The global nature of today's business environment, coupled with technological advances, compels managers to work with an increasingly diverse workforce worldwide. The purpose of this multiple-case study was to explore how bank managers used employee diversity effectively in the organizational decision-making process. Participants were 10 frontline management staff (middle and executive managers) with the required employee engagement skills involved in the decision-making process of a Nigerian bank. The conceptual framework for this study was rational choice theory, also called rational action theory or choice theory. Participants responded to 8 open-ended semistructured interview questions. The data collection process included validating and triangulating information gathered via member checking and review of archival business documents and peer-reviewed journals. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data from the study. Five key themes emerged from data analysis: recruitment, retention, and improvement of diverse talents; education and integration of employees with a divergent institutional heritage; engagement and leveraging of diverse stakeholders; business innovation, and productivity; and decision-making, and profitability. The implications of this study for social change include employee diversity management and strategic practices that contribute to effective decision-making process in the organization to improve socio-economic development of stakeholders (customers, board of directors, employees, policymakers and business contractors) and promote cohesion within bank staff and stakeholders resulting to improved business relationship and tolerance in society.

Background and Aim Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is becoming one of the essential competencies for the modern manager who regularly functions in a multi-cultural environment. CQ in essence refers us to the concept of developing those skills, be it through self-development, knowledge gathering or experience, which allows managers to effectively develop strategies to deal with new environments and multi-cultural settings as well as work groups (Earley & Ng, 2006). The concept of CQ can also be divided into 4 specific dimensions identified by Earley and Ang (2003) as a Meta-Cognitive dimension, a Cognitive dimension, a Motivational dimension and a Behavioural dimension. Specifically when one looks at motivational cultural intelligence one can define it as the extent of an individual’s interest and drive to adapt to new cultural situations (Templer, Tay & Chandrasekar, 2006). This study aims to investigate the concept of motivational cultural intelligence in relation to managerial motivation to engage in multi-cultural situations, and specifically focuses on the South African manager. Method A cross-sectional survey research design was used in this study. The Managerial Cultural Intelligence measure developed (Du Plessis, O’Neil & Vermeulen, 2007) was administered amongst a purposive convenience sample of managers in various industries (N = 550). Results There was no statistically significant result between motivation and managerial engagement, however it was found that the middle management and supervisory level had: The highest overall level of motivation in terms of engaging in multi-cultural activities. The highest level of motivation to change their view points when gaining new information about other cultures. There was, however, not a very high level of motivation to plan in advance for multi-cultural engagements. Those on a senior managerial level on the other hand showed: The highest level of motivation in terms of learning more about people from other cultures. The highest level of motivation to learn more about how to deal with people from other cultures. The lowest level of motivation to change their views of other cultures when gaining new information about other cultures. They also showed the lowest level of motivation in terms of preparing in advance for multi-cultural engagements. Based on an ANOVA analysis of the data it was found that: There was no statistically significant result between the overall motivational levels of the managers and their willingness to engage in multi-cultural environment. There was, however, a statistically significant result in terms of managerial motivation to learn more about other cultures in their work groups. Practical Relevance It was clear from the literature review that there is little information available about managerial CQ and motivation to engage in multi-cultural settings, such as those within the South African environment. It was therefore deemed important to investigate this construct and especially the dimension of motivation in order to better understand the role it plays in the South African managerial environment. With a better understanding of how it impacts South African managers, future researchers can look at identifying the other drivers of multi-cultural engagement, as well as developing training and development programs that will be better suited to the South African manager in terms of developing CQ. Lastly this was also seen as an important study in order to advance and fill the gap in South African literature within this specific field. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Human Resource Management / MCom / Unrestricted

Studiens syfte var att undersöka chefer inom äldreomsorgens syn på kulturell kompetens. Frågeställningarna i studien handlade om vilka förmågor som personalen behöver för att ha kulturell kompetens, och på vilka sätt cheferna ser till att personalen har kulturell kompetens. Studien var av kvalitativ karaktär, där fem semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med chefer inom äldreomsorg. De förmågor som betraktas som viktiga för att personalen ska ha kulturell kompetens inom äldreomsorg är empati, självrannsakan, ett öppet sinne, engagemang samt en kommunikativ förmåga. Cheferna arbetar främst med rekrytering och olika kommunikationsmedel för att personalen ska vara kulturellt kompetenta, men vissa kompetensutvecklingsinsatser görs också på området. Samtliga förmågor bygger tillsammans upp kulturell kompetens, medan arbetssätten visar på hur chefer kan arbeta för en kulturellt kompetent personalstyrka. Förmågorna är viktiga för att uppnå kravet om individbaserad vård, som finns i äldreomsorgens värdegrundsarbete. Arbetssätten cheferna använder sig av säkerställer att förmågorna finns och tas tillvara på i verksamheterna.

Trots att industrin står för hela 20 % av den totala sysselsättningen i Sverige, utgörs 80 % av branschens anställda av män. I denna kvalitativa studie av det multinationella företaget Stora Enso, undersöktes företagets arbete med Gender Diversity Management på marknader med olika typer av nationell kultur. Teorier som berör International Human Resource Management, Gender Diversity Management och nationell kultur utgör studiens teoretiska referensram. Fem intervjuer har genomförts med informanter från Stora Ensos olika avdelningar. Studien visade att Stora Enso har en del lokala policys gällande GDM, men att detta bör arbetas mer konkret med på central nivå, då de anställda upplevde att företaget i vissa avseenden brast inom ämnet. Då det fanns både fördelar och nackdelar med Stora Ensos arbete med GDM på såväl hemmamarknaderna som värdmarknaden finns det inga tydliga indikationer på att olika typer av nationell kultur har varit avgörande för företagets möjlighet att bedriva GDM.

RQ1: What diversity management practices facilitate gender representation in the workplace? RQ2: Which challenges arise when implementing gender quotas into the work environment?  Purpose: The impact of this research is twofold: it will address a knowledge gap in the academic literature on gender challenges, gender quota application and follow-up in business, as well as contribute to research on practice-based diversity and quotaring. Additionally, this study will have an impact on how issues like this are handled in practice.  Method: Five semi-structured interviews with managers in various positions in a multinational organization, as well as three focus group discussions, were conducted as part of this qualitative study to allow interactions between theories and empirical findings. In addition to the interviews, the theoretical framework allowed for a thematic analysis. Conclusion: The empirical data gathered for this study has provided sufficient evidence to conclude that a firm's acceptance of diversity and diversity management policies and practices, such as gender quotas, is highly valued by stakeholders, but often difficult to admit. When it comes to incorporating efforts like inclusion and diversity into a firm’s plans, diversity has proven to be quite beneficial, however using gender quotas as part of diversity management techniques is frowned upon. We can also conclude that women still face significant challenges solely based on gender in the business world, such as salary differences, pregnancy, attitudes and males’ perceptions, to name a few. Thus, gender equality still has a long way to go.

This research aims to develop a deeper level of understanding of how different levels of interaction amongst different cultures in a work and social context plays a role in perceiving culturally endorsed leadership attributes (CLTs). With the rapid developments in international trade, internet technology, cross-border travel and communication, business transactions across country borders have rapidly become significant contributors to the world economy. Consequently, managing diverse teams and working with colleagues and/or clients from other countries is a challenge to operating in this global business world. A quantitative analysis was done by considering low, medium and high work and social multi-cultural diversity interactions as the exploratory variables and perceptions of outstanding leader attributes as the dependant variable. This study of 269 leaders in a South African Multinational company found that different levels of multicultural interactions in the social context (described by friendships, relationships, family history and education) yielded significant differences in the perceptions of outstanding leader attributes. No significant differences in these perceptions were found for the different levels of multicultural interactions in the work context (described by international assignments and work diversity initiatives). Based on intergroup theory, this suggests that greater cognitive formations results through cross-cultural engagement in the social context than in the workplace. That is, culturally diverse social group memberships are able to condition member perceptions, transfer ideologies, and have a greater impact than culturally diverse groups in the organisational context. It was also found that the senior employees in this organisation (by age and tenure) showed a negative correlation to social multicultural interactions, but a positive correlation to work multicultural interactions. These relationships with tenure indicate the influence of organisational culture on cross-cultural cognitive formations. A synergistic relationship was evident between the work and social contexts, suggesting that inter-cultural activity in one context influences activity in the other context. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

In the last decades, research in the field of diversity management has placed a focus on inclusion. It is argued that a diverse and inclusive workplace can lead to productivity and creativity, thus economic growth. However, in order to effectively manage diversity, it is important to recognize the differences in individuals as a focus on sameness can create an exclusionary environment where employees conform to the mainstream culture. This, according to more recent research in the topic, remains a diversity challenge. Further, diversity management has placed an increased awareness on the importance of creating an inclusive environment. Therefore, this thesis aims to understand what may hinder ethnic minorities within an MNC to feel included for effective diversity management to be achieved. Consequently, a qualitative and case study design has been implemented with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a case company. It allowed for an in-depth company view and analysis of the thoughts and feelings of inclusion among the employees at BCG. The findings indicate that a lack of recognition of diversity and the fact that employees with a different ethnic background assimilate to the dominant office culture hinders inclusion. Therefore, the case company does not achieve effective diversity management.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify the causes and benefits of workforce diversity in a Swedish electrical engineering multinational corporation. Furthermore, to identify various challenges faced by the managers in diversity management and to find strategies adopted by them to minimize those challenges. Design/Methodology/Approach For this research qualitative method is undertaken. The research was undertaken in two stages. In stage one, an open-ended questionnaire was used to collect primary data from three line-managers and in stage two focused group discussion was conducted with three employees from HR department. The total sample size is six employees working in a Swedish Electrical Engineering MNC. Findings and Conclusions The nature of the business carried by the studied MNC requires continuous innovation and customization of products, which requires employees with diverse knowledge, skills and capabilities. The causes for diversity in the studied organization are because of encouraging internal movement of employees from various subsidiaries to the headquarters and by using various other staffing practises such as inpatriation, global virtual teams, permanent transfers etc. The company is also hiring employees from diverse jobmarkets. The findings from the primary data shows that the studied MNC is benefited from highly diversified work force. However, there are certain challenges faced by managers in managing diversity. The Diversity 360 policy of the company is helping the studied MNC to overcome the challenges in diversity management.

This thesis deals with diversity management in the scientific research centre CEITEC. Diversity management deals with diversity in the workplace, especially gender, age, and intercultural. The aim of the thesis is to propose suitable strate-gies, suggestions and recommendations for improvement and development of diversity management, so that each employee has the opportunity to fully exploit their potential. The first part deals with the definition of important concepts relat-ed to diversity management and the reasons for its implementation. The next part is devoted to the processing of qualitative and quantitative research, on the basis of which are set recommendations, proposals and budget of the improvements and their benefits.

Thesis advisor: Shawn McGuffey / Thesis advisor: Zine Magubane / In this dissertation, I show how the racial conflict theory promoted in the book White Fragility isn’t the only useful perspective to explain negative responses to the training and other activities by DEI administrators. Specifically, I argue a class analysis can illuminate the antagonistic relationship between DEI administrators and other stakeholders. Since DEI professionals are an extension of the management class, which is responsible for regulating the behavior of students and employees on behalf of employers in educational institutions, it is predictable that some students and employees will respond with silence, anger, and disengagement. If it is true that these negative responses cannot be reduced to White Fragility, then DEI professionals need to appeal to the interests of their audience and clearly show how their activities can actually be beneficial for students and employees despite the fact that they are extension of management. This dissertation includes three of my articles on administrators in higher education that helped me to develop the aforementioned argument. The first article argues that we should expect race-conscious student services administrators to experience role conflict when students complain about the ways that the executive-level administrators contribute to the reproduction of racial inequality. I contend that role conflict arises because student-centered administrators have to navigate the contradictory expectation of being an advocate for students with grievances about the institution while helping the executive-level administrators improve the reputation and revenue-stream for the university. Therefore, students cannot always expect student-centered administrators to effectively highlight and address their grievances. The second article argues that students who complain about inequity on campus should expect student-centered administrators to respond with self-help coaching. I use the term self-help coaching to capture the process when administrators teach complainants how to highlight and remedy organizational problems themselves. The third article focuses on the ways that student equity administrators (i.e. specialists who work in offices focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and multicultural affairs) frame their work as beneficial for students. Specifically, I describe three types of frames: expert accountability, affirmation, and advocacy. In the conclusion, I show how DEI professionals can use this information to appeal to the interests of students and employees who recognize their antagonistic relationship with management. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.