Managing Diversity

Managing Diversity considers the implications of diversity for the development and synthesis of specific human resource policy areas. The contributors provide a range of perspectives on the significance of workforce diversity for the human resource domain and the workplace in general. The degree to which current theory and practice have incorporated issues of diveristy management is reviewed. The book:

• Provides examples of specific sources of diversity among employees
• Scrutinizes the effectiveness of current human resource practices
• Suggests approaches for modifying human resource systems to support a managing diversity strategy
• Discusses the implications of employee diversity for future theory and practice

Managing Diversity is the first book to examine in detail how specific human resource functions need to be modified to support workforce diversity.

The need to adapt human resource systems because of dramatic labor force changes is arising at the same time that many firms are undergoing fundamental changes in the nature of the employment relationship, intense competition, and restructuring into global firms. This book represents an important vehicle for redesigning and renewing workplaces. It is the first book to examine in detail how specific human resource functions need to be modified to support workplace diversity.

Employers have started to acknowledge the importance of increasing diversity in the labor force. They have begun to question the effectiveness of human resource systems that were largely designed for a more homogeneous workforce. Although researchers have made suggestions are often general. Scholarly and practical knowledge are still evolving regarding the design and integration of specific human resource policy areas, such as compensation or selection, in support of the managing diversity strategy.

Managing Diversity considers the implications of diversity for the development and synthesis of specific human resource policy areas. The contributors, who are recognized experts in their respective policy areas, provide a range of perspectives on the significance of workforce diversity for the human resource domain and the workplace in general. The degree to which current theory and practice have incorporated issues of diversity management is reviewed, and the authors provide examples of specific sources of diversity among employees, scrutinize the effectiveness of current human resource practices, and suggest approaches for modifying human resource systems to support a managing diversity strategy. The implications of employee diversity for future theory and practice are also reviewed.

Ellen E. Kossek is Associate Professor of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior at the School of Labor and Industrial Relations, Michigan State University. She has worked on HR for many companies on both the USA and Japan, and she has published extensively on human resource management and diversity issues.

Sharon A. Lobel is Associate Professor of Management at Seattle University. Her research on the many aspects of managing diversity on organizations and has appeared in numerous journals.