Why Organizational and Community Diversity Matter.

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Academy of Management Journal 2011, Vol. 54, No. 6, 1103–1118. http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.0016 WHY ORGANIZATIONAL AND COMMUNITY DIVERSITY MATTER: REPRESENTATIVENESS AND THE EMERGENCE OF INCIVILITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE EDEN B. KING George Mason University JEREMY F. DAWSON Sheffield University MICHAEL A. WEST Lancaster University VERONICA L. GILRANE CHAD I. PEDDIE George Mason University LUCY BASTIN Aston University Integrating sociological and psychological perspectives, this research considers the value of organizational ethnic diversity as a function of community diversity. Employee and patient surveys, census data, and performance indexes relevant to 142 hospitals in the United Kingdom suggest that intraorganizational ethnic diversity is associated with reduced civility toward patients. However, the degree to which organizational demography was representative of community demography was positively related to civility experienced by patients and ultimately enhanced organizational performance. These findings underscore the understudied effects of community context and imply that intergroup biases manifested in incivility toward out-group members hinder organizational performance. Social, political, and technological advances have given rise to a workforce comprised of people from a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds across the globe (United Nations Statistics Division, 2009). Management research on the implications of this increasing ethnic diversity has yielded mixed findings; some research within teams and dyads suggests diversity can generate innovation and breadth of information (e.g., Simons, Pelled, & Smith, 1999), but other studies suggest diversity can have negative effects by increasing conflict and reducing cohesion (e.g., Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1999). The little evidence that exists at the level of the organization

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