Human Resource Diversity Research Articles

Climate for diversity and its effects on career and organisational attitudes and perceptions

The article presents a discussion of issues of human resource diversity and diversity climates in organisations and develops a conceptual model of a “positive climate for diversity” (PCFD). This refers to the degree to which there is an organisational climate in which human resource diversity is valued and in which employees’ from diverse backgrounds feel welcomed and included. It presents a model of the indicators of a positive climate for diversity and the outcomes for organisations and individuals of such a climate, especially individual career and organisational attitudes and perceptions. It also presents variables which have a moderating effect in the model. The results of research from both private and public sector organisations, with emphasis on service, indicate that climates for diversity do impact significantly on a range of career and organisational attitudes and perceptions. The research and managerial implications are discussed.

Correction

Academy of Management PerspectivesVol. 13, No. 3 CorrectionCorrectionis erratum ofStrategies for managing human resource diversity: From resistance to learningPublished Online:1 Aug 1999https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.1999.18531520AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsAdd to favoritesTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail View articleAbstractThe article presents a correction to an article that was published in the May 1999 issue of the journal “Academy of Management Executive.”FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsRelated articlesStrategies for managing human resource diversity: From resistance to learning1 May 1999Academy of Management Perspectives Vol. 13, No. 3 Permissions Metrics in the past 12 months History Published online 1 August 1999 Published in print 1 August 1999 Information© Academy of Management PerspectivesKeywordsERRATAACADEMY of Management Executive (Periodical)Download PDF

Review of the Management Literature 1998

This article continues the series of annual reviews prepared by the Section on Management and Marketing. It reviews the general literature of management published in 1998, drawing attention to papers of interest to library managers. The number of papers on human resource management and diversity management has grown. Strategic planning and synergy are of renewed interest, while some writers consider that business process re-engineering has failed as a technique.

Strategies for managing human resource diversity: From resistance to learning

Executive Overview Most writing on the subject suggests there is one best way to manage workforce diversity in organizations. We argue that there is no single best way, but that the organization's approach depends on the degree of pressure for diversity, the type of diversity in question, and managerial attitudes. Strategic responses for managing diversity are presented in a framework of proactive, accommodative, defensive, and reactive modes. These responses are discussed in terms of episodic, freestanding, and systemic implementation practices.

Human resource development and managing diversity in South Africa

Discusses structural and labour market issues associated with the processes of employment equity and diversity management in South African organizations. Argues that effective individual and organizational change are most likely to occur when human resource development and diversity management approaches are adopted simultaneously. Contends that appropriate information is a critical component for planning, monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of HRD and diversity management.

Employment equity, human resource development and institution building in South Africa

The process of economic and social reconstruction in South Africa (SA) has harnessed capital, organized labour and state agencies in emergent tripartite macro-policy forums; in particular, the National Economic Development and Labour Commission. Public policy on human resource development, affirmative action and diversity issues is increasingly an outcome of negotiations in these structures. However, although significant legislative developments on these issues are envisaged in the near future, institutional adaptation has not been adequately researched. The apartheid state was constructed on the ideological basis of ethnic fragmentation rationalized by ethnic and cultural diversity. At the same time, diversity is a social reality in building common national and organizational goals, symbols and identity. This paper discusses structural and labour market factors associated with the process of employment equity and diversity management in South African organizations. A research project, the Breakwater Moni...

The Politics of Impounded Funds

This article explores the political factors which give rise to disputes over impounded funds: prevention of budget deficiencies; wartime diversion of human and material resources from domestic public works; presidential restraints on interservice rivalries over procurement; and fiscal measures to reduce inflationary pressures. The question of whether impoundment is justified or not requires close attention to specific cases and the complex interplay of politics, economics, and legislative procedures.

(A)woke Workplaces

With heightened expectations for a reckoning in response to the broad support for the Black Lives Matter movement after the senseless murder of George Floyd in 2020, employers explored many options to improve racial understanding through discussions with workers. In rejecting any notions of the existence of structural or systemic discrimination, let alone the need to address the consequences of such discrimination, certain groups have begun to oppose BLM by seeking to diminish any social justice actions. One of those key resistance efforts includes labelling in pejorative terms any employers that pursue anti-racism objectives via social justice statements or internal initiatives as being “woke” workplaces. These groups have also criticized employers who adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion training to help workers address racial differences by arguing these sessions apply divisive Critical Race Theory principles that discriminate against and seek to stigmatize white participants. By using CRT and woke labels as weapons, critics leave employers in the unenviable position of determining how to implement antiracism trainings in an environment of BLM reforms and race discrimination concerns. These all-encompassing anti-anti-racism narratives now force employers to show how their DEI trainings and related initiatives do not discriminate against white employees. This Article offers unique insight for employers who pursue DEI measures to achieve racial progress and asserts they may circumvent antianti-racism narratives by continuing to rely on the litigation reforms and stillpresent empirical results that led to the growth of DEI training practices in the 1990s. Many employers had adopted DEI initiatives as good corporate citizens valuing diversity in human resources as a growth of affirmative action in the 1970s. With legal concerns in the 1990s about huge jury verdicts in discrimination lawsuits and empirical indicators of systemic discrimination, employers embraced more comprehensive racial improvement and training steps via written consent decrees and judicially approved settlements. This Article concludes that awoke employers should adopt broader DEI goals and limit training on entry-level racial awareness given empirical data suggesting this particular approach tends to spark backlash without any resulting diversity improvements. Instead, awoke employers understand that most constituents want them to act and lead responsibly regarding comprehensive DEI measures by going beyond legal protections. Training can focus on managers who may subject a company to employment discrimination liability. Awoke training integrates key follow-ups and correlates to measurable DEI results. Focusing on DEI training alone ignores the more important structural change work.