Each month, we select up to 10 publications from those that have recently been entered into the Literature Database.

A year ago, there were approximately 6,275 citations in the Literature Database. As of January 2006, we now have over 7,000 citations.

Click here for a direct link to the Sloan Literature Update articles in the Literature Database.

Bassett-Jones, N. (2005). The paradox of diversity management, creativity and innovation. Creativity and Innovation Management, 14(2), 169-175.
This paper considers the relationship between diversity management and competitive advantage within high-commitment organizations that support the development and management of a skilled internal labor market. Diversity can foster creativity and innovation as well as misunderstanding and conflict within the workplace. The author makes the case for diversity management and offers several considerations and strategies for human resource managers.

Global Perspectives-  Bogaert, S. & Vloeberghs, D. (2005). Differentiated and individualized personnel management: Diversity management in Belgium. European Management Journal, 23(4), 483-493.
This article examines four different approaches to the management of diversity in the workplace: the deficit approach, the discriminatory approach, culturalization, and individualization. The authors surveyed a total of 64 personnel managers of Belgian organizations to study the extent to which diversity management occurs as well as the methods and motives behind this type of management. Findings indicate that the majority of Belgian organizations do not actively manage diversity. Companies that do pay attention to managing a heterogeneous workforce report ideological and economic motives as the driving forces behind their efforts, with creativity and a higher quality of services reported as the most important objectives.

Eckel, C.E. & Grossman, P.J. (2005). Managing diversity by creating team identity. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 58(3), 371-392.
This paper explores the effectiveness of a manufactured team identity on subjects’ cooperative behavior within the workplace. Using data from a study in which they induced team identity and tested cooperation amongst team members, the authors test the theory that high levels of team identification leads to less individual shirking behavior and more cooperative behavior. Findings suggest that simple identification with a team is insufficient, but actions designed to emphasize and improve team identification contribute to higher levels of cooperation.

Global Perspectives-  Holladay, C.L. & Quinones, M.A. (2005). Reactions to diversity training: An international comparison. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 16(4), 529-545.
This study analyzes the reactions to a large, multinational corporation’s diversity training program as conducted in eight different countries. The authors surveyed 493 workers from both collectivistic and individualistic cultures and tested the moderating effects of trainee and trainer culture, trainee culture and job level, and trainer culture and gender. Findings demonstrate that trainees from more individualistic cultures are more receptive to diversity training and trainees from collectivistic cultures prefer trainers with a cultural match to them. Implications for future research and human resources practice are discussed.

Lyons, H.Z., Brenner, B.R. & Fassinger, R.E. (2005). A multicultural test of the theory of work adjustment: Investigating the role of heterosexism and fit perceptions in the job satisfaction of lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(4), 537-548.
This study tests the ability of mediated and moderated models of the theory of work adjustment (TWA) to explain job satisfaction of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) workers. The authors used two samples of nearly 400 employees from various ethnic groups and work settings to examine the ability of person-organization (P-O) fit perceptions to predict job satisfaction. Results support the validity of the TWA in LGB employees’ work lives, and P-O fit perceptions appear to mediate experiences with “the informal heterosexism-satisfaction relationship.”

McKay, P.F. & Avery, D.R. (2005). Warning!: Diversity recruitment could backfire. Journal of Management Inquiry, 14(4), 330-336.
This article emphasizes the importance of pairing favorable work-place diversity climates with diversity recruitment initiatives to ensure the retention of minority employees. The authors employ person-organization fit, realistic job preview, and psychological contract literatures to demonstrate how common recruitment practices can result in higher levels of turnover. Many recommendations are made for strengthening the link between minority recruitment and retention.

Global Perspectives-  Pio, E. (2005). Knotted strands: Working lives of Indian women migrants in New Zealand. Human Relations, 58(10), 1277-1299.
The study explores the working lives of Indian women migrants in New Zealand and the impact this has on their identity negotiations. The author utilizes the work setting to explore whether work brings an awareness of ethnic identity for migrant women, arguing that asking questions directly about ethnic identity may not be culturally sensitive as these women only become aware of their ethnicity when they leave India. The study draws upon qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 12 first-generation Indian women migrants in New Zealand. All of the women migrated to New Zealand with their families in order to seek quality of life and better opportunities for their children, rather than to look for a new career in their new host country. The study offers a fresh perspective to the issue of diversity management by drawing attention to the work-life issues faced by these migrant women. The findings reveal five patterns of experience among this cohort, including “the initial 18-30 months in the host country generally means being underemployed with low pay and a struggle to maintain a healthy self-esteem” and “working is ‘the’ defining factor in identity negotiation”. The main findings have clear implications for the concept of global diversity management, including the need for sensitivity from organizations and society to the problems of the first 18-30 months faced by new migrants in a host country. Annotated by Uracha Chatrakul Na Ayudhya, Doctoral Researcher, Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom.

Global Perspectives-  Bernard-Oettel, C., Sverke, M. & De Witte, H. (2005). Comparing three alternative types of employment with permanent full-time work: How do employment contract and perceived job conditions relate to health complaints? Work & Stress, 19(4), 301-318.
This paper investigates whether alternative employment arrangements are positively or negatively associated with workers’ well-being. The authors analyzed questionnaire data from 954 Swedish health care workers who work permanently part-time, fixed-term or on-call work schedules. Findings show that alternative work schedules do not automatically reflect differences in work conditions, and that perceptions of job insecurity, control and demands affected well-being more significantly than the workers’ types of employment. However, the types of employment can interact with perceptions of job insecurity, which can lead to employees’ impaired well-being.