Gestione della diversità. Modelli ed evidenze empiriche

The importance of diversity management subjects is growing more and more in these last years, because migration phenomena, business internationalization and globalization create a diverse workforce. The main objective of this research is to identify which are the major and necessary requirements to implement diversity management policies in organizations successfully. The research project is divided into four steps. First of all a preliminary and extensive literary review has been realized. It has allowed defining the subjects of biological, social and economic diversities and of diversity management, their main streams of research and their key characteristics. Then it has been possible to map and to classify the main models for diversity management. The models are characterized by the typology of diversity policies implemented and by the types of diversity managed (gender or cultural diversities). The analysis of models allows highlighting an important research gap: the all models analyzed study marginally the necessary requirements to manage diversity successfully. This gap draws this research in that direction. In the second step of analysis it has been realized a second literary review dedicated to the major elements which are the main requirements to manage diversity efficiently. This second literary analysis allows identifying organizational culture, integration cultural values and the managerial skills as main requirements. Afterwards the theoretical model of study for this research has been carried on. This model has guided the empirical research. The model is made up of three variables identified in literature: organizational culture, integration cultural values and managerial skills. Among these variables some causal relations have been hypothesized. Also the causal relations have been verified in the empirical research. The theoretical model of study is made up of other two variables – diversity integration instruments and organizational implementation of diversity. These last two variables haven’t been studied in this research because they are much more analyzed in the existent literature. In order to verify the validity of the model, of its variables and of the causal hypothesized relations among variables, it has been conducted an empirical research. The research methodology is the multiple case studies, while the semi-structured interview and questionnaire are the instruments utilized for data collection. The companies involved in the research project are four important international and multinational ones. The research unit of case studies is the multicultural working groups, located in Italy or in foreign countries. The empirical research was articulated into two phases. The fist one is a preliminary analysis realized by semi-structured interviews directed to human resource managers. It allows testing that organizational culture, integration cultural values and managerial skills are the major requirements for implementing diversity management policies successfully. The study of some multicultural working groups of companies was the second phase of empirical research; data collection instrument was the questionnaire. The data collected have been analyzed with SPSS®. In order to test the model, it has been developed a measurement model with the statistical techniques as linear bivariate correlation and linear multiple regression. The two phases of empirical research allow obtaining important results of research with both theoretical and managerial implications: from the theoretical point of view: it has been verified that organizational culture, integration cultural values and managerial skills are the major requirements to implement diversity management policies successfully and efficiently; the validity of theoretical model of study has been verified empirically as well; from the managerial point of view: the research allows identifying the best organizational culture and managerial skills that facilitate the introduction of an organizational culture of integration.