Featured In

Social Research Digest – December 2012

Summary

The paper provides an ethical evaluation of the debate on managing diversity within teams and organizations between equality and business case scholars. Authors’ core assertion is that equality and business case perspectives on diversity from an ethical reading appear stuck as they are based on two different moral perspectives that are difficult to reconcile with each other.

Key Findings

• It is pointed out how the arguments of equality scholars correspond with moral reasoning grounded in deontology, whereas the foundations of the business case perspective are crafted by utilitarian arguments.
• The problems associated with each diversity perspective correspond with the traditional concerns with the two moral perspectives.
• To resolve this stalemate position, it is argued that the equality versus business case debate needs to be approached from a third, less well-known moral perspective (i.e. virtue ethics).
• Authors posit that a focus on virtues can enhance equality by reducing prejudice and illustrate this by applying it to the HRM domains of recruitment and selection and of performance management.
• Subsequently, it is argued that values are key to aligning virtues with each other and with corporate strategy, delineate our values and virtues perspective on diversity, and argued why and how it can enhance organizational performance.

Author(s)

H. van Dijk, M. van Engen and J. Paauwe

Source

Journal of Business Ethics, 111 (1), 73-84

Tags: business case, diversity, equality, H. van Dijk, J. Paauwe, Journal of Business Ethics, M. van Engen, virtue ethics