ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the different perspectives that organizations can take towards diversity in terms of their basic ideology, and their assumption about the value that diversity may have for the organization. It deals with quoting from IBM's diversity perspective, stating that "diversity goes beyond fair hiring practices and protection for all employees. The chapter focuses on how those disparate pieces fit together to create an innovative, integrated whole". It also focuses on a boundary condition that especially relevant for the success of cultural diversity at the workplace, namely, the diversity management perspective endorsed by leaders in the organization. The chapter describes differentiate diversity management perspectives and then discuss the empirical evidence that links these perspectives to relevant outcome variables. It discusses examples of the scarce empirical evidence suggesting that management perspectives that do acknowledge the value of diversity are more effective in terms of stimulating an open climate as well as favorable work processes and outcomes.
