Age diversity, age discrimination climate and performance consequences—a cross organizational study

Abstract

SummaryThis paper deals with the emergence of perceived age discrimination climate on the company level and its performance consequences. In this new approach to the field of diversity research, we investigated (a) the effect of organizational-level age diversity on collective perceptions of age discrimination climate that (b) in turn should influence the collective affective commitment of employees, which is (c) an important trigger for overall company performance. In a large-scale study that included 128 companies, a total of 8,651 employees provided data on their perceptions of age discrimination and affective commitment on the company level. Information on firm-level performance was collected from key informants. We tested the proposed model using structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures and, overall, found support for all hypothesized relationships. The findings demonstrated that age diversity seems to be related to the emergence of an age discrimination climate in companies, which negatively impacts overall firm performance through the mediation of affective commitment. These results make valuable contributions to the diversity and discrimination literature by establishing perceived age discrimination on the company level as a decisive mediator in the age diversity/performance link. The results also suggest important practical implications for the effective management of an increasingly age diverse workforce.

Workforce diversity in manufacturing companies and organizational performance: the role of status-relatedness and internal processes

“…Acknowledging the plausibility of both the self-categorization process based on the similarity-attraction paradigm (Chatman & Flynn, 2001;Kunze et al, 2011;Riordan & Shore, 1997) and the information processing perspective (Talke, Salomo, & Rost, 2010;Wu et al, 2010), we propose status-relatedness of diversity dimensions as a third theoretical perspective that might offer a more elaborate explanation. Specifically, we posit that the process and performance implications of diversity may vary depending on the level of status-relatedness of the given diversity dimension.…”

“…As the diversity researchers have maintained (Kunze, Boehm, & Bruch, 2011;McMahon, 2010), the collective perceptions of employees, such as innovative climate, and their KSAs and affective reactions are expected to account for the diversity-performance link at the organization level.…”

“…The strong social chasm caused by hierarchical position diversity is apt to impair such learning and knowledge sharing processes, reducing cognitive stimulation and knowledge repertoire available to employees (Amoroso et al, 2010;Kunze et al, 2011). Finally, such position-based differentials may diminish employee satisfaction because they have overall destructive implications for employee morale.…”

“…Scholars have noted that employees who are satisfied with their job tend to exert more voluntary efforts to perform the tasks, whereas those who are dissatisfied are reluctant to participate in work activities beyond the minimum task requirement (Kunze et al, 2011;Riordan & Shore, 1997). Apparently, employee satisfaction is likely to improve operational performance, such as the efficient and reliable completion of routine organizational functions.…”

“…the operational performance of their company by responding to five items ( = .91, r wg (5) = .93, ICC(1) = .23, ICC(2) = .62, F = 2.60, p < .001 ): "Our company has competitive advantage over other companies in (a) efficiency of task procedures, (b) cost reduction, (c) product quality, (d) overall productivity and defect reduction, and (e) prompt response to customer requests" (Katou, 2009;Kunze et al, 2011).…”