Managing a culturally diverse workforce: Diversity perspectives in organizations

The authors conducted two studies to analyze why and how organizations approach and manage cultural diversity in the Austrian workplace and to identify organizations’ diversity perspectives. In Study 1, 29 interviews revealed insights into organizational approaches to diversity and how these perspectives are linked to employing and managing a culturally diverse workforce. In Study 2, the authors developed and tested the Diversity Perspective Questionnaire (DPQ). The DPQ consists of vignettes and items to measure an organization's approach to diversity. Results reveal that five diversity perspectives—Reinforcing Homogeneity, Color-Blind, Fairness, Access, and Integration and Learning—gain a deeper understanding of diversity management in organizations. The DPQ is shown to be a reliable measurement instrument for further investigations of diversity perspectives in organizations.

► Two studies were conducted to identify diversity perspectives in organizations.
► Five diversity perspectives show distinct patterns in diversity measures.
► The Diversity Perspective Questionnaire (DPQ) was developed and validated.
► Status Quo and diversity fit/mismatch analyses can be conducted with the DPQ.