How does diversity influence the functioning of a work-group?

Many organizational experts from various disciplines have tried to find an answer to this question and they have come to the conclusion that the best answer is: "it depends".

Variety can take many forms and it depends on:

1. The kind of diversity
2. The nature of the work-group
3. The organizational context to which it belongs and how this diversity influences the work process.

The researchers Ely and Thomas use the existing literature on this subject to investigate which factors give the best explanation of the circumstances in which group diversity in the work situation promotes or hinders the functioning of these groups.

They are less interested in specific aspects of diversity (race, gender, etc.) than in trying to understand the influence of the more general category of cultural diversity. Ely and Thomas come to the conclusion that work units are often different from diversity and that this divergent orientation has a major influence on the functioning of the group.

American management literature is overflowing with advice to managers to promote diversity in the workplace in order to increase the effectiveness of the work-groups. However, empirical research into whether and how diversity relates to the functioning of work-groups is limited. The conclusions vary and partly depend on which variables the diversity consists of:

• Gender
• Variety
• Hierarchical or functional place in the organization
• Idiosyncratic (personal, peculiar) attitudes
• Values ​​and preferences of the participants in the work-group

This means that management consultants and managers who want to promote diversity must start from a combination of common sense and relying on their own views and arguments that they put forward when asking how companies/organizations should deal with this issue.

Ely and Thomas therefore investigate the experiences of people in work-groups and the conditions under which diversity in the work-groups promotes or hinders the functioning of the work-group. Theories are based on these experiences. Ely and Thomas distinguish three different principles from which people in a work-group positively assess diversity. Each of these three has different consequences for the work-group's ability to reap the benefits of cultural diversity. The results of this research are critically compared with the themes and fundamental assumptions of earlier research. Proposals are made to both researchers and practitioners who are interested in diversity to take new paths.

After an elaboration on how diversity within groups is approached by researchers (demographic, ethnic, racial, functional background, cultural, physical, social class and gender differences). This includes the aspect of power in the organization (value allocation) based on dominance differences. Ely and Thomas come to the conclusion that many of these different aspects can be summarized under the heading 'cultural diversity'. The relationship between variety of cultural diversity and the functioning of the work-groups is also influenced by the quality of the relationships between groups, by the degree to which people feel valued, and respected and the meaning (content) of the cultural identity within the work-group. This is all influenced by a general (positive or negative) approach of diversity.

Research population

Ely and Thomas focus their research on three different service organizations; a law firm, a financial service organization, and a consultancy firm.

Data collection

The research data was collected through interviews and observations during staff meetings of those three organizations investigated.

Data analysis

The data analysis consisted of independently reviewing the notes of the interviews and of the observations during the staff meetings of each of the three organizations. And determining themes that indicated similarities and differences between the three organizations, in particular with regard to the question to what extent these differences correlated with promoting or hindering the effective functioning of the organizations.

The researchers came to the conclusion that they had come to the same insights: three different perspectives seemed to distinguish how members of the working groups created diversity in their groups and how they subsequently responded. This proved important variables of how the groups functioned. This finding was used as a working hypothesis in which the other research data were framed.

Views of work-groups on diversity (diversity)

The analysis of the research data supported the hypothesis that the views (principles) of work-groups with regard to diversity were related to the different levels of the individual and the functioning of the group. We found that there were three views on diversity that seemed to have different implications as to how well people in that group functioned and therefore the likelihood that their work-group would reap the benefits of diversity:

• The integration and learning aspect
• The access and legitimacy aspect
• The discrimination and fairness aspect

1. The integration and learning aspect (perspective)

In a group with great cultural diversity, the different insights, skills and experiences that employees have developed as members of groups with different cultural identity potential can tap into valuable resources that the working group can use to redefine its basic task in terms of its markets, products and strategies. This approach clearly helped the law firm and the financial services organization.

At the law firm they started with a completely white male staff, but gradually they also wanted to shift the field of work to sectors where colored low-income groups (especially women). At the beginning of that changing view, a Latino staff member was assumed who had different insights, which were increasingly used and which led the law firm to recruit more and more people from other cultural identity groups.

2. Access and legitimacy aspect (perspective)

The access and legitimacy aspect of diversity is based on the observation that the market and its component parts are culturally diverse. As a result, it is wise for the organization to assemble parts of its labor potential in such a way that access and legitimacy are obtained in these different culturally diverse market segments.

3. Discrimination and fairness aspect (perspective)

This is characterized by the belief that a culturally heterogeneous workers' composition is morally necessary because it gives a fair chance to all. The organization for this purpose was the consultancy agency. This ethical approach was expressed very clearly in the interviews.

Quality (quality) of intergroup relations

The integration and learning approach has as its starting point the notion that a heterogeneous group of people comes together with the intention of learning from each other how to work towards the objective of the organization. However, this entails a kind of tension in discussions in which people struggled with the fact that they had to listen carefully before deciding how to tackle the work.

The significance of cultural identity

The integration and learning theory emphasizes cultural identity as a potential source of insight and skills. Ethnic minorities explained that their racial group membership was a big part of how they saw their work.