Inclusion over diversity? The relationship between team diversity and team performance and the role of a collectivist organisational culture Dilyana Penkova

Abstract

Organisations nowadays make efforts to achieve higher staff diversity without questioning how diversity affects the performance of their employees. Although the diversity-performance relationship has been repeatedly empirically addressed, there has been insufficient research exploring the interaction between (perceived) diversity and organisational culture, especially alongside the collectivism/individualism dimension. Filling this literature gap, the current study assessed the influence of perceived diversity on perceived team performance as well as performance-related outcomes (work engagement and team member satisfaction) and whether such influence was moderated by perceived organisational culture. No evidence for a (perceived) diversity-performance relationship was found based on a multinational sample (N=129). Unexpectedly, a significant positive relationship was found between a collectivist organisational culture and all three performance outcomes. This relationship was mediated by organisational identification for work engagement and team member satisfaction but not for perceived team performance. Thus, inclusion through a collectivist organisational culture seemed to be more important for improvement in all team outcomes than team diversity per se. The findings are discussed in terms of the sample characteristics and future avenues for research are suggested.