Does diversity management matter in a traditionally homogeneous culture?

• Published in: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal Vol. 38; no. 7; pp. 743 - 762
• Main Authors: Mehng, Si Ahn, Sung, Sang Hyeon, Leslie, Lisa M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Birmingham Emerald Publishing Limited 16-09-2019; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Collectivism; Contingencies; Cultural factors; Culture; Decision making; Discrimination; Employment; European literature; Female employees; Gender; Gender equity; Gender relations; Homogenization; Inequality; Legitimacy; Management; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Organizational effectiveness; Organizations; Power; Social categorization; Teams; Traditions; Western literature; Women; Workplace diversity; Workplaces; South Korea; Eastern cultures; Diversity management; Organization performance; Gender; Diversity perspectives; Korea
• ISSN: 2040-7149; 2040-7157
• DOI: 10.1108/EDI-10-2017-0227

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate diversity management in an under-researched country by merging theoretical insights developed in the Western literature with cultural aspects of a traditionally homogeneous country, South Korea.
Design/methodology/approach
This study integrates theory and research on why diversity can have either a positive (i.e. the information/decision-making paradigm) or a negative (i.e. the social categorization paradigm) effect on performance with different diversity perspectives (i.e. integration-and-learning, access-and-legitimacy, and discrimination-and-fairness). This study develops a model of when and how gender diversity affects organization performance and test the model with a sample of 177 South Korean organizations.
Findings
This study finds that gender diversity is negatively related to organization performance in South Korea. This study also finds that the effect of gender diversity is contingent on organizational diversity perspectives. Organizations with high gender diversity perform better to the extent that they have a discrimination-fairness perspective, but not a business-oriented perspective. On the other hand, a discrimination-fairness perspective is unrelated to performance for organizations that are low in gender diversity.
Originality/value
Although gender diversity in the South Korean workplace continues to increase, the relationship between gender diversity and organization performance has rarely been studied in the aspect of Korea’s traditionally homogeneous culture. This study highlights the importance of cultural-contingencies in understanding the consequences of diversity.