had authority over most of their decisions. They were usually pressured into sex and childbearing, and many women would give birth to as many as eight or ten children during their lifetime, which impacted their health. As noted by Kimble & Röwekamp (2016), “wives, like children, did not have the status of full legal persons; their legal status was inextricably tied to their husbands” (p. 81). Divorces were rare at the time, but when they happened, the father would usually gain custody of children (Kimble & Röwekamp, 2016). Women’s rights remained a significant issue in Europe and the United States until the late 20th century, but there are still problems in other areas of the world, for example, China. The psychology of subordination, which has persisted for centuries, does not allow women to compete on equal terms with men and take a worthy place in society (Song, 2019). The All-China Women’s Federation of the PRC has identified several manifestations of gender discrimination: women are the first to be fired; restrictions are imposed on the employment of women in enterprises. Moreover, during maternity leave, women are reduced the wage rate; women tend to receive lower wages for the same work than their male counterparts (Song, 2019). During the years of economic reform, the position of women in the labor market has undergone significant changes, but many problems remain.

Secondly, because of the limitations created by patriarchy, women were dependent on men financially, socially, and legally. This also meant that they often stayed at home caring for children and the household instead of working (Kimble & Röwekamp, 2016). On the one hand, husbands could prohibit their wives from working or pressure them into changing jobs. On the other hand, career opportunities available to women at the time were strictly limited. According to Kimble and Röwekamp (2016), before the 1800s, women worked as girls’ schoolteachers, servants, cooks, and midwives. Some women also helped their husbands to manage small, family-owned businesses. Professions that could provide financial independence, such as doctors and lawyers, were only available to men. This had a significant influence on diversity in the workplace because it limited much of the workforce to men.

The industrial revolution of the 19th century created more opportunities for women to work. Middle-class women could now work in factories, and many of them preferred this option instead of staying at home (Milkman, 2016). Nevertheless, the integration of women into the workforce was not complete because they still could not work in the same jobs as men and earn the same wages for the same work performed. Milkman (2016) explains that positions available for women in factories were usually sex-labeled, meaning that women never worked in the same jobs as men. Workplace segregation prevented women from integrating into the European and American workforce until decades later. Still, glass ceiling and sticky floor facing female employees, as well as evident difference of wages between men and women represent “integral” elements of modern corporate reality.

Long-Term Impacts of Slavery on Diversity in the United States

The colonial period was crucial to the history of the United States, yet it left a heritage of racial and ethnic discrimination that impacts the country to this day. Slavery is an integral part of American history that continued to affect people long after the abolition. Understanding the long-term effects of slavery is essential to setting the contemporary context of American workplaces in terms of diversity management.

Scholars note that slavery has impacted people’s attitudes toward people of color, and these attitudes are still persistent in certain parts of the United States. Acharya, Blackwell, and Sen (2016) note that in the Southern states, many families have a history of slave ownership before the abolition, which impacts their treatment of people of color in workplaces and other social settings. According to the research, “Whites who currently live in Southern counties that had high shares of slaves in 1860 are more likely to identify as a Republican, oppose affirmative action policies, and express racial resentment and colder feelings toward blacks” (Acharya et al., 2016, p. 621). Consequently, people not belonging to Whites face certain struggles when working together with these people and can be subjected to discrimination and harassment. The persistent negative attitudes to non-Whites contributed to the historical development of diversity management because it could help to design organizational policies and practices to prevent such issues and mediate their impacts in the workplace.

Additionally, social inequalities continue to affect people of color on a more general level in the United States. According to research by Horowitz (2019), some people in the United States agree that the impact of slavery still lingers in American society, putting people of color at a disadvantage when it comes to employment, education, and socioeconomic opportunities. This necessitates institutional and organizational policies that are inclusive and thus supports the contemporary interest in diversity management.

Long-Term Impacts of Gender Inequality on Diversity in the United States

Similar to racial discrimination, gender inequality is a pivotal issue that affects the lives and work of diverse employees in modern workplaces. Despite major legislative changes that have improved the position of women in American society and offered them more freedom, women continue to face discrimination and inequality in work contexts.

Gender discrimination in the workplace is still a prominent issue in the United States. Gender stereotypes impact the decision-making of people engaged in recruitment and other areas of human resource management (Stamarski & Hing, 2015). For example, women often find it harder to get promoted or to be accepted into a leadership role (Stamarski & Hing, 2015). Women who find employment are still at a disadvantage compared to men because their salaries are typically lower, and their superiors put less trust in them, leading to limited growth and development opportunities (Stamarski & Hing, 2015; Tzannatos, 2016). These inequalities are not only bad for female workers; they also trigger undesirable organizational outcomes, including poor reputation among consumers and prospective employees, high turnover rates, and low motivation (Trevino, 2018). Addressing gender disparities in the workplace is essential in this context to improve the workplace environment and reduce HRM problems. Gender disparities are significant even across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. For example, gender gaps in the labor market in Japan are 25 percentage points, compared with just over 10 percentage points on average in the largest advanced economies and only 6 percentage points in Sweden (Kedzierski, 2017). In OECD countries, women’s employment is concentrated in the service sector, which accounts for 80 percent of working women, compared with 60 percent for men. In this sector, women account for a disproportionate share of jobs in health care and in local community organizations, followed by education (Kedzierski, 2017). Women are disproportionately represented in sectors characterized by low status and low wages.

The relevance of these factors to the development of diversity management in the United States is evident. Once increasingly more workplaces began hiring women, organizational gender inequalities became an essential issue requiring intervention. By studying gender in workplaces, developing, and testing strategies for addressing the key problems associated with it, diversity management equipped companies with tools and strategies required to fulfill female employees’ needs and promote equality in various aspects of HRM.

Legal Changes

In order to present the ground of this research, it should be noted that racial and gender inequality hindered workplace diversity by causing social division. These issues also impacted the willingness of white men, who constituted much of the American labor market, from collaborating and working together with women and people of color. Legal changes that occurred in the 20th century sought to address racial and gender inequality, which is why they had a positive effect on workplace diversity.

The Civil Rights Movement played a significant role in the process of ending racial segregation and was the main steppingstone to racial equality. According to Zinn (2015), the focus of the Civil Rights Movement was on establishing social justice for black people by allowing them to vote in elections, ending segregation in workplaces, education, and communities, and creating laws against discrimination based on race. Segregation in the military and the federal government became illegal almost two decades earlier when President Truman issued an executive order to end discriminatory practices in both structures back in 1948 (Zinn, 2015). In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed, which made segregation in public places and discrimination in employment illegal. In the following year, the United States Government issued the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which granted voting rights to African Americans throughout the country (Zinn, 2015). These events enabled African Americans to gain more opportunities in the labor market and allowed them to work alongside white people, thus promoting workforce diversity.

In a similar manner, the women’s rights movement, Rosie the Riveter example, along with two World Wars that affected the availability of the male workforce, contributed to women’ achievement of stable positions in European and American workplaces. In particular, the image, which went down in history as Rosie the Riveter, was intended to raise the spirit of the workers who worked for the needs of the front, and later became a symbol of the feminist movement (MacLean, 2008). By the beginning of the 20th century, women already had the right to own property in their name and to work in certain occupations for limited hours (Milkman, 2016). In 1920, women also received voting rights throughout the United States as part of the 19^th Amendment. At this time, many women worked in manufacturing and other industries performing tasks that did not require extensive training or education. However, as Milkman (2016) notes, most employers hired women to save on labor costs because they could complete the same job at a fraction of the price. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963 addressed this issue, whereas the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited employment discrimination based on sex. All these laws provided for the integration of women into the workforce and allowed them to work in the same positions as men.

Incidentally, the legislative changes that occurred in the United States throughout the 20th century, as well as at the beginning of the 21st century, increased workplace diversity beyond race and sex. For instance, by preventing employment discrimination based on religion and national origin, the United States enabled immigrant workers to take their place in their labor market (Zinn, 2015). As a result, today’s workplaces are more diverse than ever before. This, in turn, created the need for diversity management, as more employees from various cultures were hired, employers had to establish fair working conditions and ensure a positive environment for every employee (Ayega & Muathe, 2010).

Importance of Anti-Discrimination Laws and Policies to Diversity Management

Due to Globalization, diversity among employees at firms increased and with the internet, firms could hire the best employees globally. As evident from previous sections, anti-discrimination laws in the United States and other parts of the globe made a crucial impact on the development of the topic since they supported increased diversity in workplaces, which, in turn, necessitated diversity management. Scholars suggest that policies such as affirmative action and equal employment opportunities were critical to the emergence of diversity management since they necessitated organizational changes to accommodate new workforce composition (Kelly & Dobbin, 2001; Teicher & Spearitt, 1996). If the laws regarding gender, race, and other types of discrimination remained the same as they were in the early 20th century, diversity management would not have evolved as a theoretical and practical discipline.

Nevertheless, research also shows that the relationship between affirmative action, equal employment opportunities, and diversity management is more complex, thus extending knowledge on the legal foundations of diversity management in the United States. According to Kelly and Dobbin (2001), anti-discrimination policies in the country were characterized by strict reinforcement coupled with significant ambiguity regarding compliance criteria. This incited anxiety among employers who failed to understand what minimum actions were required to avoid legal punishments (Kelly & Dobbin, 2001; McCormick, 2007). Without a specific framework for implementing and evaluating affirmative action and equal employment opportunities programs, businesses required strategies that would go beyond the minimum to ensure that the organization’s practices with respect to diversity were comprehensive and effective. At the same time, the situation necessitated addressing tensions in the workplace that could arise from changes in team demographics (Kelly & Dobbin, 2001; Teicher & Spearitt, 1996). Diversity management was developed as a way of ensuring compliance despite ambiguity; it was believed that applying comprehensive diversity management strategies would make the organization safe against legal penalties and related problems (Kelly & Dobbin, 2001). For this reason, many employers developed diversity management programs while also maintaining affirmative action or equal employment opportunities.

The Emergence of Diversity Management

At first, diversity management focused on preventing or addressing workplace conflict and ensuring equal working conditions for all employees. Little attention was paid to the benefits of diversity management and its theoretical foundations. According to an article by Ayega and Muathe (2018), “diversity began receiving attention in the scientific literature in the 1990s” when the need for effective diversity management became evident (p. 10). At this time, leaders and managers recognized diversity as an inevitable factor that could affect the company positively or negatively, depending on their approach. This enabled researchers to examine the concept of diversity management in greater depth to produce useful strategies and explore the effects of diversity on various companies.

Summary

Diversity management is a new concept that emerged as a result of socio-cultural changes in America and Europe. When managers experienced an influx of people from diverse backgrounds into the workplace, they needed methods to change working conditions and prevent tensions. Hence, the first efforts to develop a well-organized approach to workplace diversity began in the 1990s. As the next section will show, the research focused on promoting cooperation and reducing the incidence of conflicts, but also studied the benefits and challenges of diversity both for individuals and for companies.

Contemporary Perspectives

Contemporary perspectives on diversity management were borne out of extensive research on the topic, which was facilitated by the understanding of the necessity of diversity management. As a result, contemporary perspectives acknowledge the forces that drive diversity management and explain the benefits that it can provide to a range of organizations. Nevertheless, some research studies suggest that diversity may result in organizational issues, thus presenting challenges for management.

Drivers of Diversity Management

Changes in workforce composition. The primary driver that facilitated the development of diversity management was the changes in workforce composition that followed social and legal developments that took place in the 20th century. According to the report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States experienced major changes in workforce composition between the 1950s and the 2000s (Tossi, 2002). Over the 50-year period, the share of women in the workforce increased substantially, from 29.6% in 1950 to 46.6% in 2000 (Tossi, 2002). In the same timeframe, the share of non-Whites increased dramatically due to improved access to work opportunities (Tossi, 2002). These changes necessitated the development of diversity management policies and practices so as to accommodate new workers without losing performance or productivity.

Trends in workforce composition are also likely to facilitate the future evolution of diversity management and its adoption by companies. Researchers claim that the workforce of 2050 is likely to be even more diverse in terms of ethnicity and race, with the gender gap in employment also closing further (Brown, 2017). The age structure of the workforce is also likely to change in the next few decades. Given contemporary advancements in health and medicine, people benefit from increased longevity and can stay in the workforce for longer. Hence, workplaces of the future are likely to have more older workers (Buckley & Bachman, 2020; Tossi, 2002). Since generational differences are important to communication between employees, age diversity is also on the agenda of diversity management efforts of various companies. Therefore, the need for diversity management will only grow stronger in the upcoming decades, and companies should apply relevant practices and policies to learn how to manage diversity effectively in anticipation of future challenges.

While workforce composition is recognized as the primary driver behind diversity management, it is influenced by other forces, including globalization, technology, corporate social responsibility. These drivers will be discussed in further paragraphs.

Globalization. Globalization is among the fundamental forces that affect contemporary workplaces because it has created more opportunities for international collaboration. Globalization is currently evident in all areas of the industry, from international trade to the geographic diversification of companies (Rowntree, Lewis, Price, & Wyckoff, 2017). Indeed, most large companies today have partners or branches in other countries, which creates the need for increased workforce diversity and its successful management.

Companies that operate in the globalized environment need to hire workers who are different in terms of cultural norms, religion, race, and other features. These differences become particularly apparent in the context of multinational workforces, where employees from different backgrounds need to collaborate on various tasks and projects (Martin, 2014). Since managers are required to create a healthy workplace environment and improve productivity regardless of workforce composition, they need a powerful approach to motivate workers of mixed backgrounds. As noted by scholars, diversity management can be helpful here, thus making it easier for companies to operate in the globalized world (Martin, 2014). Therefore, globalization has prompted more research into the topic of diversity management and facilitated the application of theoretical knowledge to management practice.

Technology and virtual workplaces. In a similar manner, the development of technology has contributed to the need for diversity management. In the 20th century, most companies hired workers who lived nearby, and thus workplaces were relatively homogenous in terms of demographic and cultural variables. However, the invention of the Internet created opportunities for people from various cities and countries to work as part of virtual teams (Gilson, Maynard, Jones Young, Variainen, & Hakonen, 2015). According to the study by Gilson et al. (2015), 66% of multinational organizations include virtual teams, and this number is expected to grow further in the future. Because virtual teams impose no restrictions regarding the geographic location of employees, their race, national origin, and culture, they are usually very diverse.

Organizing the work of such teams and achieving performance goals can be challenging due to cultural barriers and the overall heterogeneity of values, attitudes, and work ethics. Gilson et al. (2015) noted that trust and team identification could be lower in diverse virtual teams than in homogenous ones, which can affect work outcomes. Bataresh, Usher, and Daspit (2017) also examined this notion, confirming that virtual teams can only benefit from diversity in the presence of an appropriate management strategy. These factors contributed to the interest in diversity management in research and practice because it is believed to provide managers with methods to overcome cultural barriers in virtual teams.

Corporate social responsibility. Another essential factor that creates the necessity for diversity management is corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR can be broadly defined as the actions of the company that result in positive developments and are not motivated by financial benefits (Gupta, Briscoe, & Hambrick, 2017). In the contemporary world, there is a significant number of companies that engage in CSR efforts in various ways. For example, some companies can donate to charitable organizations to achieve positive change in the local community. Others participate in disaster relief efforts after earthquakes, hurricanes, and other damaging events. Some companies practice CSR by fostering fair employment conditions and providing career opportunities to underprivileged groups and individuals.

In each of these cases, CSR has a substantial influence on how a company is perceived by the public. For instance, McWilliams (2015) notes that consumers – particularly those in developed nations – prefer to purchase products and services from organizations with a strong CSR profile rather than those who do not show concern for social welfare. This means that CSR can increase the company’s financial performance by attracting more buyers, although it is not the intended goal of CSR efforts.

The relationship between CSR and diversity is complicated and can be roughly identified as two separate processes. On the one hand, companies need to achieve a high degree of internal diversity in order to be perceived as socially responsible. For example, gender and racial diversity among employees influence the company’s CSR profile by showing the public that the company supports anti-discrimination policies and seeks to create an inclusive environment for employees (Gupta et al., 2017). This is because certain groups are perceived to be at a disadvantage in employment, and thus by hiring more people from these groups, the company reduces socioeconomic division in society. Diversity also improves the company’s perceived CSR profile by showing a commitment to its stated goals and policies. According to Mun and Jung (2018), the public can be critical of organizations that support diversity in words only and often require actions and results to prove commitment. Hence, while most companies have anti-discriminatory regulations in place, it is employee diversity that makes the company trustworthy and socially responsible in the eyes of its consumers.

On the other hand, internal diversity can help to plan and implement CSR efforts. This is particularly true for the diversity of top management teams, which are often engaged in CSR strategy planning. Studies in this area show that increased board diversity is associated with healthier CSR practices and enhances decision-making with regards to CSR. For instance, Harjoto, Laksmana, and Lee (2015) found that the degree of variability of races, religions, cultures, and genders among board members was a predictor of CSR strategy comprehensiveness and effectiveness. Similarly, Rao and Tilt (2016) shows that diverse top management teams are more capable of improving a company’s CSR profile and maintaining its positive reputation.

Based on both aspects of the relationship between diversity and corporate social responsibility, it is evident that companies that want to have an excellent reputation and image need to achieve improved employee diversity. Moreover, it is essential for organizations to ensure diversity at all levels of the company’s hierarchy to promote the effectiveness of their CSR efforts. In this context, diversity management is essential for socially responsible companies to respond to changes in workforce composition. Adequate diversity management also means that the needs of employees from all cultural backgrounds will be met, which is also helpful for enhancing organizational image and reputation (McWilliams, 2015). Hence, diversity management is crucial for companies of all sizes and forms, regardless of whether they are multinational and use virtual teams because it improves business image and contributes to financial performance.

Diversity and corporate governance. Another important relationship that stimulates diversity in modern companies is that between diversity and corporate governance. Effective corporate governance is essential to companies as it helps to improve operations and increase profits while also contributing to the businesses’ strategic development (Carter; Simkins, & Simpson, 2003; Francoeur et al., 2007). Various scholars have shown board diversity in terms of gender and race to have a positive influence on corporate governance and financial outcomes achieved by companies. For instance, Carter et al. (2003) examined gender and race diversity within the boards of Fortune 1000 companies and its influence on corporate governance and firm value. The results show that firm value has a positive correlation with board diversity, meaning that hiring and retaining more women and ethnic minorities in high positions can improve business outcomes (Carter et al., 2003). Similar results were achieved in the study by Francoeur et al. (2007), who studied gender diversity in particular. The researchers concluded that the high percentage of female directors contributed to companies’ stock market outcomes, thus showing more effective corporate governance (Francoeur et al., 2007).

More recent studies have also confirmed these results. For example, research by Kim and Starks (2016) focused on gender diversity of company boards, showing that it improved corporate governance and resulted in increased firm value. The researchers conclude that “(i) women who are appointed as corporate directors diversify the set of boards’ expertise more than do their male counterparts, and (ii) women bring unique skills to corporate boards” (Kim & Starks, 2016, p. 270). In the United Kingdom, a study by Alabede (2016) considered board diversity and its impact on corporate governance in public listed firms. The study found board diversity to have a positive influence on firms’ operating performance, resulting in greater profitability and financial performance (Alabede, 2016). In addition, the study showed that board diversity can improve the effectiveness of corporate governance by strengthening the positive impact of outside directors on performance (Alabede, 2016).

The positive contribution of diversity to corporate governance, as evidenced by various studies, is one of the factors that prompt further development of diversity in modern workplaces. For businesses operating in competitive environments, maintaining effective corporate governance and high firm value is essential to success. Hence, scholarly evidence proving the positive influence of board diversity on these factors stimulates diversity in businesses, further contributing to changes in workforce composition and increasing the need for diversity management.

Benefits

Human resources management. Many recent research studies on diversity management in corporate settings focused on the positive and negative aspects of workplace diversity. For example, diversity was linked to improved outcomes in a variety of human resources management outcomes. Foma (2014) notes that employees working in a diverse environment tend to have a higher level of job satisfaction, motivation, and engagement than those working in homogenous teams. Ayega and Muathe (2018) confirm that diversity is both an intrinsic and an extrinsic motivational factor since it boosts the staff’s attitude and their experiences in the workplace. Another critical benefit of diversity in the area of HRM is that it reduces turnover by lowering employees’ intentions to leave the company (Bačík & Turáková, 2018). This is particularly evident in sectors where collaboration between employees is essential since diversity management plays a critical role in fostering unity and reducing conflict (Freeman & Huang, 2014). Thus, research shows that the influence of diversity on human resources is mostly positive if an effective diversity management strategy is in place.

Organizational culture. Diversity also plays a critical role in fostering a healthy corporate culture where employees are supportive and appreciative of one another. As explained by Foma (2014), this is mainly because diverse organizations have lower rates of competitive rivalry among workers and can create an inclusive culture that benefits teamwork. Diversity was also linked to enhanced trust and openness in communication, which are the building blocks of organizational culture (Hofhuis, van der Rijt, & Vlug, 2016). In the contemporary context, a company’s corporate culture is of utmost importance because it affects how a company is perceived by partners and customers. By assisting companies in improving organizational culture, diversity management can become a competitive advantage because it would help to develop and maintain the company’s reputation and image.

Creativity and innovation. Another benefit of workplace diversity is its positive impact on talent development and knowledge exchange in a company. Research suggests that recruiting diverse employees increases the number of talents in an organization, which leads to an improved generation of ideas and helps to enhance problem-solving (Holtzman & Anderberg, 2011). A study by Harjo, Gibson, and Pudelko (2017) also found that multicultural teams were more efficient than homogenous groups in terms of exchanging knowledge, which contributed to their efficiency.

These beneficial influences of diversity play a critical role in organizations that rely on innovations for success. Bačík and Turáková (2018) show that “employees from diverse backgrounds imbue organizations with creative new ideas and perspectives informed by their cultural experiences” (p. 4). As a result, diverse teams can develop new innovative products and solutions that will place the company in an advantageous position in the market. This aspect of diversity is particularly beneficial for marketing companies in the age of globalization, as they can use diverse talents to create marketing campaigns that appeal to a variety of audiences.

Team and individual productivity. Productivity is a crucial concern for companies because it relates directly to their financial outcomes. Hence, it is important to understand the influence of diversity on productivity. Over time, various scholars have suggested that diversity can contribute to productivity. For example, a study by Hamilton, Nickerson, and Owan (2004) suggested that diverse teams are more productive, thus contradicting popular beliefs that diversity impairs decision-making and communication within teams, leading to negative outcomes. Other studies have also produced similar results, noting that diversity can promote productivity by leveraging teams’ problem-solving capacity and agility, which are important to team performance (Bačík & Turáková, 2018; Hofhuis et al., 2016).

From the theoretical perspective, these results are justified by the influence that diversity can have on team dynamics and shared decision-making. According to Reagans and Zuckerman (2001), diverse teams benefit from high network heterogeniety, and cross-cultural communication in these teams promotes learning and skill development of individual members. These, in turn, have a positive influence on team productivity and contribute to organisational outcomes. Similarly, the article by Okoro and Washington (2012) highlights the beneficial impact that diversity can have on teams. Researchers note that, if there are no communication barriers to halt teamwork (e.g. linguistic differences), diverse teams can benefit from better idea generation and innovation, which improve the results of their work. Furthermore, diversity management creates a positive organizational climate, which proved to enhance individual motivation and, consequently, productivity (Saxena, 2014). As a result, employees who work in diverse organizations can perform better in both individual and group projects. In this way, the relationship between diversity and productivity might also prompt companies to increase the hiring of women and minorities in order to create a more productive workforce and improve financial performance outcomes.

Financial performance. The reason as to why diversity and diversity management are of pivotal importance to many companies is that they are linked to improved economic indicators. McMahon (2010) examines this connection in detail by considering gender, age, and racial diversity separately. The results of the evidence synthesis show that high racial diversity is linked with improved financial performance in the long term and that this relationship was particularly strong in manufacturing and service industries (McMahon, 2010). Similarly, gender diversity resulted in improved financial performance and was also connected to improved customer satisfaction (McMahon, 2010). However, other studies note that the positive influence of diversity on business performance can only be achieved if a firm has an effective diversity management strategy (Senichev, 2013). This is mainly because of diversity management on collaboration, productivity, creativity, and other variables that are vital for achieving success in the modern business environment.

Other studies also point out the benefits of workforce diversity for financial performance. For example, a recent study by Lee and Kim (2020) focused on the relationship between workforce diversity, human resource management practices, and financial performance of manufacturing companies. The researchers found workforce diversity to be positively correlated with financial performance provided that effective human resource practices, including structural empowerment and multisource feedback, were also applied within the organization (Lee & Kim, 2020). An earlier study by Von Bergen, Soper and Parnell (2005) is interesting since it compared minority-friendly organizations with other market players in terms of their financial performance. This research is highly relevant to the topic since minority-friendly organizations typically have excellent strategies for diversity management in place, allowing them to prevent potential issues stemming from high workforce heterogeneity and individual differences between employees. The results showed that minority-friendly companies were significantly ahead of their competitors in terms of their market performance and were able to achieve higher levels of profitability with similar products and operations (Von Bergen et al., 2005). Hence, the study showed the benefits that organizations can yield from enhancing diversity and managing it appropriately.

The benefits of diversity and diversity management for corporate financial performance were also explained in research from a theoretical viewpoint. For instance, Richard (2000) offered a resource-based view of the topic, showing how a racially diverse workforce contributes strategically to organizational value. According to the scholar, diverse employees bring varied skills, experience, and ideas to the company, and these can be utilized to generate sustainable competitive advantage (Richard, 2000). In this way, diversity can be viewed as a resource for companies that increases their profitability, value, and overall performance. Lorenzo and Reeves (2018) offer a similar perspective by showing how diversity, when managed adequately, contributes to organizational capabilities associated with better financial outcomes. Diversity proved to have a significant positive relationship with innovation, which is considered to be crucial to financial success in the contemporary business environment (Lorenzo & Reeves, 2018). The researchers concluded that “companies with above-average total diversity, measured as the average of six dimensions of diversity (migration, industry, career path, gender, education, age), had both 19% points higher innovation revenues and 9% points higher EBIT margins, on average” (para. 4). These differences are significant and thus show how investing efforts in improving diversity and its management can make companies more profitable and competitive.

Legal compliance. Diversity management is also essential to establishing legal compliance within organizations and avoiding negative consequences that could harm the company. In fact, as noted by Kelly and Dobbin (2001), the roots of diversity management can be traced back to the first affirmative action and equal employment opportunities laws. These regulations continue to be relevant in most countries today. In the United States, the United Kingdom, and many other contests, discrimination in employment is strictly prohibited and policies of equal opportunities are still implemented (Gwele, 2009; Pyburn, Ployhart, & Kravitz, 2008). In order to support the implementation of these regulations, companies choose to hire more diverse employees, thus making their organization minority-friendly. This assists employers in avoiding legal action while also maintaining a reputation for inclusivity and legal compliance (Gwele, 2009; Pyburn, Ployhart, & Kravitz, 2008). Consequently, more diverse workforces necessitate better practices in terms of diversity management.

Studies have shown that, over the past years, there has been a trend among businesses to go beyond compliance and use diversity-promoting regulations as an opportunity to develop various organizational capabilities. Allen, Dawson, Wheatley, and White (2004) note that simply hiring more diverse employees does not always help organizations to achieve legal compliance. If diversity is not managed adequately, employees from minority backgrounds can face various challenges, leading to low retention rates or legal charges against the company. In this context, legal compliance necessitates not only the increased diversity of the workforce but also a better environment for socially and culturally diverse employees (Allen et al., 2004; Hudson, 2014; Rosenzweig, 1998). Thus, diversity management can also support organizations in their goals to achieve full legal compliance and increase workforce diversity in a way that contributes to the business and its operations.

Challenges

Impaired communication. Effective workplace communication is essential in all business contexts since it has a direct influence on team performance and project success. If employees fail to communicate with one another, they might struggle to fulfill their tasks or organize the work in a suitable way, leading to various operational issues (Okoro & Washington, 2012). Despite the generally positive effects of diversity on many organizational variables, research shows evidence of some problems associated with diversity. On the one hand, some scholars have raised concerns that inadequate diversity management can impair communication between individual workers and teams. For example, Kamales and Knorr (2019) note that diverse individuals can experience communication barriers stemming from differences in their cultures, social customs, and related factors. This necessitates actions from leaders who should aim to address communication barriers and promote understanding and communication between all members of the workforce (Kamales & Knorr, 2019).

Okoro and Washington (2012) have also noted that inadequate diversity management can create challenges for supervisor-subordinate relationships, as people from different cultural or ethnic backgrounds could struggle in establishing an appropriate power dynamic and feedback options in this relationship. Linguistic diversity is another popular concern because immigration has caused an increase in the number of linguistic minorities in modern workplaces (Dale-Olsen & Finseraas, 2019). When employees communicate in their second languages, they are more prone to miscommunication (Dale-Olsen & Finseraas, 2019). Furthermore, some employees are concerned with their language abilities, which prevents them from voicing their ideas openly and developing the required level of communication with the rest of the team (Dale-Olsen & Finseraas, 2019). Without adequate diversity management, these challenges could have a serious impact on team performance and productivity by impairing decision-making, decreasing workflow organization, and causing similar operational problems. Therefore, it is critical for companies to ensure the presence of diversity management practices and policies to avoid barriers in communication.

On the other hand, research shows that the lack of diversity management can impair relationships between workers in the organization, which also has an adverse impact on communication. For instance, Begeç (2015) indicates that diversity can lead to tensions in the workplace since individuals tend to prefer working in homogenous groups. These tensions are more likely to arise between individuals who come from cultures with significantly different worldviews. Cletus, Mahmood, Umar, and Ibrahim (2018) argue that workplaces employing persons with radical views are more likely to face conflicts and tensions in the workplace. These difficulties are likely to have a negative effect on communication, thus diminishing the benefits of diversity.

Misconduct and corporate culture. Discrimination, bias, or other examples of negative attitudes towards people from minority backgrounds can impair corporate culture, leading to losses in collaboration and productivity. Green et al. (2015) note that failure to recognize and respect cultural differences can result in misconduct, which has an adverse impact on corporate climate and could make it more difficult for managers to achieve good HRM outcomes. According to Henry and Evans (2007), discrimination and misconduct in diverse workplaces cause employees from minority backgrounds to feel isolated, increasing their intentions to leave and absenteeism.

Productivity. Ineffective diversity management can also lead to decreased effectiveness of communication and job dissatisfaction, affecting firm performance and employee productivity. For example, in cases of repeated misconduct, organizations are forced to fire employees who cause the problem, which might lead to losses in productivity due to increased turnover or inadequate staffing (Hudson, 2014). Even if there is no apparent misconduct, tensions in the workplace might hurt individual and team productivity, resulting in performance losses (Martin, 2014). As a result, it is essential for managers to focus on preventing interpersonal conflicts and addressing poor attitudes to diversity (Bah, 2015). This, in turn, could take up a significant share of their time and effort, causing losses in productivity and performance due to other organizational problems.

Legal issues. Legal issues are among the critical challenges in diversity management because failure to comply with anti-discrimination policies can result in legal action against the administration or the company. Legal compliance with various diversity regulations appears to be a rather straightforward subject at first glance. However, achieving compliance can create additional challenges for companies. These challenges vary depending on the race, sex, religion, and other characteristics of diverse employees.

For instance, in the case with gender, recruiting more women and maintaining equal pay and opportunities policies may increase financial expenditures. For example, as noted by Thompson (2016), many countries have regulations that prohibit companies from denying employment to women who are pregnant or planning to start a family soon. This means that companies are required to hire employees who will need to take paid maternity leave soon. As children grow older, working women might also be able to take days off when their child is ill. This contributes to workforce expenses due to the need to hire additional employees, pay for overtime work, and cover medical expenses or sick leaves.

Age diversity has similar repercussions for companies because older adults generally have worse health than younger employees. This leads to additional expenses required to cover medical insurance or sick days. Imposing limitations with regards to medical expenditures or sick leaves could be discriminatory and could lead to lawsuits (Thompson, 2016). This means that companies often need to devote extra funding to ensure that employees of all ages and genders can have their needs met by the company’s policies.

Legal compliance is also challenging for companies that operate in developing economies where anti-discriminatory laws or affirmative action regulations had passed only recently. This is because of a sudden need to hire employees from specific backgrounds and to establish equal pay policies throughout the company (Thompson, 2016). Based on the information above, it is essential for managers to understand the importance of legal compliance with diversity-related regulations and find strategies to compensate for the increased labor costs resulting from compliance.

Factors Influencing Diversity Management

Another relevant field of research on the topic is concerned with creating a positive environment for diversity management. This includes addressing the factors that can improve or undermine the effectiveness of diversity management strategies applied in a case. The first variable that proved to be necessary for overcoming the challenges and yielding the benefits of diversity is the presence of corporate policies that aim at promoting inclusivity (Shin & Park, 2013). These policies could also set diversity and inclusivity as some of the primary values of the organization, which would contribute to a culture of diversity (Shin & Park, 2013). Understanding that the management is committed to promoting inclusivity would help to prevent discrimination, misconduct, and resistance to diversity.

Secondly, studies suggest that there are aspects of leadership linked to diversity management. For example, leaders with high cultural empathy, communication skills, and emotional stabilities were found to be better at diversity management than those who lacked these competencies (Visagie, Linde, & Havenga, 2011). Moreover, leaders’ approach to communication in the workplace was also critical, with transparent, friendly, two-way communication having a positive influence on diversity management (Visagie et al., 2011). These results imply that leadership is a significant predictor of success in diversity management and form the foundation for some diversity management theories and frameworks identified further in the paper.

Lastly, studies point to the importance of certain aspects of organizational culture to diversity management. Companies that excel in diversity management and can benefit from having a diverse workforce are usually adaptable and have a strong focus on corporate social responsibility (Syed & Kramar, 2009; Visagie et al., 2011). High flexibility and adaptability allow the workforce to accustom to changes in the cultural make-up of the organization quickly, thus welcoming employees from minority backgrounds. Similarly, the corporate social responsibility of a company determines its values and stance on prominent social issues (Syed & Kramar, 2009). Organizations that have a strong corporate social responsibility profile consist of employees sharing their values, which limits the possibility of workers discriminating against others or engaging in misconduct.

Summary

As shown in this section, the need for diversity management is justified by several important factors, including globalization, technological developments, and corporate social responsibility. Thus, scholars acknowledge that all modern companies need to use diversity management to operate successfully in the current business environment. However, the impact of diversity on an approach can be both positive and negative. In the former case, diversity leads to improved teamwork and collaboration while also promoting creativity and innovation. In the latter case, diversity could create a threat of discrimination, bias, and misconduct, leading to the deterioration of corporate culture and environment. Whether or not a company benefits from diversity depends on a variety of variables, including corporate culture and leadership styles. Therefore, before implementing the chosen diversity management strategy, leaders should evaluate the organizational climate for barriers.

Historical Development of the Theory

One of the most famous works on diversity management is the theory proposed by Nancy J. Adler in her work International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior. The book was first published in 1986, with future editions offering further insight into the theory. Adler proposed that there are five vital strategic options that managers can use to manage cultural diversity in the workplace: cultural dominance, cultural synergy, cultural compromise, cultural avoidance, and cultural accommodation (Adler & Gundersen, 2007). Each of these approaches can be successfully applied in the globalized environment and in local companies that employ diverse workers.

The first option, which is cultural dominance, relies on the premise that the manager’s culture should be the prevalent one, and employees from other cultures need to adjust to it. Adler and Gundersen (2007) note that this approach is often used by large multinational corporations when they expand abroad and use a unified management strategy in all branches, regardless of the location. This option has some clear benefits because it allows a manager to use strategies that they are familiar with and proved to be effective. However, it might not be applicable in contexts where there are significant differences between the home culture and the target culture. For instance, British managers working in the Middle East would need to make some alterations to their regular strategy to respond to employees’ needs.

Incidentally, cultural accommodation is the best approach to be used in such cases, because it tailors the management strategy to the target culture (Adler & Gundersen, 2007). Here, managers blend into the target culture by learning more about it, understanding the differences, and changing their approaches to communication, motivation, and management. In most cases, this strategy also involves learning the language used in the target culture (Adler & Gundersen, 2007). This approach brings the manager closer to their employees but can only be used in culturally homogenous workplaces. Cultural compromise, on the other hand, involves studying cultural differences and offering solutions that benefit collaboration (Adler & Gundersen, 2007). Here, all sides would usually concede something to work together more effectively (Adler & Gundersen, 2007). This approach is particularly beneficial for negotiating certain aspects of work to make employees from diverse cultures more comfortable without losses for the business. For example, if an employee has a religious holiday and asks for a day off, the manager could agree and propose ways of how this employee could make up for their absence.

The final two approaches, cultural avoidance, and cultural synergy are almost the opposite. Cultural avoidance means the refusal to pay attention to cultural differences and acting as if they were inexistent (Adler & Gundersen, 2007). Here, both the manager and their employees reject their cultures while working together in order to avoid conflicts or disputes. The authors note that this approach is particularly prevalent among Asian managers, who prefer to focus on the work instead of paying attention to cultural differences (Adler & Gundersen, 2007). While this strategy can be useful in promoting collaboration and productivity due to its influence on workplace conflict, not all people would be comfortable with it, and this could lead to turnover or job dissatisfaction in the long term. Cultural synergy, on the contrary, involves accepting both cultures and finding solutions in the common ground “while expecting each culture’s uniqueness” (The authors note that this approach is particularly prevalent among Asian managers, who prefer to focus on the work instead of paying attention to cultural differences (Adler & Gundersen, 2007, p. 120). In other words, people from all cultures find a solution that is familiar and comfortable for them and does not impose on their culture at all. For instance, if some employees speak Italian, and the rest speak French, but all employees are fluent in English, English can be a common ground solution for internal team communication. This approach may be challenging to apply in practice, but it is probably the most effective because it unites the workforce and teams without imposing on individual employees’ cultures.

Dynamic Team Diversity Theory

As the topic of diversity in the workplace evolved, new theories emerged to support managers in leading diverse organizations. Diversity management theories are primarily focused on creating a positive working environment for diverse teams, where each team member can contribute their ideas and thoughts. For example, the dynamic team diversity theory by Li, Meyer, Shmla, and Wegge (2018) views diverse teams as systems that largely depend on internal changes, such as member addiction or subtraction. The theory states that managers should seek to promote stability in diverse teams and ensure that any changes are smooth and gradual to reduce their negative influence on team members. It is also crucial to identify individual members or groups who have an adverse impact on working processes and to target them in human resources initiatives, such as training or motivation improvement efforts.

Framework for Diversity Management

Other researchers also attempted to put forward theories and frameworks to assist in diversity management. An example of such an approach is the Pragmatic and Holistic Diversity Management Framework offered by Rijamampianina and Carmichael (2005). According to this framework, diversity and its effect on an organization depend primarily on the overall management system. The authors propose managers to use a four-process model consisting of motivation, interaction, visioning, and learning (Rijamampianina & Carmichael, 2005). During the first process, leaders should share positive and negative business outcomes with employees, thus promoting transparency and creating an open culture. During the interaction process, managers should seek to develop shared mental models in employees, regardless of their background. This goal can be achieved by improving the internal communication of messages and establishing principles for avoiding or mediating conflicts successfully (Rijamampianina & Carmichael, 2005).

The third process is defining and sharing a vision with employees to inspire them to work together towards a shared goal. This step draws on the principles of the transformational leadership theory, which seeks to maximize effectiveness by uniting employees’ efforts. This step is useful for enhancing motivation and providing a sense of accomplishment (Rijamampianina & Carmichael, 2005). It also supports inclusivity by preventing the isolation of employees from the process. Lastly, management should promote organization-wide learning by sharing and expanding knowledge and competence. Rijamampianina and Carmichael (2005) note that it is critical for employers to provide equal learning opportunities for their employees, as it will foster trust and reduce disparities. The application of this model could be useful to managers working with diverse teams or looking to improve diversity in their workplace.

Summary

It should be noted that there is a great variety of diversity management strategies and approaches. Adler’s work offers some preliminary ideas on the manager’s options with regards to diversity management, but there are also other, more specific and recent strategies. The first strategy considers team dynamics and its influence on diversity, and this approach is particularly useful for middle management and team supervisors. The second strategy seeks to promote and apply diversity successfully in all aspects of organizational functioning by changing the whole management system. Depending on the circumstances, specialists in marketing can review all these options and choose the one that appears to be more suitable for their organization.

Importance of the Study and Implication for Practice

As evident from the literature review, there are still some gaps in the literature that will be addressed as part of this study. The first significant gap is that there is little information available on diversity management in marketing companies. Studies that were discussed in this literature review focus on companies in various sectors, but the marketing industry has not received the attention of researchers yet. The first chapter of the research explains that diversity is essential for marketing firms in the age of globalization, as it enables them to be more successful in delivering messages to diverse customers. The benefits of diversity for knowledge-sharing, creativity, and idea generation also make it a crucial factor in this business environment.

Another gap is that, while many scholars have analyzed the benefits and drawbacks of diversity and suggested theories of diversity management, not enough research has been done on employee attitudes to diversity. Since discrimination and other forms of negative attitudes towards diverse workers are still prevalent, it is critical to study their effect on diverse employees’ experiences. The present research will seek to address both gaps to enable managers of marketing companies to reap the benefits of diversity.

Contribution to the Literature

By helping to eliminate the gaps discussed above, the study will contribute to the current literature on diversity management in three ways. First, it will enhance the available scholarly knowledge about differences in diversity management in various types of companies by focusing on the marketing industry. The study will point out diversity-related problems that are specific to marketing firms or shared by organizations across multiple business sectors. Secondly, the study will add more depth to the current knowledge about attitudes toward diversity in the workplace, possibly identifying new areas for future research. Lastly, the study will complement the current information on the topic of diversity management by defining the needs of organizations in managing diversity.

Contribution to the Practice

Researching employees’ attitudes and experiences in marketing companies would make a useful contribution to practice by determining essential issues to be addressed by the management. On the one hand, it would explore the experiences of employees in marketing companies, thus suggesting whether the current approach to diversity management used in these companies is productive. On the other hand, the study will describe the attitudes of employees to diverse workers and then compare them to those workers’ experiences. As a result, the research will provide leaders with information on how attitudes to diversity affect the success of diversity management and identify areas for improvement. For example, if the study found that employees generally have poor attitudes toward diversity, and this affects the experiences of employees from vulnerable groups, the company would benefit from training in cultural diversity. However, if the general attitudes are positive, but diverse workers still experience negative feelings, the problem might be caused by other human resources variables, such as job dissatisfaction or poor organizational culture.

Directions for Future Research

Regardless of the results of the study, it would be beneficial for future research to consider the factors shaping employee attitudes to diversity. This knowledge would help to create theories, frameworks, and models that can be used by the management to improve the organizational climate for diversity. Studies should also seek to test these theories and models in organizations experiencing poor attitudes to diversity, thus adding more practical knowledge to the topic of diversity management (Pitts & Wise, 2010). Additionally, researchers should look beyond diversity management to create opportunities for addressing the issue from a holistic viewpoint. For instance, an article by Subharwal (2014) introduces the concept of organizational inclusion, which can be used in all organizations irrespective of their socio-cultural composition. Considering other forces and strategies influencing the experiences of diverse workers could help in developing a comprehensive plan for companies facing diversity-related problems.

Summary

To conclude, the literature review considers the basics of diversity management, from the historical development of this concept to future research direction. The chapter shows how the concept of workplace diversity has evolved over time under the influence of social, cultural, and legal changes. Workplaces of the past were largely homogenous, and thus there was no need for diversity management. However, as policies and laws changed, employers started hiring more women and minorities, leading to significant developments in workforce composition. Consequently, business managers and owners needed to accommodate new employees to avoid challenges that could impair productivity and performance while also ensuring full legal compliance with diversity policies. These developments gave rise to diversity management, which has numerous benefits for organizations in the contemporary environment.

The chapter also highlights that, despite significant progress in terms of equality and civil rights, some workplaces may still experience issues of underrepresentation, tensions, and discrimination due to ineffective approaches to diversity. Diversity management can help companies to overcome these problems and will result in improved workforce performance, job satisfaction, and collaboration when implemented correctly. The review also highlights two major theories that can assist leaders in improving diversity management. The present research project will have a positive influence on theory and practice by providing more details on the relation of diversity management to other variables, such as employee attitudes to diversity.

Research Design

The research design chosen for the study is mixed-method sequential explanatory research. This design is characterized by two primary factors: the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods and the two-phase data collection and analysis process. Firstly, all mixed-method research designs focus on compiling two types of data: quantitative and qualitative (Giri & Biswas, 2019). This is a relatively new approach to research that evolved over the past 20 years and focused on using whatever information possible to answer the identified research questions (Subedi, 2016).

Quantitative data includes measurable variables, whereas qualitative data usually focuses on abstract concepts. Hence, the mixed-method design allows researchers to yield the benefits of both data types. For example, quantitative data is valuable because of its simplicity and reliability. Instruments for quantitative data collection are usually tested for validity and reliability, meaning that the data obtained using them is comprehensive and credible (Adams, Khan, & Raeside, 2014). The simplicity of quantitative data also allows collecting a large volume of information either by increasing the scope of data collection instruments or by including more participants in the study (Adams et al., 2014). Thus, the results that come from the analysis of quantitative data can be generalized to a larger population.

Qualitative data, in contrast, is valued for its depth and for the opportunity to explore the concepts that cannot be measured. For instance, quantitative data is often used when there is a need to understand the participants’ viewpoints and attitudes and the reasons behind them (Giri & Biswas, 2019). Quantitative data collection instruments allow obtaining more information on a single phenomenon because they are less structured and do not focus on specific, objective measurement (Adams et al., 2014). Hence, using a mixed-method design enables researchers to explore the concepts and hypotheses using both in-depth and accurate information. This makes mixed-method studies more valuable for exploring and explaining certain situations, environments, and phenomena.

Secondly, the sequential explanatory design is a mixed methods research that focuses on explaining a trend in detail. Subedi (2016) notes that the explanatory sequential design “consists of first collecting quantitative data and then collecting qualitative data to help explain or elaborate on the quantitative results” (p. 572). This sequence of data collection procedures is crucial because it allows tailoring qualitative instruments in a way that is required to offer additional insight into quantitative results. Thus, the application of the sequential explanatory design fulfills two separate purposes. On the one hand, it allows painting the general idea of a problem through quantitative data (Subedi, 2016). On the other hand, it aids in explaining and expanding the overall picture by adding qualitative data, thus enabling researchers to draw meaningful conclusions (Subedi, 2016). This is different from the exploratory sequential design, where the sequence of data collection is the opposite, and thus the obtained results help in interpreting the relationships identified during qualitative data collection and analysis (Subedi, 2016).

Overall, the chosen methodology combines different methods of data collection and analysis to obtain meaningful results. The combination of quantitative and qualitative data helps to identify and describe common trends as well as provide valuable insight into their nature. The sequence of data collection and analysis procedures in the sequential explanatory design explains a phenomenon or situation using in-depth information, thus forming a comprehensive picture of the problem.

Appropriateness of Design

The purpose of the study is to contribute to the contemporary practice of diversity management in terms of globalization processes. The study aims to do so by identifying the needs and concerns of vulnerable groups, as well as the potential leadership strategies that could be applied to improve the situation. Given these goals, there are two reasons as to why the selected mixed-method explanatory sequential design is the most appropriate. First, the use of a mixed-method design will allow collecting both qualitative and quantitative data, thus identifying common trends while also exploring the participants’ experiences in detail. This approach relates to the purpose of the study and its goals because it allows determining prevalent diversity management issues in the chosen companies and exploring their effects on participants. Qualitative or quantitative research would not allow the same scope and depth (Giri & Biswas, 2019).

The second reason is that the sequential explanatory design meets the goals of the study by providing more insight into the current situation (Subedi, 2016). Instead of merely mapping a phenomenon, this design enables researchers to yield maximum benefits from both types of data used by identifying common patterns and explaining them from the participants’ viewpoints. This means that the chosen design is the most appropriate for the purpose and goals of the study, and it would maximize its contribution to diversity management practice.

Procedure

The study will begin by contacting ten marketing companies in Memphis, Tennessee, and offering them to participate in the study. The offers will contain an inquiry into the diversity statistics of the company, and those that do not match a set of criteria or refuse to do so will be rejected. At least two companies will be included in the survey, and employees of these companies will receive official invitations to participate in data collection. Along with invitations, the CEOs and potential respondents will also receive documentation that outlines the nature of the study, its goals, and its potential contribution to the body of literature, as well as informed consent forms. Obtaining signed informed consent forms in written from all the employees targeted for the study will allow starting the data collection process.

All data, including quantitative and qualitative, will be collected within one month. There are more than 30 marketing companies in Memphis, and the researcher will dismiss those with fewer than 200 workers and randomly select two or three from among the remainder. The firms for participation in the research will be chosen from the FMCG, energy, and commerce sectors of marketing. Firstly, they will contact HR at these businesses for permission to conduct the study there, selecting another company if refused. Then, surveys aimed to collect quantitative data will be sent to employees in the form of SurveyMonkey link. Once all surveys are completed, the results will be analyzed using statistical tools to determine the relationship between attitudes towards diverse workers and diverse workers’ experiences in marketing companies.

After quantitative data collection and analysis are completed, the researcher will schedule interviews with members of staff who come from vulnerable groups. Open-ended interview questions will focus on the employees’ experiences in the workplace and on their suggestions for improving the diversity climate. Interview transcripts will be analyzed using content analysis, which involves outlining keywords and phrases across the participants’ responses (Adams et al., 2014; Bhatia, 2018). This method of qualitative data analysis enables the researcher to determine the most prevalent ideas or responses based on the review of interviews. The results of the content analysis will be utilized to gain insight into the participants’ experiences by determining the nature of positive and negative experiences and providing suggestions for improvement in diversity management. The discussion of the findings and their implications will mark the end of the study.

The Role of the Researcher

The role of the researcher in the proposed study involves three main parts. First, the researcher must ensure that the procedures are followed according to the plan. Given that the research will be performed in marketing companies rather than in a laboratory, the environment in which the study will take place is not a fully controlled one (Adams et al., 2014). This means that the research process may be influenced by external circumstances that are not under the researcher’s control. Due to concerns over physical meetings, the interviews will take place via Zoom at a time that is convenient to the participants. Regardless of the circumstances, the researcher’s role would be to ensure that the methodological framework and the timeline of the study are followed to the extent possible. This might include rescheduling person-to-person interviews, contacting other employees from the designated sample, and other activities. Additionally, the researcher should communicate with the management of the participating firms consistently in order to be aware of any changes that might affect the study.

Secondly, the role of the researcher also involves ensuring ethical compliance. In studies involving human subjects, compliance with ethical standards and regulations is crucial (Giri & Biswas, 2019). Failure to conduct research in an ethical way may lead to significant consequences, including physical or psychological damage to participants and poor credibility of the results. The most important ethical principles to be followed in the proposed study are voluntariness, privacy, and confidentiality (Giri & Biswas, 2019). Voluntariness means that there is no coercion on the part of the researcher or the management of participating companies and that all the participants take part in the study willingly. To adhere to this principle in the proposed research, the researcher should explain to the management and employees of the selected companies that participation is voluntary and obtain informed consent from every participant. Privacy and confidentiality means that the participants’ information should be protected and that the details shared by participants should not be discussed with third parties. In the context of the proposed study, ensuring privacy and confidentiality would require the researcher to store the participants’ names and contact information securely in a password-protected document and use numbers for identification purposes during data collection and analysis. The researcher should also avoid sharing the details about the participants’ concerns and complaints with the management.

Thirdly, the researcher’s role includes reducing the risk of bias to a possible minimum. Bias is a critical concept in research because it affects the credibility of findings and conclusions (Adams et al., 2014). There are many types of bias that affect research, and thus it is crucial that the researcher uses proven methods of data collection and analysis and presents the results as they are without modifications. In qualitative methods, avoiding bias is much harder because it entails a certain degree of subjectivity in data collection and analysis (Roulston & Shelton, 2015). In order to address the high risk of bias while using qualitative methods, the researcher should reflect on their beliefs and reactions to the information collected to see if their interpretation has been influenced by personal perceptions or attitudes (Roulston & Shelton, 2016). The researcher has taken courses from CITI on ethics; adhering to these strategies throughout the study will help to ensure that the conclusions are credible and could be applied in practice.

Finally, the researcher is responsible for spreading new knowledge resulting from the study. Since the focal issue has a significant impact on contemporary businesses, the evidence collected as part of the study could improve diversity management practice and create better working environments for diverse workers. Hence, the researcher should also publish the results to spread information to the stakeholders, including managers and other scholars. This would help to advance scientific knowledge, thus fulfilling the purpose of the study.

Research Questions and Hypotheses

Forming research questions and hypotheses prior to beginning the study is crucial as it helps to narrow down the needs in terms of data collection and analysis and clarify the methodology. In order to determine the research questions for the study, a literature review of the topic was conducted, which highlighted gaps in the literature on diversity management in marketing companies. In particular, the researcher found that there is a gap in studies of diversity management in the context of marketing companies. Additionally, research on negative attitudes to diversity and solutions to this problem is also scarce. The proposed study will contribute to the field of diversity management by exploring it in the context of marketing companies and focusing on attitudes to diversity, as well as on the experiences of diverse workers. The following research questions have been developed for the study:

• Research Question 1. What are the women and minorities experiences and expectations regarding workplace diversity in marketing companies, and what potential solutions to the problem do they offer?
• Research Question 2. What is the connection between negative/positive attitudes toward diverse workers and their experiences working in marketing companies?

Hypotheses of the study are presented below.

Responding to each research question requires a different approach to data collection and analysis. Therefore, to answer the second research question, the researcher will utilize quantitative data obtained from surveys. One survey will focus on employees’ attitudes toward diverse workers, while the other will consider the experienced of workers from women and minorities in the company. Once the relationship between results from the two surveys is identified, the researcher will collect qualitative information using semi-structured interviews conducted in the premises specially rented by the researcher, to answer the first question. The discussions will elaborate on the topics covered in the surveys while also identifying possible solutions for improving the diversity climate in the researched companies.

Due to the nature of the questions posed for the study, the hypotheses differ in terms of their format and the results suggested. The first hypothesis of the study is that, in companies where diversity management is not well-defined or lacks specific policies, women and minorities experiences will be negative, and they will report discrimination, harassment, conflicts, poor communication, and other issues. Pure diversity management means lack of proper attention to eliminating discriminatory practices (in particular, latent ones), corporate culture which does not encourage manifestations of diversity, and inability to use diversity management practices to raise organizational performance. This hypothesis is based on the research surrounding the topic, which notes that inadequate diversity management can lead to a variety of issues, resulting in workers’ negative experience.

Population and Sample

The population and sample of a study are usually chosen based on the needs and goals of the research. A population in research refers to the group under consideration. According to Adams et al. (2014), one of the essential characteristics of a population is that it can be enumerated, and all its members can be listed to create a sampling frame from which the study sample will be drawn. In the present research, the population includes employees of ten marketing companies located in Memphis, Tennessee. This population was chosen based on the geographical location of the study, as well as on its goals. On the one hand, limiting the population to marketing companies in Memphis, Tennessee, allows including face-to-face interviews in the study. On the other hand, the focus on marketing companies is justified by the evident gap in the literature. Performing research using data from marketing companies’ employees would allow highlighting practice issues and potential solutions for diversity management in this sphere.

A sample means a specific group of participants who will provide data for the study. This group is selected from the population using a sampling technique (Ingham-Broomfield, 2016). In mixed-method research, there are usually two samples that are either overlapping or separate, since the number of participants for the two data collection methods is different (Ingham-Broomfield, 2016). For the proposed study, the size of both samples will depend on the size of the companies chosen. However, it would be useful to have a qualitative interviewing of 20-25 people. This would allow meeting the general guidelines for sample sizes in mixed-method research, as explained by Ingham-Broomfield (2016).

The sampling procedures to obtain the two samples would also be different. In order to generate a quantitative sample, it would be best to use simple random sampling, which is considered to improve the quality of data collected (Ingham-Broomfield, 2016). In the chosen context, simple random sampling could be applied by assigning numbers to members of the study population and then using special software to draw numbers randomly. In order to obtain a qualitative sample, purposive sampling will be used to select employees from vulnerable groups. This combination of sampling methods would allow reducing the risk of bias while fulfilling the goals of the study. First, surveys will be conducted, and then semi-structured interviews in frames of triangulation procedure, to receive more in-depth understanding of the issues under consideration.

Geographic or Virtual Location

The geographical location chosen for the study is Memphis, Tennessee. This location was selected based on its convenience in terms of the proposed research design because it would allow the researcher to collect the required data using surveys and interviews. Being the second-largest city in the state of Tennessee is home to many marketing companies, including local businesses and branches. Marketing companies in Memphis provide a wide variety of services, from traditional to digital marketing. Therefore, the geographical location of the study is beneficial because it would allow fulfilling the purpose of this research. It would also enable more flexibility in terms of sampling since there are many marketing companies to choose from, and it is likely that at least two of them will agree to participate in the study.

Instrumentation

The instrumentation for the research will consist of a survey and a few interview questions. Both methods of data collection are in accordance with the goals of the study and the research questions. With the help of a questionnaire, a researcher receives, first of all, a “superficial” layer of opinions, while an interview provides an opportunity to explore deep motives and opinions (Denzin, 2017). Surveys will be used to collect data on employees’ attitudes to diverse workers and on diverse workers’ experiences in the company. According to Adams et al. (2014), surveys are a relatively reliable method of quantitative data collection if they are formulated correctly. In the present case, both questionnaires will be created by the researcher and will thus be original instruments tailored to the needs of the study. Each survey will consist of a list of statements graded on a Likert scale from 1 (disagree) to 5 (agree). The questions will consider the participants’ beliefs about diversity in the workplace. In the survey, the participants will answer statements related to attitudes towards diverse workers in their company and from women and minorities statements focusing on the diversity climate in the company and their feelings in relation to it. This will allow obtaining enough quantitative data required to answer the second research question, thus confirming one of the hypotheses and refuting the others.

Interviews are a powerful instrument for qualitative data collection because they assist in understanding and mapping the participants’ thoughts and beliefs. This is particularly true for interviews focusing on people’s experiences, which is one of the core subjects of the study (Jamshed, 2014). Open-ended interviews, are the types of interviews that use questions that cannot be answered with “yes” or “no.” Such interviews are usually semi-structured, meaning that they allow people to explain their answers in detail without the interviewer’s interference (Jamshed, 2014). This type of interview suits the needs of the study because it will provide in-depth information about the participants’ experiences in the selected company. For the purpose of the study, the researcher will create an original set of questions designed to consider diverse workers’ experiences and their propositions for improving the diversity climate. The items will focus on the overall diversity climate, specific cases of successful or unsuccessful diversity management, and strategies for improvement. The expected duration of interview is 80 minutes.

Pilot Testing

Pilot testing is an essential part of preparations for a research study. According to Jamshed (2014) and Ingham-Broomfield (2016), pilot testing allows verifying the research instruments selected for research and making practical changes to the methodology to ensure that the study goes smoothly. Usually, pilot testing involves conducting a small-scale study prior to the actual study and assessing the results. Sometimes, researchers can choose to run a pilot testing of individual instruments, particularly if they have prior experience with the selected methodology.

In the present case, it would be useful to conduct a complete pilot testing on a small sample of participants who will not participate in the full-scale study. To do that, the researcher will reach out to a small marketing company that will not be included in the proposed research and ask permission to enroll 10-15 employees in the pilot study. The procedures used for pilot testing would mirror those planned for the actual research, including sampling, data collection, and analysis. The methods will take less time due to the smaller sample size, so pilot testing can be finished within one or two weeks.

There are two possible outcomes of pilot testing, and the actions of the researcher in each case would be different. It is likely that the pilot study will run smoothly, and the data collected from it will provide some preliminary results while also proving the usefulness of data collection instruments. In this case, no modifications to the selected design and procedures will be made. Nevertheless, it is also possible that there will be gaps in data collected, problems with scheduling, or difficulties in data analysis. In this case, the researcher will review the issues to identify their cause and alter the procedures or instruments slightly. This will help to prevent the same problems in the actual study, thus ensuring successful project completion.

Data Collection

Questionnaires in frames of two surveys mentioned above will be distributed to respondents via email and social networks, in a form of a link to SurveyMonkey – free software tool of creating surveys. The SurveyMonkey service is an online platform for creating and submitting surveys, as well as for collecting and researching obtained data in real time. The service was launched in 1999 and for a long time it has been holding leading positions among its competitors (Hu & Lowrich, 2020). Formed questions can be published in social media, on the website, or sent by e-mail.

Interviews will be conducted in personal meeting with each respondent. When conducting a semi-structured or directed interview, the researcher seeks to discuss a specific list of topics or aspects related to workforce diversity. The moment when a question should be asked, its exact wording, and the time that can be spent on discussing it all these parameters are left to the discretion of the interviewer. To successfully conduct such interviews, a high qualification of the interviewer is critically required. First of all, he/she must be convincing enough to make an appointment. The essential challenge is to establish contact and trust from the first minutes of the interview, and then maintain that atmosphere. The respondents’ answers will be recorded in voice form on a voice recorder. In addition, the interviewer can make some notes on paper to record the unusual behavior of the respondent, the sharp difference between his/her answers from the answers of other respondents, and so on.

Data Analysis

The process of analyzing sociological research data includes the following steps: preparing for the analysis of information; description; comprehension; explanation; formulating conclusions and building predictive models. Preparation for the analysis of information, in spite of the seeming simplicity of content certainty, includes a number of positions. These positions link the stage of analysis with other stages of the traditional implementation of the goals and objectives of sociological projects. The researcher returns to the formulations and content of research hypotheses and task parameters. There is familiarization of the researcher with the results of processing the data obtained at the field stage of the study, that is, in the process of data collection.

The element “what is happening in the investigated field?” involves fixing the estimates obtained in percentage weights for each of the variable signs presented in the scales used in collecting information; the obtained distributions can be ranked. This data is obtained using the above SurveyMonkey software. The element “how is it going?” provides for the presentation of data highlighted in questions of an evaluative nature. In fact, they can be called commenting responses of respondents, recorded in standardized scales. These data are obtained using semi-structured interviews.

Obviously, the constructions can either be included in the simplest final documents of a sociological study (“information” or “information note”), or used as a database for further deeper and more detailed analysis. In this study, the data are the basis for subsequent analysis using the chosen methodology – the grounded theory of Corbin and Strauss. The need for further analytic action also presupposes the use of an explanation procedure. However, it is preceded by making sense of the data; this stage of analytical action is important enough. It allows determining the range of parameters that are most essential for the subject under study, necessary for the further work of the researcher, establishing the degree of sufficiency of the information obtained in the course of field work. Moreover, it gives possibility to draw a conclusion about the need to involve other information obtained during previous measurements or data from other sociological services for the success of the analysis.

Explanation procedure is also the key one in sociological analysis. Namely it makes it possible to answer the key questions of the parametric system of empirical research: “What happened before?”, “Why did this situation arise?”, “What influences the development of events?”, “What are the consequences of what is happening?” This procedure is the main way to find options to remove social contradictions, resolve problem situations. In its implementation, the researcher conducts, based on the available data, a deep and comprehensive analysis of phenomena and processes, draws conclusions, makes forecasts of the development of events.

The final action of the analytical stage of sociological research is the procedure for formulating conclusions and building models. main condition for the implementation of an objective and comprehensive analysis of the problem situation under study, the development of real and substantiated forecasts on its basis, associated with changes in events in the future, is the possibility of comparing the key characteristics of the research subject. Namely this technique has to be resorted to in the course of proving the wrong or right nature of the final conclusions. As a result of the implementation of comparative procedures, the researcher has the opportunity to establish common, coinciding properties inherent in the studied processes or phenomena, or to fix differences in the characteristics of these properties. The differences allow determining the causes of certain problem situations. The conclusion as a result of the comparison depends on the strict observance of a number of necessary conditions of this analytical operation (Poduval, 2019). The comparison rules include the following: 1) Comparison should be made only between similar phenomena and processes or their individual characteristics that coincide in content (but not in respondents’ assessments); 2) Comparison of the parameters under study should be based on those features that are essential.

Compliance with the above conditions is possible, in particular, when using the grounded theory of Corbin and Strauss as an analysis tool. In particular, Strauss defines grounded theory as the one that is deduced by inductive method from the study of the phenomenon that it represents (Hargittai, 2020). That is, it is created, developed, and verified in different conditions through the systematic collection and analysis of data related to the phenomenon under study. Thus, data collection, analysis and theory are intertwined with each other.

After the first interviews have been conducted, the researcher can move on to the first phase of the analysis – open coding. With open coding, the researcher identifies the categories represented in the data. Each category has properties that can be considered subcategories. Properties are assigned appropriate dimensions to show the boundaries within which they can vary. The next phase of the analysis is called axis coding: the researcher selects several categories discovered at the previous stage and places them at the center of the process (interaction between people), as phenomena. Further, these categories are associated with other categories that are elements of the paradigm model (Hargittai, 2020). It includes causal conditions (factors that give rise to a phenomenon), strategies (actions taken in response to causal conditions), intermediate circumstances (specific situational factors that influence strategies) and consequences (results to which the use of strategies leads).

In the third phase, with selective coding, the researcher begins to formulate a grounded theory about the relationship between the categories identified in the previous phase of the analysis. The need for this phase is due to the fact that axial coding distinguishes not one category and the corresponding paradigm model, but several ones. This requires the selection of a main category around which the theory will unfold. The latter is also carried out using the paradigmatic model. In addition, in order to give “density” to the developed theory, additional interviews are conducted at this phase. It is since in the first two phases of the analysis important nuances can be missed, while the realization of this fact comes at the final phase of the analysis (Hargittai, 2020). At the same time, the researcher has a clear interview plan, which determines the selective nature of the analysis. In addition, important for understanding the essence of the grounded theory strategy is the concept of “theoretical sampling” associated with the selection of concepts that have proven theoretical relevance to the developing theory.

In this case, the cyclical model of the transition of the results of the studied phenomena in their theory is repeated, when the stages of obtaining data and their interpretation are constantly alternating. Ultimately, in this theory, based on empirical phenomena, not individual events are compared with each other, but the concepts obtained on the basis of the analysis. They are immediately tested by practice until a central category is formed, around which, in turn, the so-called “paradigmatic model” is formed, contributing to the constructive “saturation” of the theory. Immediately after this, a new cycle of categorization and analysis begins. The categories obtained automatically using SurveyMonkey software and formed by the researcher himself during the analysis of the interview results are then compared and combined, on the basis of which the researcher formulates the conclusions of the empirical research.

At the same time, it should be understood that adherence to the rules, principles, techniques and methods of working with the grounded theory method does not carry scientific utility if it does not meet the criteria for conducting a qualitative research. Grounded theory, like other qualitative and quantitative methods, has a group of criteria that allows one to judge the results of analytical work. One of these criteria is the validity of the results (the level of confidence in the results) of the research project.

Within the framework of grounded theory, this criterion takes on particular importance due to the fact that researchers using this method are usually interested in creating a theory that would be credible among members of the academic community. They are also interested in demonstrating how and why the proposed findings can be applied in practice. As one of the most important criteria, it is at the same time the most controversial and difficult criterion of the method. This is primarily due to a lack of understanding of the following main idea of work within the framework of grounded theory: this theory has its main task not to explain the thoughts and behavior of informants (as is often assumed in research projects), but to show how informants see themselves in their experience. Thus, theory arises through the respondents’ vision of themselves, and this is the goal of unbiased empirical research.

Human Participants and Ethics Precautions

Studying all the variety of social phenomena – social interactions, conflicts, control and organizations, at each stage of this study, the researcher can give own vision and interpretation of social processes, which then other researchers and scientists will rely on. The success of social transformations, the possibility of resolving social conflicts, and the preservation of social stability largely depend on the accuracy and objectivity of the information provided by the sociologist. The moral position of a professional researcher in social sciences largely depends on the degree of his/her mastery of the foundations of professional ethics, gives clear moral orientations of professional activity. The personal moral principles of the researcher’s es are the best defense against unethical behavior. Before, during and after the research, the scientist has the opportunity and must analyze own actions and correlate them with personal norms. However, the most important requirement is strict adherence to the provisions of the Code of Ethics.

Many ethical issues relate to the balance between two values: the acquisition of scientific knowledge and the rights of subjects of study. To conduct research which comply with ethical principles, it is necessary to find a balance between acquiring the necessary knowledge and not interfering with the lives of others. The researcher must remember that he has a moral and legal responsibility to the study participants and must take care to ensure that they are safe during the information gathering period. In addition to ensuring obtaining written informed consent from each respondent before starting an empirical study, the researcher ensures privacy by not disclosing the names of project participants after collecting information. This takes two forms, each of which involves separating the individual’s personality from his or her responses: anonymity and confidentiality.

Anonymity means that the names of the subjects are not disclosed; the object cannot be identified, and it remains unrecognized or anonymous. Researchers get rid of the names and addresses of participants by assigning a specific code to each to ensure anonymity. Even in cases where anonymity cannot be maintained, researchers must maintain confidentiality. Anonymity implies that the identity of the respondent will not be known to other people. Confidentiality means that information can be correlated with names, but the researcher maintains confidentiality, that is, kept secret from the general public. The information is presented only in an aggregated form, which does not allow linking specific individuals with specific answers. Respondent protection includes the following measures:

1. All persons who have access to data or are involved in the collection of data must acknowledge the confidentiality.
2. It is necessary to minimize the binding of answers to identifiers (including surnames, addresses of respondents). Where names and addresses are essential, they should be kept separate from the response questionnaires.
3. Completed interview forms must be inaccessible to persons not participating in the project.
4. The identifiers should be withdrawn as soon as possible after the completion of the questionnaire (if those not participating in the project intend to familiarize themselves with the completed questionnaire, the identifiers should already be withdrawn).
5. Individuals who can identify respondents by response profile should not be allowed to see responses in the questionnaire.
6. Data files for each respondent are usually provided with an identification code number, and access to the association of this number with the address in the sample or identifiers should be strictly limited.
7. When analyzing the data, the researcher must be careful in presenting data on small groups of people so that they cannot be identified.
8. At the end of the entire study or the stage of working with questionnaires or interviews, the researcher is responsible for the destruction of the completed instrument or its safe storage.

Validity and Reliability

In sociology, validity is understood quite broadly – as reliability, truth, adequacy, plausibility, stability of measurement data, but most often – as the degree of gounding. For example, to prove the validity of a theory means to substantiate its plausibility. A measurement (questionnaire, series of questions, test) is considered valid if it was used to fix the concept or property that is planned to be measured (Poduval, 2019). To be valid, a measurement must be comprehensive and complete. Appropriate measurement will be conducted with the use of experts’ assessments.

There are three components to theoretical validity: clarity, scope, and systematic imports. Clarity is associated with the possibility of transition from theoretical constructs to empirical indicators, the scope – with the coverage of the class of phenomena for which the application of these constructs is correct, and systematic import – with the degree to which these constructs are used in judgments and theories (Poduval, 2019). The theoretical validation procedure should be based on more general methodological principles, the observance of which ensures its compliance with the norms of modern empirical sociology. These include the complexity and unity of the qualitative and quantitative approaches (Poduval, 2019):

1. Complexity – the procedure of theoretical validation should be based on comprehensive strategies for achieving the result, and not on individual methods. In this case, the likelihood that the results obtained are an artifact determined by the specifics of using a particular method is significantly reduced.
2. Unity of qualitative and quantitative approaches – the procedure of theoretical validation should organically combine qualitative and quantitative methods of sociological research.
3. Socio-cultural relevance – methods of theoretical validation should not limit the discourse of the studied groups and communities. The essence of the principle lies in the need to use those methods that sufficiently allow understanding the life world of the research participants.
4. Conceptual representativeness and significance – theoretical validation methods should provide a comprehensive set of the most relevant concepts that describe the phenomenon under study.

Since it is believed that the information is valid if the researcher measures exactly the property of the object being studied, which was required to be measured, the use of mixed research methods, as well as the use of grounded theory and the formation of categories describing the phenomenon under study, provides an opportunity of observance of all the above- mentioned principles. The combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, resulting in a combination of the advantages of both methodologies, represents a triangulation method.

In addition, data triangulation means that single statements or subjective opinion of the respondent must be supported by other sources of information about the object (scientific literature, data from other studies) or compared with other data from the same source of information. Such triangulation will also be performed in this study, by comparing the obtained empirical data with the generalized results of a literature review on the research topic based on elements of content analysis. It should be noted that triangulation has a great integrative potential, which increases with the cyclical alternation of quantitative and qualitative methods. In addition, it can also lead to the discovery of paradoxes and contradictions, both theoretical constructions and empirical conclusions obtained within the framework of the traditional quantitative approach.

The reliability of research results is another criterion used to assess the quality of work results. With regard to qualitative research methods, it is difficult to fulfill the reliability requirement due to the nature of the data and the need for their interpretation, which leaves a cognitive and emotional imprint. It, ultimately, may affect the results of the research project. Strauss and Corbin provide numerous detailed data coding procedures that can be followed to improve the reliability of the results. Below, there are some of the questions to help researchers stay on track and provide qualitative insights (Poduval, 2019):

• How was the initial sample selected?
• What significant categories have emerged?
• What events, incidents, actions and the like (as indicators) indicated some of these significant categories?
• How and why was the central category chosen? Was this choice made immediately or gradually, difficult or easy? On what grounds were the final analytical decisions made?

As additional questions, the authors of the grounded theory ask questions about the nature of the emergence of concepts in analysis: do they have a special or ordinary meaning, do they have many meanings? Is the use of these concepts in the data justified? The elaboration of conceptual connections, categories, subcategories is also questionable: “binding” should be carried out in terms of the characteristic features of the paradigm – conditions, context, action/interaction (including strategies) and consequences.

Contribution to Social, Practice, or Organizational Change

Diversity is a significant topic for organizations: companies, government agencies or civil society bodies. In theory and practice, one can find different assessments of this phenomenon: on the one hand, diversity is a positive factor leading to the development of creative approaches and the growth of innovation, while on the other hand, it leads to an increase in conflict and chaos. The basic idea of diversity management recognizes that the workforce of an enterprise includes different groups of people. Diversity is made up of visible and invisible differences, which will include factors such as gender, age, education, race, disabilities, nature and work style. The idea of managing diversity is based on the assumption that mastering these differences will create a rewarding environment in which everyone feels valued, employees’ abilities are fully utilized, and organizational goals are achieved through synergy. In this regard, the theoretical conclusions and practical recommendations presented in this study have both theoretical and practical significance – for further research in the field of organizational diversity, and for the functioning of modern companies faced with the need to manage diversity in HRM. It is expected that the findings will contribute to understanding the benefits of workforce diversity for employee loyalty and organizational performance, both in theoretical implications of structural functionalism conflict paradigm and in the practical functioning of companies.

Summary

In Chapter 3, the core characteristics of the proposed research design and implementation are presented – in particular, sampling method, instrumentation, procedures of data collection and data analysis, treatment of human participants, observance of ethics precautions, implications for ensuring validity and reliability of the data obtained by mix method of research. The foundation for choosing mixed method research is presented in connection with the results expected – conducting surveys and interviews is proposed. Potential contribution of research both for the field of scientific knowledge and developments in organizational diversity and in practical work of companies in today globalized workforce environment, international business, and distributed teams is described. Application of mixed methods of research, triangulation for validation of results obtained, and the use of grounded theory as a basis for data analysis contributes to the validity, reliability, relevance, and value of research.

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Appendix A: Tables

Table A1: This is an Example APA Table in Appendix A and Uses the APA Table Title Style

Notes. The values denoted by an asterisk (*) are important because they have a particular quality.

Appendix B: Figures