'Global' Diversity Management: The Case of Automobile Manufacturing Companies in Japan

Abstract

Diversity management has been extensively studied in domestic settings. However, domestic diversity management research is inadequate for understanding diversity management concerns of global firms at the level of their strategic decision making and cross-national coordination activities. The aim of this paper is to examine Japanese global firms in the automotive industry with a view to reveal their reasons for adoption, diffusion and implementation of global diversity management activities. The field research assumes a multi-party, multi-layered approach, incorporating interviews with decision leaders in key institutional actors, including diversity managers, trade union and employers' association representatives and, subject specialist scholars. The research also involves documentary analysis of policy documents and corporate data. The paper provides a) a literature review on diversity management that identifies its key tenets and global and domestic versions, b) a conceptual framework of influences which shape the diversity management approach that a firm may take, c) an elaboration of the research methods and techniques and d) a case study of global diversity management in the Japanese automobile industry from a multi-stakeholder perspective. Research findings reveal that despite their global outlook, the automotive companies still retain multinational rather than global approaches to diversity management. The paper explains why this may be the case and proposes some remedies for overcoming current tensions in effective implementation of global diversity management activities.