Business Models
Our Business Models present the business case for diversity management as it effects specific business functions. Each Model includes a set of key steps to enhance diversity management and improve the firm's bottom line.
The Business Models are targetted at HR Managers and Senior Managers to assist in developing a strong business case argument to present to their CEO, their Board and their line/business managers.
Click through to brief summaries of each Model and to download or read online:
Diversity Management: The Big Picture (pdf): This Business Model provides an overview of diversity management and its importance for senior managers. Diversity and Diversity Management are defined. The key elements of the business case are summarised, namely the HR case, the knowledge firm case, the marketing case and the international business case.
Managing Diverse Human Resources Effectively: A Business Model (pdf): This Business Model outlines the business case for Diversity Management enhancing the HR function.
The HRM business case for managing diversity is simple: poor diversity management incurs costs; effective Diversity Management reduces these costs. HRM is a useful tool for implementing strategies aimed at reducing the costs associated with poor diversity management.
Diversity management can improve job satisfaction and commitment. Specifically, Diversity Management aims to reduce conflict, communication problems, a lack of cohesion, and discrimination. Diversity Management improves the bottom line.
Expatriate Management: A Business Model (pdf): This Business Model demonstrates how Diversity Management enhances expatriate performance and reduces failure. Diversity management improves the firm's bottom line by enabling international business to leverage the cross-cultural capabilities of their human resources. Culturally adept expatriate managers are superior international performers with special capabilities in partner selection, communications, building personal relations, managing corruption, and negotiating complex institutional environments in transitional economies.
Going Global: A Business Model (pdf): This Business model argues that Diversity management aids global expansion through enhanced communication, strong interpersonal networks, superior information about overseas environments, sound partner selection and greater flexibility of entry options.
Adding Value Through HRM: A business Model (pdf): This Business Model focuses on adding value through the effective management of workplace diversity. The model sets out how firms can leverage the diversity in their workforce to improve the bottom line.The Model argues that diversity benefits are not spontaneous; they require a strategic approach. When harnessed, workplace diversity produces superior problem solving, creativity, and better quality decision-making, which translate into better servicing of customers and markets, and increased business competitiveness and success.
Managing Diverse Work Teams: A Business Model (pdf): This Business Model demonstrates the role of diversity management capabilities in enabling effective teamwork.The Model argues that diverse work teams will outperform homogenous teams as they draw on a greater pool of ideas and because their interaction will produce better solutions. The challenge for business is manage diverse teams effectively so as to harness these outcomes.
The Innovation and Learning Advantage from Diversity: A Business Model (pdf):This Business Model argues that an organisation will achieve greater innovation and more effective learning through diversity management.
The model argues that situations where individuals and groups find their existing mindsets, beliefs and knowledge sets challenged will produce effective learning. This is more likely to happen when there is diverse mix of participants and in an environment in which all individuals feel their views are valued. Such learning and innovation will represent a knowledge advantage for the organisation.
Engaging Senior Managers: A Business Model (pdf): This Business Model addresses the imperative for engaging senior managers in diversity initiatives.
The Model argues that the engagement of senior management and CEOs is critical to the success of diversity management initiatives. It highlights the need for a strategic approach to diversity management, the role of senior managers as cultural agents and the importance of establishing diverse top management teams.
From Compliance to Strategy: A Business Model (pdf): This business Model focuses on the differences between legislative compliance and strategic diversity management approaches.
The Model argues that Australian organisations need to move from a compliance-based to a strategic-focussed approach to diversity management. The emphasis is on building on the existing compliance culture and developing a strategic approach by assisting managers to identify synergies and future directions and build diversity capabilities.