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Group diversity refers to the amount of heterogeneity within a group determined by several characteristics derived from informational, visible, and value differences (Hobman, Bordia,&Gallois, 2003). Informational differences refer to different professional backgrounds and experiences; visible differences refer to things that become more physically apparent, such as age, gender, ethnicity, etc.; and value differences are shaped by each individual’s set of beliefs, goals, and values. These three categories of differences have a major impact on team performance because they can become the cause for multiple types of conflicts within a team. When approaching tasks, different members of the team will have different behaviors based on their own set of informational, visible, and values characteristics. Employees with different views of the same situation may have totally different ways of responding to it.
After the appearance of conflict, team members can create a true learning environment where they can perform far beyond expectations by leveraging their differences. Hobman, Bordia, and Galois highlight the ways in which group diversity can foster a higher organizational performance, “It has been noted that diversity can lead to higher performance when members understand each other, combine and build on each others’ ideas. This suggests that interaction processes within a diverse team are crucial to the integration of diverse viewpoints. For example, Abramson found that organizations that had teams with high diversity and integration had the best performance” (Consequences of Feeling Dissimlar from Others in a Work Team, 2003). Along these lines, diverse groups have a higher ability to overcome initial difficulties by identifying the multiple angles of a problem and generating creative solutions.
The more openly they are recognized and discussed, the better chance there is for differences to become part of organizational success. Tomas and Ely believe in the notion that
a more diverse workplace will increase organizational effectiveness. It will lift morale, bring greater access to new segments of the market place, and enhance productivity(Making Differences Matter; A New Paradigm for Managing Diversity, 1996). By truly embracing diversity, leveraging the talent within multicultural teams, and approaching diversity as means to higher knowledge and productivity, organizations will effectively manage differences, to achieve competitive advantage successfully.
| Paradigm | Focus | Key success factors |
| Discrimination-and-fairness | Equal opportunity, fair treatment, recruitment, and compliance with US federal Equal Employment Opportunity requirements Leaders work towards restructuring the makeup of the organization to reflect more closely that of society | Effectiveness in its recruitment and retention goals rather than by the degree to which companies allow employees to draw on their personal assets and perspectives to do their work more efficiently |
| Access-and legitimacy | Need of a more diverse workforce to help companies gain access to the differentiated segmentsMatches the demographics of the organization to those of critical consumer or constituent groups | Degree to which leaders in organizations understand niche capabilities and incorporate them into differentiated categories aligned to their business strategy |
| Learning-and-effectiveness | Incorporates employee’s perspectives into the main work of the organization Enhances work by rethinking primary tasks and redefining markets, products, strategies, missions, business practices, and even cultures | The promotion of equal opportunity and acknowledgment of cultural differences Organizational learning and growth fostered by internalizing differences among employees |
| End goal: Leaders should thrive to shift to the Learning-and-effectiveness paradigm to approach diversity as a means to higher knowledge and productivity. |
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