‘One mirror in another’: Managing diversity and the discourse of fashion

Abstract

In this article, we report on a multi-sited ethnographic study that investigates how the discourse of fashion influenced the design and implementation of workplace diversity management programs in six organizations. These organizations, from the Canadian petroleum and insurance industries, were manipulated by an institutional field of consultants and experts into adopting relatively superficial initiatives that lacked local relevance, and produced a high level of organizational cynicism regarding diversity. In our analysis, we particularly explore one adverse effect of this discourse of fashion; that it may trigger a form of meaningless imitation by organizations adopting diversity management initiatives, resulting in superficiality and organizational cynicism. At the same time, the discourse of fashion may also hold the key to enable meaningful change, for it has a powerful influence on organizational practitioners. Our article suggests that organizations need to be aware of the institutional field, and engage with it in a manner that imbues their initiatives with local relevance, for their initiatives to contribute to meaningful organizational change.

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

“…However, as we have argued, the latter depends on the organization's capacities for structural resonance; that is, on the extent to which contextual voices become 'heard' in organizational settings. In this regard, our paper underscores the fundamental embeddedness of organizations in larger networks of societal relations (see also Pless, 1998Pless, , 1999Schultz et al, 2013) and thus stands in one line with prior works that have propagated a stronger recognition of contextual voices and discourses in diversity management (e.g., Kirby and Harter, 2003;Prasad et al, 2011).…”

“…individual voices as well as larger societal discourses 'outside' of the organization's (permeable) boundary. For instance, Prasad et al (2011) have described how practices of organizational diversity are shaped by industry-wide 'discourses of fashion'.…”

“…In particular, by building upon constructive-critical works (e.g., Prasad et al, 2011;Syed and Özbilgin, 2009;Tatli and Özbilgin, 2012), our paper marries instrumental and normative concerns of managing diversity. On the one hand, by switching the goal of diversity management to the maximization of voices and viewpoints in organizational settings, our approach can help bring diversity management practices closer to the actual aim of the business-case argument, i.e.…”

Organizations workforce demographic age preferences: multiple case-studies from Brazil

“…Sawyerr et al, 2005;Triana et al, 2012). On one hand, when one looks at the effects and practices of the diversity programs research, it is somewhat revealing the lack of concern with attaining a more balanced organizational demography inside companies (Demuijnck, 2009;Dobbin et al, 2011;Kalev et al, 2006;Peretz et al, 2015;Prasad et al, 2011;Roundtree, 2011;Wentling, 2000). On the other hand, the barriers to diversity have been huge encompassing human, psychological, organizational and institutional dimensions (Konrad, 2006).…”

O discurso pastoral-gerencial em O monge e o executivo

“…Esse modo de "praticar" a linguagem gerencial produz novos efeitos de sentido no domínio das relações de trabalho contemporâneas e, associada a um conjunto de outras práticas discursivas e não discursivas, tem poder substancial de modificar a cultura organizacional e os modos de subjetivação do trabalhador. Com efeito, ultimamente as práticas comunicativas nas organizações vêm recebendo bastante atenção, assinalando que mudanças em processos laborais são, em parte, alcançadas por usos estratégicos de repertórios e narrativas (Wodak, Kwon, & Clarke, 2011, Fenton & Langley, 2011, Prasad, Prasad & Mir, 2010, Phillips, Sewel & Jaynes, 2008.…”