Effects of perceived diversity on perceived organizational performance. Mediating role of perceived organizational justice
| Pages | 1079-1097 |
| Date | 02 August 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-05-2018-0150 |
| Published date | 02 August 2019 |
| Author | Riffat Blouch,Malik Faisal Azeem |
| Subject Matter | Hr & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
Effects of perceived
diversity on perceived
organizational performance
Mediating role of perceived
organizational justice
Riffat Blouch and Malik Faisal Azeem
Department of Management Sciences,
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between constructs of employee
perception of diversity (EPD) and perceived organizational performance (POP) through components of
organizational justice over different hierarchal levels and also across the private and public healthcare sector
organizations. Additionally, this study also examines whether employees from diverse backgrounds vary in
their perceptions regarding diversity in healthcare sector of Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach –Data were collected from primary sources, that is medical, paramedical
and administrative staff (different designations) of both public and private hospitals for analyzing the results.
The overall population consisted of 250 respondents and the hypotheses were tested using two-way ANOVA
and CAUSALMED procedures. The data were collected during the course of three months in different time
slots from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Statistical Analysis Software was used to analyze the data.
Findings –Findings indicate that regardless of their gender or categories, employees recognize diversity
positively, but their responses have significant difference over the hierarchal levels. Furthermore, it is found
that EPD is positively linked to the POP, and the relationship gets stronger in the presence of perceived
organizational justice (POJ).
Research limitations/implications –The study was confined to the healthcare sector, so further studies
can be conducted in other sectors. The present study checked the impact of POJ, but other important
reasonable factors that can intervene in the relationship between perceived diversity and POP can be studied,
such as organizational commitment.
Practical implications –First of all, it is dispensable for the organizations to ensure the positive perception
of these initiatives from employees to implement the diversity programs. Second, the management must
ensure the presence of all groups of employees to get the right responses for the diversity management
initiatives. Third, the healthcare industry of Pakistan needs to be assessed in the context of current study and
diversity initiatives should be taken in hiring and retention of the employees.
Originality/value –The presence of employees of healthcare industry across the sector over hierarchal
levels will absolutely add value to the existing knowledge on diversity, diversity management, management
theory and practice.
Keywords Diversity, Organizational performance, Perception, Healthcare industry, Designation,
Perceived organizational justice
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Among the majorchallenges in the world, managing workforce diversity has becomea major
challenge for management. According to Jayne and Dipboye (2004), the concept of workforce
diversityhas originated from an emphasis on legallyprotected human aspectssuch as gender,
race and age to a much wider description that comprises of the complete band of human
differences. These similarities and dissimilarities can be seen on the basis of age, physical
abilities,race, sex, etc. Kundu and Mor(2017) stated that diversityis not just about how people
distinguish themselves, but how they think of others too. However, if the employees in any
organization are ethnically diverse then managing diversity becomes indispensible for an
organization (Kundu and Mor, 2017). Due to the changing composition of the workforce, the
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 41 No. 5, 2019
pp. 1079-1097
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-05-2018-0150
Received 30 May 2018
Revised 21 December 2018
11 March 2019
Accepted 1 April 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
1079
Effects of
perceived
diversity
on POP
perception of diversity has become a strategic priority. Thus, to get the sustainable
competitiveadvantage over rival (Süβand Kleiner, 2007) and to be attractive organization for
the competent and talented pool (Foster and Harris, 2005; Ng and Bu rke, 2005), an organization
must needto focus on the concept of diversitymanagement. According to the studyby Saxena
(2014), in today’s competitive world, a diverse workforce is considered as a valuable asset.
The recent overviews, that is research works of Broadbridge and Simpson (2011), show
that the topic of gender and management has received considerable research attention
(Vanderbroeck and Wasserfallen, 2017). Organizations that can better understand their
customer needs can provide superior services and this can be understood appropriately if
they have a diverse workforce (Wentling and Palma-Rivas, 2000), and one of the best ways
to capture the niche market and the diversified segment is to include women and minorities
in the workforce (Fleury et al., 1999). According to Barak and Levin (2002), the more an
employee perceives diversity management, the more positive impact will be seen on
organization’s performance. The perception of diversity is an important indicator in order to
be competitive in the market (Harrison and Sin, 2006; Patrick and Kumar, 2012; Pitts, 2009).
According to Balogun et al. (2014), perceived organizational justice (POJ) is a subjective
state in which people compare themselves with the other people in their surroundings. Yang
and Konrad (2011) considered diversity management the best way to achieve fairness and
organizational justice (OJ). Diversity management is very important to get along with the
social norms and to achieve justice. OJ cannot be achieved without having diversity
management measures (Yang and Konrad, 2011). Therefore, POJ is a very important tool for
organizational performance enhancement (Kavanagh et al., 2007; Korkaew Jankingthong,
2012; Blader and Tyler, 2003; Bies, 2009; Yang and Konrad, 2011).
Starting from the relationship of demographic dimensions with the perception of
diversity and firm performance, the current study examines the effect of employees’
perception of diversity (employees’receptivity of diversity, diversity management and the
practices owned by the organization to support diversity) on the firm performance through
the mediation of OJ. This study measured the perceptual components of diversity and firms’
performance in subjective terms by following the works of Allen et al. (2007) and Kundu and
Mor (2017). It was important to choose Pakistan for the current study, because it is the sixth
largest country (population wise) in the world and is expected to be the fourth world’s
largest populous country by 2050 (Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 2017). In countries like
Pakistan, socially constructed gender norms are different for men and women, indicating a
“different lives”philosophy for men and women. These norms have a great influence on the
position of women in the society, and they effect women’s development in all facets of life
(Skalsky and McCarthy, 2009). It is seen that in most parts of the country, the mobility and
the abilities of women to contribute toward the prosperity of the country are undermined in
the name of social pressure, owing to the male-dominated society (Khattak and Ridley-Duff,
2014). Thus, diversity initiatives are very important in Pakistan. Extracted from the past
literature, the current study primarily focuses upon the gender and educational dimension
of diversity. The healthcare sector has been facing greater diversity issues than any other
sector in Pakistan; therefore, considering the greater need for managing diversity, the
current study was conducted in this sector.
In order to fill the gap and to respond to the work of Kundu and Mor (2017), the current
study attempts to investigate whether POJ mediates the relationship between employee
perceptions of diversity and perceived organizational performance (POP) over different
hierarchal levels and across the private and public healthcare sectors. It also attempts to
examine whether the perceptions of diversity vary among employees from different
backgrounds in the healthcare industry of Pakistan. The current study addresses the
relationship between three main variables, that is employee perception of diversity (EPD) as
an independent variable, POJ as a mediating variable and POP as a dependent variable.
1080
ER
41,5
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