Ethical paradigms as potential foundations of diversity management initiatives in business organizations

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the elaboration of a comprehensive moral framework for designing and implementing diversity practices. In so doing, it employs distinct ethical theories that not only elevate respect for differences to an end, but also provide a set of principles, virtues or values conducive to the formation of an inclusive work environment. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review, in particular contributions critical to current implementations of diversity management, may provide the basis of a non-instrumental approach to diversity issues, allowing for an inclusive and participative workplace. The paper suggests that such an endeavor can be founded on the concepts of organizational virtue, care or human dignity alternatively. In this respect, a theoretical context demonstrating the very way these concepts influence and inform diversity issues, is elaborated, analyzed and properly discussed. Findings – Three distinct theoretical frameworks capturing the importance of major ethical traditions based on dignity, organizational virtue and care, for reconceptualizing diversity issues, are introduced. It is proposed that non-utilitarian philosophical ethics (and more specifically, Kantian deontology, Aristotelian virtue ethics or ethics of care) is in a position to provide a rationale for diversity policies that affirm the diverse other as a valued end. Practical implications – The authors argue that a corporation is in a position to develop ethically-informed diversity initiatives that may effectively combine performance with an affirmation of the value of the diverse other. Social implications – The authors argue that a corporation is in a position to develop ethically-informed diversity initiatives that may effectively combine performance with an affirmation of the value of the diverse other. Originality value – The paper offers certain insights into the particular conditions that may help organizations design and implement a diversity strategy facilitating thriving and fulfillment of diverse others, grounded on the priority of dignity, virtue or care respectively. Such a perspective, permeating vision, culture and leadership, is invested with a potential that overcomes the managerial instrumentality, so strongly denounced by the majority of critical diversity scholars.

Diversity Training Programme Outcomes: A Systematic Review

“…Jones et al (2013) suggested that diversity training has ethical dimensions. Gotsis and Kortezi (2013) proposed a moral framework for the design and implementation of diversity practices. They suggested three distinct frameworks focusing on dignity, organizational virtue, and care.…”

Diversity as Polyphony: Reconceptualizing Diversity Management from a Communication-Centered Perspective

“…Scholars following a 'constructive-critical' approach argue normatively that corporations should practice diversity management programs that foster the inclusion and social representation of individuals within the organization in order to fight inequality (Gotsis and Koretzi, 2013). For this purpose, constructive-critical scholars explore how diversity management practices are shaped by the 'language in use' (e.g., Zanoni, 2005, 2014;Tomlinson and Schwabenland, 2009;Van Laer and Janssens, 2011;Zanoni, 2011).…”

Moving from intersectional hostility to intersectional solidarity

“…corporate identity, as each institution, akin to an individual, is gendered, sexualised, and classed in complex and multifaceted ways. Studies on institutional intersections question practices, processes and norms in institutions leading to differentiated outcomes for people from different backgrounds (Acker, 2006;Ely, Ibarra, and Kolb, 2011;Gotsis and Kortezi, 2013). We treat intersectional identities of individuals and institutions as dynamically evolving, in a state of interplay and multifaceted, rather than settled, consistent and static phenomena.…”