Why organizational and community diversity matter: Representativeness and the Emergence of Incivility and Organizational Performance

Eden B. King, Jeremy Dawson, Michael West, Veronica Gilrane, Chad I. Peddie, Lucy Bastin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Integrating sociological and psychological perspectives, this research considers the value of organizational ethnic diversity as a function of community diversity. Employee and patient surveys, census data, and performance indexes relevant to 142 hospitals in the United Kingdom suggest that intraorganizational ethnic diversity is associated with reduced civility toward patients. However, the degree to which organizational demography was representative of community demography was positively related to civility experienced by patients and ultimately enhanced organizational performance. These findings underscore the understudied effects of community context and imply that intergroup biases manifested in incivility toward out-group members hinder organizational performance.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1103-1118
Number of pages6
JournalAcademy of Management Journal
Volume54
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2011

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