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Extreme Diversity

Author

Listed:
  • Gary OSTER

    (School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship, Regent University Virginia Beach, USA)

Abstract

During the past decade, most corporations have made considerable efforts to become more efficient, or better. Frenzied global competition and the recent economic downturn have revealed that efficiency efforts have limitations, and corporations must also become different. That difference is their capacity to innovate. Innovation is based on a continuous stream of new and fresh ideas that come from a diverse cadre of employees. Corporations historically have believed that a uniform workforce promotes harmony, unity, and efficiency, and have relied on homosocial reproduction and innovation antibodies to maintain the traditional corporate trajectory. This paper contends that the scope of diversity present in a corporation’s employee base and the volume of valuable innovative ideas bubbling up from inside the company are correlated. In order to more fully leverage the broad expertise of an intentionally diverse workforce, organizations may wish to consider reorganization, refocusing compensation from individuals to teams, and expanding institutional learning programs. To effectively lead an appropriately diverse organization, executives must provide clear objectives supported by simple metrics, encourage employees to focus their extraordinary capabilities on customers and on worthwhile experiments to ascertain customer needs, and to channel and productively use creative abrasion that naturally occurs between talented people to propel corporate innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Gary OSTER, 2011. "Extreme Diversity," REVISTA DE MANAGEMENT COMPARAT INTERNATIONAL/REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 12(1), pages 18-29, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:rom:rmcimn:v:12:y:2011:i:1:p:18-29
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    File URL: https://www.rmci.ase.ro/no12vol1/02.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Scott E. Page, 2007. "Prologue to The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies," Introductory Chapters, in: The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies, Princeton University Press.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    diversity; extreme diversity; innovation; homosocial reproduction; innovation antibodies.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • M19 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Other

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