CHAPITER 2: Theoretical basis and literature review UNDERSTANDING DIVERSITY
The Concept of Diversity in the workplace has been growing faster than its concomitant issues could be adressed. “Diversity Management can be defined as the process of planning, directing, organizing and applying all the comprehensive managerial attributes for developing an organizational environment, in which all diverse employees irrespective of their similarities and differences, can actively and effectively contribute to the competitive advantage of a company or an organization.
Managing employee heterogeneity is more important and more difficult than managing homogeneity in fully utilizing internal human resources. As diversity has evolved to become a critical workplace topic over a period of years, it has been defined in various ways. Thomas (1995) defines diversity as any mixture of components characterized by similarities and differences. The components of a diversity mixture include differences and similarities between and among races, ages, genders, educational levels, religious affiliations, geographical origins, and work styles. One study (Johnston & Packer, 1987), regards diversity as an important changes in the composition of the workforce such as the increasing number of women, racial minorities, senior workers, and immigrants. Cox and Blake (1991) view diversity as a business imperative and highlight that firms should understand how they value diversity to establish a competitive