Critically discuss, with examples, the contributions that Managing Essay - 1

Critically discuss, with examples, the contributions that Managing Diversity policies can make to the promotion of equality in organisations - Essay Example These have been studied from different perspectives, such as gender discrimination, HRM, performance management, cultural dimensions, and best practice implementation resulting from diffusion process, with specific examples. In the era of globalization, managing diversity promotes organizational effectiveness to a large extent. Diversity management is said to have originated in the United States with the Civil Rights Act, 1964 promoting equal employment opportunities (Mor-Barak, 2005). Realization of importance of diversity management through policies and legislation is a more recent affair in most of the countries. The main prerequisites of diversity management are said to be equal rights legislation and affirmative/positive action policies in order to create social, legal and organizational environment conducive for diversity management. The benefits of globalization have lured many organizations to become multinational and also adopt diversity management practices. Diversity management is now being used as a tool in management to tackle discrimination at workplace (Wrench, 2005). This can be best evidenced by the Kosek and Lobel’s model (1996), cited by Mor-Barak (2005), of diversity management approach through diversity enlargement, diversity sensitivity, cultural audit and strategies for achieving organizational outcomes. With the legislative policies related to equal employment opportunities and antidiscrimination laws being introduced, most of the organizations started hiring people belonging to distinct groups and nationalities, incorporating a diverse workforce. The various activities used in organizations to manage this diversity include training and development for all employees, employee involvement teams, links with the community, different work hours and workplaces, benefits, affirmative action programs, top-management attention, public relations efforts,