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Resource
Tsui, Anne S., & Gutek, Barbara A. (1999).
Demographic Differences in Organizations: Current Research and Future Directions.
Review from the Fall 2002 GDO Newsletter
The authors hope that “this book will stimulate further research on demographic diversity
and will encourage organizations to truly ‘manage diversity’ to create more cohesive, productive,
and creative diverse groups.” Thus, the book could be used in Ph.D.-level courses, can serve as
a resource for lectures in undergraduate courses and MBA courses, and is a good source for research
literature and ideas for further research.
This book, which was one of the four finalists (selected from 35 nominations) for the Terry Book Award, Academy of Management, 2000, addresses the basic question of how demographic differences between and among individuals in an organization influence their attitudes and behavior toward each other and toward the organization as a whole.
The book focuses on the influence of one’s demographic characteristics in relation to others’ rather than one’s own demographic profile per se. The issue is not about being a female, a non-white, or an older employee; it is about the reactions of people who are different from their coworkers in specific demographic attributes. A major distinction between this book and other books written on diversity is its focus on the reactions of all employees, rather than just the numerical or the social minority.
The book analyzes the social psychology of diversity by drawing on relevant theories to explain when, how, and why certain individual reactions or responses will occur. The discussion draws heavily on research on the concepts of similarity-attraction, social-identity, and self-categorization as well as the literature on organizational demography and diversity conducted in both laboratory and field settings. By bringing together and integrating the literatures on diversity and demography, the book offers both a deeper and a broader understanding of the issue.
Contents of the Book
Chapters 1 to 4:
- define the problem and domain
- review three analytical approaches to demographic analysis in organizations
- define the psychological meaning of demography
- provide an overview of twenty research studies on organizational demography
Chapters 5 to 8:
- review the existing research on and consider the implications of demographic diversity in dyads,
small groups, organizations, and the international arena
Chapters 9 to 12
- offer an integrative theoretical framework, which can be the basis for further theoretical and empirical research
- provide some practical strategies for managing diversity at all levels – at the personal, dyad, group and organizational levels
- identify many critical issues and offer many useful suggestions for future research
- acknowledge that demographic diversity is both an organizational and personal asset
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