activities raising organizational awareness for intercultural diversity

PRESERVING DIVERSITY

276 Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational Culture, Volume 3, Number S1, 2013 © 2013 Bridgepoint Education, Inc. and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/jpoc.21075

Activities Raising Organizational Awareness for Intercultural DiversityExamples from Economy by Diversity

Patricia Schuette, MA, and Jona Siebold, MA

Which activities raise organizational awareness for intercultural diversity? This was the main question of the German project Economy by Diversity. The fi rst aim of this article is to answer this question. Examples and empirical fi ndings of the project work will help illustrate the approach chosen by the project team to bring cultural diversity in small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs).

The article also discusses the usefulness of the often-criticized access–legitimacy paradigm based on the evaluation results. The project concentrates on a counseling procedure to transfer the topic of diversity into SMEs. It was evaluated using observation records and interviews with the executive board and employees. Early fi ndings indicate that the organizational executives expect fi nancial benefi ts from their concern with diversity. It is important for them to discover opportunities to link their concrete work to a topic such as diversity.

Another focus of the article is that primary access to an organization to work with the topic of diversity succeeds by concentrating on one certain diversity dimension. By including external perspectives concerning organi-zation and market, the enterprise could be pushed to refl ect its primary organizational focus. In addition, there is an organizational need for exchange and networking with individuals who have an immigrant history.

Introduction

Critical developments confront German society and aff ect the economic

system and its organizations. Social changes and challenges, particularly

demographic changes, aff ect the German population and consequently

the workforce. For example, the population is shrinking, aging, and

increasingly more diverse (Geissler, 2006; Hradil, 2006; Kaufmann, 2005).

Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational Culture, Volume 3, Number S1 • DOI: 10.1002/jpoc 277

As a consequence, there will be a lack of junior

employees and skilled workers, but also a growing

need for new customer groups (e.g., Börsch-Supan,

2011; United Nations Department of Economic

and Social Aff airs, Population Division, 2005).

For example, there are initiatives to increase the

labor force participation rate of women and older

persons. But those steps will not be enough to fi ll the

young talent gap. Th at is probably why another pop-

ulation group, persons with an immigration history,

has attracted more attention in recent years. Before

such initiatives began, this group was not targeted as

potential young talent. Now there seems to be a

growing number of activities to empower and

promote the participation and consideration of

persons with an immigration history, or a so-called

immigration background. Other developments refer

to globalization processes that lead to economic

changes and challenges. Cooperation and competi-

tion take place on international markets; therefore,

the market pressures organizations to work and act

more internationally. Also, organizational target

groups and clients are becoming more international

and diverse. In this context, ethnic or cultural diver-

sity is in company with diversity management, a

popular issue, especially in the working sphere. It is

particularly important for organizations as the main

actors to respond to social and economic challenges.

Organizations probably should be more aware of

new cultural standards, morals, and rituals if they

want to be successful in these countries and if they

are interested in competing with other organiza-

tions. Recent studies also analyze organizational

strategies in such situations (e.g., foreign assign-

ments of their managers, building subsidiaries in

foreign countries, recruiting foreign staff specialists)

(Minssen, 2009; Pohlmann & Bär, 2009; Pries, 2010).

Large German organizations respond to these

developments, but small ones do not. One potential

reason is that large organizations are often more

visible to the general public and therefore more

vulnerable to negative social evaluations from their

constituents than small- and medium-size enter-

prises (SMEs; Dowling & Pfeff er, 1975). For example,

if large multinational organizations acted in a dis-

criminatory manner toward their workforce, it

would be debated in the national German press,

and the risk of being delegitimized publicly would

be high. Another concern is that topics such as

diversity management, age management, gender

mainstreaming, and the like could be interpreted as

widespread management strategies that are adopted

predominantly in uncertain situations. (Uncertain

situations are situations in which consequences of

a decision are not clear for an organization, such as

fi nancial or social crises.) Managers then become

uncertain about decisions, for example, whether

they should invest in new management strategies,

such as human resource management. Th en they

either look at the decisions of other competing,

successful organizations and decide to imitate what

the successful organizations have done or hire busi-

ness consultants who usually advise them to adopt

strategies that successful organizations imple-

mented (Abrahamson, 1991; Benders & van Veen,

2001; DiMaggio & Powell, 1983).

Most SMEs in Germany do not have an inter-

national presence and usually do not have the

staff and fi nancial resources to implement manage-

ment strategies such as human resource

management, change management, or diversity

management. Th at is a problem because SMEs are

the majority of private economic organizations in

Germany (Institut für Mittelstandsforschung Bonn

[Institute for SME Research Bonn], 2010); more

than 60% of German employees (who are subject to

social insurance contributions) and more than 83%

of the apprentices or trainees are working in SMEs

(Institut für Mittelstandsforschung Bonn [Institute

for SME Research Bonn], 2012a). But the German

278 Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational Culture, Volume 3, Number S1 • DOI: 10.1002/jpoc

SMEs are increasingly experiencing problems

fi nding young talent (Institut für Mittelstands-

forschung Bonn [Institute for SME Research Bonn],

2012b) and new customers.

For a long time, these developments were

debated nearly exclusively within the social science

community. In the past few years, they also have

become a topic in the German sociopolitical arena.

Th e political system in Germany has initiated

a growing number of support programs that promote

organizational activities, including programs against

discrimination, inequality, and racism, particularly

in the labor market. Th ese programs usually are

managed by ministries or government departments.

Th e off ered promotion is based mainly on fi nancial

incentives to attract participants in the scientifi c

community and in the fi nancial, public, and social

work and caring sectors. Diversity in general and

especially ethnic or cultural diversity have become a

part of the political agenda at least since the Euro-

pean antidiscrimination law of 2000, which is binding

for all members of the European Union. Currently a

number of sociopolitical programs in German poli-

cies focus on the diff erent dimensions of diversity,

including gender, race or ethnicity, age, and disabil-

ity. Th e major concern of these programs is to

promote activities that raise understanding, aware-

ness, examination, and sustainable implementation

of solutions for the issues relating to diversity. Along-

side the long-term goal to sensitize societal sub-

groups, they target for-profi t and nonprofi t

organizations.

Th e federal promotion program XENOS,

which also promoted the project Economy by

Diversity, addressed intermediary organizations

able to educate disseminators for ethnic diversity,

including research or education institutes, unincor-

porated associations, consultants, and charitable

organizations (Mirbach & Schobert, 2011). Th ese

intermediaries then cooperated with nonprofi ts,

for-profi t organizations, or individuals. Th e project

team already had experience in acquiring SMEs in

previous projects, such as Nova.PE (Lehrstuhl für

Arbeitsorganisation und Arbeitsgestaltung [Chair

of Work Organization and Work Structuring],

2012). Whenever it was diffi cult to attract SMEs for

project participation, the project team saw organi-

zational access as the main problem.

Many of the German SMEs had still not

noticed the importance of topics, including diver-

sity. Th e project team of Economy by Diversity

started at this point with its scientifi c project work

and asked this question: Which activities could

raise the organizational awareness for ethnic or

cultural diversity of German SMEs, and why? Th e

main assumption from the beginning of the project

was that consideration of ethnic or cultural diver-

sity is successful if it relates to the fi nancial strat-

egy of an organization. It could also raise the

organizational awareness of ethnic or cultural

diversity. An organization is aware or sensitized if

an issue becomes part of the organizational dis-

course of the executive board and employees.

Th ese assumptions were central for the project

work. But to draw social scientifi c conclusions, they

needed to be verifi ed. Consequently, the project

team used two diff erent methods to test the assump-

tions and to answer the questions. During the

counseling procedure, the consultants kept obser-

vation records of each workshop in each participat-

ing SME. In addition to the observation records,

the social scientists on the project team conducted

interviews with the executive boards and employ-

ees of some participating organizations at the end

of the counseling procedure. Th is article presents

the main results regarding two diff erent aims. Th e

fi rst aim is to give an answer to this question: Which

activities raise the organizational awareness for

intercultural diversity? Th is is directly related to the

project practice, the counseling procedure, the


concrete project activities, and the experiences of

the organizational members. Th e results enable

drawing conclusions on a more theoretical level,

particularly with regard to the access-legitimacy

paradigm. Th at is why the second aim of the article

is to discuss the usefulness of the chosen approach

based on the project fi ndings.

Th erefore, this article is structured in the fol-

lowing way: First, the background of the XENOS

project Economy by Diversity is explained. Th en

the core working process of the project, a scientifi -

cally accompanied counseling process, is described,

explicating its four key elements. Next, the two sci-

entifi c methods of evaluation are defi ned. Th en the

main evaluation results are presented and used to

answer the main question—Which activities raise

the organizational awareness for intercultural

diversity?—and to draw conclusions on the useful-

ness of the access–legitimacy paradigm in this case.

German Economy by Diversity Project: Starting Points and Main Approach

“Why should companies concern themselves with

diversity” (Th omas & Ely, 1996, p. 79)? Th is is the

main question that relates to nearly all the sociopo-

litical programs and scientifi c debates on the subject

of diversity. Th e problem behind this question is

that the aims of sociopolitical agendas and scien-

tifi c programs tend to be high level and complex,

such as inhibiting discrimination and promoting

equal treatment from the perspective of one orga-

nization. One challenge for projects as intermedia-

tion activities between high-level programs and

organizations is to operationalize abstract ques-

tions and make them realizable. Another challenge

for these projects is to attract organizations, such

as SMEs, as project participants.

In the case of SMEs as the target participants

of the Economy by Diversity project, the project

team worked with this central assumption: SMEs

are for-profi t organizations and therefore part of

the economic system. Th eir main aim is monetary

gain, and they make decisions based on cost-profi t

calculations and fi nancial logic (Willke, 1998).

Financial logic refers to the sociological systems

theory of the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann

(1984), who hypothesized that every social system

has its own language and its own code for com-

munication. Every system understands its specifi c

code. Consequently, the diff erent systems—such as

the economic system (code: pay–not pay), the law

system (code: legal–illegal), or the scientifi c system

(code: true–untrue)—do not understand each

other. For a mutual understanding, communication

processes and information have to be translated

into the specifi c code of one system. Th is is what

intermediary organizations could do. Accordingly,

they could also translate sociopolitical issues,

including diversity in general or ethnic diversity,

into the fi nancial logic or language of an organiza-

tion. In this context, the project Economy by Diver-

sity tried to break down areas of diversity concerning

the German labor market for SMEs. It did this by

focusing on organizations that were not working

with these areas but were interested in trying to

change. Th e main assumption for this project was

that organizations become more aware of issues

surrounding diversity if they are appropriate and

relevant to their concrete questions and problems

within the operational context. Th e main idea is

that before diversity will be part of the organiza-

tional actions, diversity should relate to the fi nan-

cial logic of an organization to sensitize the company

for the diversity of its own diverse workforce. Con-

sequently, it has to be translated into the economic

language. Th e project approach was based on the

access–legitimacy paradigm, illustrated by this

quotation: “Diversity isn’t just fair; it makes busi-

ness sense” (Th omas & Ely, 1996, p. 83). In other


words, dealing with the topic of diversity in a notice-

ably multicultural society helps organizations not

only to respect diverse workforces and their chal-

lenges but also to recognize diverse customer

groups as new potential target groups from which

to earn revenue.

Th e term intercultural diversity can be defi ned

as “any mixture of items characterized by diff er-

ences and similarities” (Th omas, 1995, p. 246),

which in this case is based on ethnicity and culture.

Th e term intercultural stands for dynamism, vari-

ability, and constructiveness. Intercultural diver-

sity results from a situation in which at least two

diff erent cultures with all of their diff erences and

similarities communicate to each other and infl u-

ence each other. Th e result of this situational com-

munication process is a new interculture as the

diff erent communicating cultures mix (according

to the defi nition from the Institut für interkul-

turelle Kompetenz und Didaktik [Institute for

Intercultural Competence and Teaching], 2012).

Two reasons explain the choice of this per-

spective for the Economy by Diversity project.

First, the project organizations were SMEs in the

German Ruhr area1 that usually did not react to

normative, sociopolitical, legal, and coercive argu-

ments and demands to deal with the topic of

diversity. Th e SME executives often argue that

they do not have enough personnel, fi nancial

resources, or time to engage in an “add-on” topic

such as intercultural diversity, meaning in addition

to their daily work. Examples from large organiza-

tions indicated that management strategies were

not seen as helpful, as they were too expensive

and complex. Executive boards found it hard to

say what their goals were and where to start.

Th erefore, the project team argued that it could be

profi table to deal with one certain dimension of

diversity and within two concrete organizational

sectors, workforce and marketing.

Second, most SMEs in the German Ruhr area

do not see the need to cope with diversity at this

time. Th e main reason is that they usually do not

have an overview of the social developments of the

markets surrounding them. Th ey just have heard

something about the demographic changes. Th ey

were never confronted with demographic chal-

lenges, including the lack of upcoming young

talent. Th ey do not even know if they ever will be

aff ected by them in near future.

A project team consisting of social scientists

(from the Ruhr-University of Bochum) and busi-

ness consultants from a consultancy of Bochum

(Buescher Kuntscher Piorr Gesellschaft bürgerli-

chen Rechts, or Buescher Kuntscher Piorr civil law

association) worked together to integrate a theo-

retical and a practical perspective on intercultural

diversity in organizations. Th ey developed a coun-

seling process particularly for German SMEs to

bring the topic of intercultural diversity into the

organization. It was designed utilizing sci entifi c

support and constructed with four key elements:

interior view of the organization, specialized market

research, pointed concepts, and networking.

Counseling Procedure: Four Key Elements to Raise Organizational Awareness of Intercultural Diversity

Th e counseling procedure consists of 15 work-

shops in each company. It aims to initiate sustain-

able working conditions, particularly around

intercultural diversity. Th e project team decided

to concentrate on one dimension of diversity,

intercultural diversity, because it was perceived to

off er greater access and success. Th e basic idea

was that a consultant could work as an intermedi-

ary to connect the society and certain social devel-

opments, such as demographic changes, with the

organization and organizational developments. In


the medium term, the process should sensitize

and activate the participating organizations con-

cerning intercultural developments and challenges

with the help of consultants. In the long term, the

organizations should be able and willing to work

on these topics without external help. Th e process

integrated the four main elements:

1. Interior view of the organization

2. Specialized market research

3. Pointed concepts

4. Networking

Th e breaking points should function as lightbulb

moments and aff ect the organizational perception

and awareness of intercultural diversity.

Step 1: Interior View of the OrganizationTh e process started by analyzing the deeper insight

of each organization. Th e aim of this phase was to

refl ect organizational structures, the communica-

tion and service process with the customer in

which employees have direct contact to their

target groups, and the internal description of the

target group. Other important points were the

presence in the market and the unique features of

each enterprise. Th e consultants analyzed these

factors to identify new perspectives for the orga-

nization linked with the topic of intercultural

diversity. Th e business consultants concentrated

on this dimension because it was believed that an

organization would be more open to work on one

specifi c aspect than on the whole, complex concept

of diversity. In this step, the executives of each

organization had the opportunity to refl ect on the

organizational structures and processes and to

connect them with the dimensions of intercultural

diversity. Th at was interesting and new for them

and could be helpful for their business. Th ey had

to formulate which information they needed to

work on the topic of diversity and to integrate it

into the organization.

Step 2: Specialized Market ResearchTh e thoughts and expectations of executives and

employees concerning intercultural diversity and

potential links to their organization were the

groundwork for specialized market research by the

social scientists on the project team. Th e main

assumption behind this step was that the organiza-

tions could not identify the important aspects from

the mass of information concerning intercultural

diversity and other organizational aspects on their

own. On one hand, the organizational executives

and members do not know where to start searching

for what is important. On the other hand, they do

not have the time or the money to fi lter the infor-

mation they need, nor do they have the committed

engagement to pay professional market researchers

to do it. Th erefore, they usually work without such

analysis. Th e social scientists from the Ruhr-Uni-

versity of Bochum analyzed social facts and dis-

courses, qualitative and quantitative empirical

studies, theoretical literature, normative and legal

arguments, and demands concerning the particular

expectations in each organization. Th e collected

information was combined, analyzed, and pre-

sented in unifi ed subject areas, including social

developments in the direct and indirect environ-

ment; information about the regional population,

regional specialties and opportunities for network-

ing with other organizations in the diversity fi eld;

information about directly competing organiza-

tions; and others, with a special focus on intercul-

tural diversity. Th e information was summarized

and presented in front of the exe cutive board and

some employees of each orga nization. Th e social

scientists translated the mass of data into concrete

information for the organizations.


Step 3: Pointed ConceptsTh is step is directly linked to the specialized

market research. Th e summarized information

within the specialized market research was aimed

at providing central messages and recommended

actions concerning intercultural diversity for each

enterprise. Th e recommendations referred to dif-

ferent organizational activities and potential orga-

nizational changes, including targeting diff erent

customer groups by changing the organization’s

Web presence and other information materials

using diff erent languages to attract customers in

addition to German and English, such as Russian

and Turkish. Recommendations also included

developing intercultural training for the organiza-

tion’s workforce and networking with other

regional organizations (step 4). Th e main aims of

the pointed concepts are listed in Table 1.

Step 4: NetworkingNetworking was the fi nal element after the organi-

zational decision was made to start the mentioned

activities with the help of the project team. Th e

idea of this step was that an organization could use

the opportunity to connect to other regional

organizations for information exchange or even

cooperation within the diversity fi eld. Th e organi-

zations could implement intercultural diversity

more easily if they talked to so-called immigration

organizations that are aware of pro blems and chal-

lenges of intercultural diversity in the region but

are also well-integrated experts of the ethos that

could report on their experiences with German

society and on prospects and successes. In this

context, the term immigration organizations refers

to self-help organizations founded by immigrants

who have lived in Ger many for a long time. Th ese

persons have had critical experiences with the

German system, particularly in the labor market,

usually because of their ethnic background. Th ey

try to help and support other immigrants of the

same ethnicity in Germany with a variety of prob-

lems, such as language problems. Th e project team

called these individuals experts of the ethos because

they know the diffi culties, challenges, and oppor-

tunities related to a specifi c ethnic context. Th e

idea was that they could work with the project

SMEs and help them understand the diff erent areas

of intercultural diversity on the organizational and

the individual side.

Table 1Aims of the Pointed Concepts

Display relevant facts for an enterprise; e.g.: allocation of previously unaddressed customer groups.

Combine these facts with cost/benefi t aspects; e.g.: the spending power of specifi c customer groups.

Enable organizational refl ection loops; e.g.: whether it is profi table for an organization to address new customer groups and what is needed for that.

Activate and follow up on the organization to check on its specifi c decision and selection logic on the basis of facts.

Make a clear decision as to whether the organization is able and willing to start concrete activities to work on the topic of intercultural diversity.


Th ese four elements aimed to raise the orga-

nizational awareness for intercultural diversity in

general in an enterprise. Th e scientifi c researchers

of the Ruhr-University of Bochum analyzed obser-

vation records, which were written for every

workshop of the counseling procedure. Th ey also

conducted interviews with the executives and

with employees of some of the organizations. Th e

results of the evaluation answer the question of

which activities have an impact on organizational

awareness for intercultural diversity.

Methods to Evaluate the Effects of the Counseling Process

To refl ect the complete counseling procedure in the

companies in as much detail as possible, two diff er-

ent evaluation methods were implemented. At fi rst,

documents of the counseling process were ana-

lyzed. Every workshop of the counseling procedure

was documented using the observation records.

Th ese records documented in detail which recom-

mendations were developed, how the company had

processed these recommendations, and how the

company implemented these recommendations.

Moreover, the observation records were important

instruments for the companies to refl ect on the

process and to see which steps need to be taken

next. Th e observation records thus allow a clear and

detailed view of the changes in the organizations.

Th e second important component of the eval-

uation and documentation are the interviews in

some of the participating companies with the ex-

ecutives and employees who were involved in the

project. Only some of the organizations were

chosen because the project team worked with en-

terprises from the social and caring sector, handi-

craft enterprises, and advertising agencies. It was

possible to cluster them and after that to choose

one organization from each cluster. Th e interviews

were conducted in a later phase of the project to

refl ect on the overall counseling procedure and

to evaluate the project. Guided interviews gave

interviewees scope for their answers and allowed

detailed inquiries if necessary. Th e interviews were

divided into two parts: In the fi rst part, questions

regarding the project and the counseling process

were asked; in the second part, general questions

regarding the topic of intercultural diversity in

organizations and the importance of this theme

for executives and employees were asked.

In the analysis of the observation records and

the interviews, the methods described later in this

article were applied to the analysis of expert inter-

views (Meuser & Nagel, 2003). In the analyses, the

operational context of the interviewed people

received certain relevance because the interview

statements were seen in the context of their

institutional-organizational framework. Th e com-

parability of the interviews is given by the common

identical interview guideline and the commonly

shared institutional-organizational context of the

interviewed executives and employees. Prior to

the analysis, the audio recordings of the interviews

were transcribed; the method ensured that only

the thematically relevant interview segments were

transcribed.2 Subsequently, the relevant parts were

thematically classifi ed and then compared to illus-

trate similarities and diff erences in the statements

(Meuser & Nagel, pp. 488f ).

Th e observation records and the interviews

combined give a detailed picture of the counseling

procedure and thereby refl ect initial indications of

which activities have an impact on organizational

awareness for intercultural diversity.

Results

Th e results of the evaluation verify the main

assumption that dealing with the issue of


intercultural diversity should relate to the fi nancial

strategy of an organization to become part of the

organizational strategy. One of the fi rst fi ndings

shows that for most companies, the economic or

fi nancial benefi t represents the central motive to

deal with intercultural diversity as a relevant issue

for the company. Most executives therefore put

economic outcomes before other aspects. For

example, as the executive director of enterprise 6

asked: “Is there a market that is profi table to

develop?”

Th erefore, the exploration of new and profi t-

able markets in the future and the question of how

to appeal to new customer groups has been the

most convincing reason to participate in the

project and to consider the issue of diversity

overall. In this regard, most of the market research

was likely to provide signifi cant incentives, and in

consideration of intercultural aspects the question

of whether there are new markets which are pro-

fi table to develop was answered. Th e market

research and the question of how to appeal to new

customer groups also led the companies to deal

with aspects of intercultural diversity (e.g., notice

cultural diff erences, rites, and rituals) in their

environment, whereby the initial economic motive

changed over time and the companies’ approach

with respect to intercultural diversity achieved a

new and diff erent quality. As the deputy executive

director of enterprise 3 said, “Th e employees are

more likely to be aware of intercultural diversity

now.”

Th e next example shows how the process of

sensitization partially expired: Th e market research

and the interior view of enterprise 3 showed that

the region of the company has a signifi cant propor-

tion of workers with a Turkish immigration back-

ground; however, this is not refl ected in

the customer segment. Th e information of new

markets and the issues that only a few Turks are

among their general customers added to the eco-

nomic-focused perspective on the issue of inter-

cultural diversity. To tap the new market and to

off er the company’s services to the Turkish popula-

tion, various activities were carried out. In addi-

tion to the translation of the homepage into

Turkish and providing a direct contact person

for Turkish customers (development of language

skills), employees were trained to deal with inter-

cultural diff erences.

Th e example shows that the debate on the

issue of intercultural diversity was fi rst seen regard-

ing fi nancial benefi t aspects only. Due to various

market opportunities, which were shown during

the counseling procedure, a discourse was initi-

ated, and diff erentiated viewpoints and new per-

spectives arose, which fi nally led to organizational

awareness concerning intercultural diversity. A key

point here was that the discourse of intercultural

diversity was closely associated with the daily oper-

ations of the company. Because current issues and

topics of the organization (e.g., fi nding suitable

new employees or the expansion into new markets)

were linked to the theme of intercultural diversity,

the theme was more tangible and comprehensible

for employees, leading to intercultural diversity

becoming part of the organizational logic. Only

under these conditions could the executives rec-

ognize the importance of intercultural diversity

and appreciate its relevance for their own company.

To ensure a comprehensible approach, the

counseling procedure fi rst focused on one specifi c

diversity dimension, in this case intercultural

diversity, instead of bringing all diversity dimen-

sions or a general understanding of diversity in at

once. Using many diff erent diversity dimensions

would make the issue of intercultural diversity

abstract for the organization and would strain the

organizational workfl ow. Th e broad aspect of

diversity with all its dimensions is too abstract to


be directly tied with the organizational strategy

and everyday workfl ow. It is also too theoretical to

be fully comprehended by company employees

and therefore would not be adapted into their

work activities. A single special dimension gains

access for the company in regard to the topic and

raises the awareness for intercultural diversity.

Th is inductive approach then allows for other

diversity dimensions to be added and connected

to the company’s overall strategy.

Another important result is that, especially

with the external view supplied by the consultants

and their refl ection on the insights gained, the

project fi rst created irritation within the company

but then led to refl ection on its procedures and

activities. Th e external perspectives helped execu-

tives see their companies’ blind spots and made

them refl ect on decision processes and area of

operations. As the executive director of enterprise

6 explained:

Th e external perspective supports us to

understand where the company stands at

this point in time.

When the results of the external analysis of

the organization (the external view on organiza-

tional structures and actions) was presented to the

executives and the employees of the enterprise,

many of the companies were more likely to work

out their core competencies, to understand how

their core business and diversity could be com-

bined, and to understand how the latter could

support economic outcomes. Finally, the results

show that there is great demand for exchange and

networking with experts on the ethos to learn

more about their expectations of the company.

Th e counselors and companies fi gured out that

this could be solved through multiplicators or rep-

resentatives from various ethnic groups. Th e

exchange represents a great opportunity for both

parties to learn more about and benefi t from each

other. Again, the demands and requirements of

the ethnic group were reported back to the com-

panies, and the companies were able to learn about

their customers’ needs directly, which created

awareness, especially on the company side, on

intercultural diversity. Th e exchange is a central

factor to guarantee that the awareness process

becomes sustainable.

Conclusion

Th e fi rst aim of this article was to answer the ques-

tion: Which activities have an impact on organi-

zational awareness for intercultural diversity? To

answer this question, we accessed the approach

and fi ndings from the Economy by Diversity

project. Th e main assumption of the project is that

the implementation of intercultural diversity is

successful if it ties to the economic strategy of an

organization, which leads the company to more

awareness of intercultural diversity as verifi ed by

the results of the evaluation. Five key points to

raise awareness for cultural diversity in organiza-

tions can be defi ned:

1. Th e economic or fi nancial benefi t is one

main reason for SMEs to deal with

the issue of intercultural diversity. Th e

discovery of new, profi table markets

and attracting new customers proved

to be an important reason. Th rough the

economic approach, the issue of inter-

cultural diversity relates to the organi-

zation. It was also apparent that the

initial economic motive changed over

time, and perception and approach to

inter cultural diversity have changed and

acquired a new and diff erent quality for

the organizations.


2. Dealing with intercultural diversity is

not perceived as an add-on topic for the

organization. SMEs usually have neither

the time nor the fi nancial and personnel

resources to work on a complex topic in

addition to their main work. It could be

essential to embed the topic into the

organizational context and to point out

benefi ts for the daily work. Th e activity

with intercultural diversity has to be

associated with the daily operations

and problems of the organization. Only

if intercultural diversity relates to the

operational context of the organization

companies can recognize the impor-

tance of the matter of intercultural

diversity, which will lead to intercultural

diversity becoming part of the organiza-

tional action.

3. Concentrating on one certain diversity

dimension (e.g. intercultural diversity)

leads to an organization’s success on the

topic of diversity. Th e direct processing

of several diversity dimensions would

be too abstract and complex for an

organization. Th is inductive approach

allows the processing of a single diver-

sity dimension and thus could allow

other diversity dimension elements to

be considered later.

4. External perspectives helped the orga-

nizations’ executives and employees see

their own blind spots and made them

refl ect on the organizations’ respective

primal organizational focus and assum p-

tions. Th e organizations were capable of

working out their core competencies in

association with intercultural diversity.

But the most important condition for

organizational refl ection was the trans-

lation of social discourses and needed

information into the economic language

(e.g., the translation of social transfor-

mation processes into economic facts

and fi gures). As a result, it could be

assumed that an organization needs an

external translator (e.g., a scientist or a

consultant) who analyzes, combines,

and translates all the information that it

needs to decide to make a change.

5. Th e evaluation fi ndings indicated that

there is a sizable organizational need

for exchange and networking with

experts on ethos. Only through regular

exchanges and dialogue, the company

experienced the changing customer

needs and reacted much better to them.

Th e exchange with experts on ethos is

an important element that the aware-

ness for intercultural diversity is eff ec-

tive and sustainable in the company.

Th e second aim of the article was to draw

conclusions from the evaluation results on the

usefulness of the access–legitimacy paradigm. It is

probably useful under certain conditions. Th e

approach is useful to activate SMEs to think and

talk about new topics, such as diversity and optimal

connections with an organization. An important

reason is that SMEs are forced by circumstances

(less staff and less money than large organizations)

to make decisions primarily based on fi nancial

or economic costs and profi ts reasons, such as

organizational changes or consideration of a new

issue. SMEs could also be open to other social

arguments.

A main problem of the approach is that there is

a risk that a new topic is given just superfi cial atten-

tion without considering challenges and diffi culties.


Th omas and Ely (1996) state, “Access-and-legitimacy

organizations tend to emphasize the role of cultural

diff erences in a company without really analyzing

those diff erences to see how they actually aff ect the

work that is done” (p. 83). Th at means diversity, dif-

ferences, and similarities dependent on culture, eth-

nicity, gender, religion, and so on could be reduced

to fi nancial considerations.

However, to draw a fi nal conclusion on this

approach, access and legitimacy could be only the

fi rst step for accessing an organization and activating

it to think and talk about diversity or the diff erences

and similarities of its workforce and its customer

groups. To become an eff ective part of organiza-

tional awareness and organizational actions for sus-

tainable work on intercultural diversity, the next step

could be a learning process. An organization that is

aware of its diversity could be more successful if it is

aware that diversity is not only composed of diff er-

ences but also of similarities, and if it learns to inter-

nalize that div ersity even after realizing short-term

fi nancial benefi ts. ◆

Notes1. Th e German Ruhr area is a special area in the west

of Germany that contains many industrial companies.

Th e area consists of diff erent cities near the Ruhr

River: Bochum, Bottrop, Dortmund, Duisburg, Essen,

Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Hamm, Herne, Mülheim an der

Ruhr und Oberhausen, Recklinghausen, Unna, Wesel,

and Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis.

2. Th e decision as to which parts or sections of the

interviews were transcribed depended on the guided

research question (Meuser & Nagel, 2003, p. 488).

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Patricia Schuette, MA, is a researcher at the chair of work organization and work structuring at the Institute for Applied Work Science of Ruhr-University of Bochum. She is involved in research focusing on cultural diversity

and demographic change, organizational change, German police organizations, and homeland security. She may be reached at [email protected].

Jona Siebold, MA, is a researcher at the chair of work organization and work structuring of the Institute for Applied Work Science at Ruhr-University Bochum. He is involved in research focusing on cultural diversity and demographic change and discrimination in the labor market. He may be reached at [email protected].

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