Diversity management beyond the business case

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to introduce the theme of the special issue – diversity management beyond the business case. It addresses two main questions: first, how increased diversification within workgroups or labour is dealt with via diversity management, and second what the effects are of this increased diversity for group performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The different contributions are embedded into two important discussions in the literature: problems with the concept of diversity and problems with outcomes of diversity management.

Findings

Reflecting on the contributions to this special issue, it is argued that solely emphasizing business case arguments for supporting the implementation of diversity management may be rather risky. They conclude with a plea for emphasis on arguments of justice and sustainability of the employment relationship and discuss future avenues for research.

Originality/value

The paper shows the difficulty of universally applying the concept of diversity and diversity management. In addition, it shows that the claimed positive impact of diversity management is contingent on several factors.

Citation

Bleijenbergh, I., Peters, P. and Poutsma, E. (2010), "Diversity management beyond the business case", Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Vol. 29 No. 5, pp. 413-421. https://doi.org/10.1108/02610151011052744