Innoversity Network

Innoversity Network

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WHAT IS DIVERSITY?

Diversity is a social construction used for describing and working with organisations where members are characterised as being different from each other, on cognitive and technical (techne) dimensions. The diversity concept is characterised as rather complex due to the dilemma inherent in the very nature of the concept: being considered both an asset and a liability, and as both beneficial and detrimental to organisational cohesiveness (Sessa, Jackson & Rapini, 1995; Sessa & Jackson, 1995).

This diversity dilemma is essentially what the Innoversity Paradox (IP) - described in the introduction – is based upon. In order to find a way around this Innoversity Paradox, we need to understand the diversity dilemma inherent in the Innoversity Paradox, which is what this chapter sets out to do. Dealing with diversity necessitates dealing with the diversity dilemma.By making use of this process view provided by Raghuram & Garud (1996), and use their dimensions – although here labelled as techne and cognition – diversity may be defined as follows:

Diversity is created by the individual who, on the basis of his/her different social identities, categorises others as similar (pertaining to ingroups) or dissimilar (pertaining to outgroups). The differences established this way, in the relationships between individuals, manifest themselves in diversity in techne and/or cognition. For this reason diversity should not only be determined in terms of different static demographic differences, but as a social construction created by the members of a given collective, seen to direct the way members of the organisation act (techne) and interact (slj).

By claiming this definition Innoversity proposes that being woman, black and homosexual in an otherwise male and heterosexual organisation, does not in itself affect how an individual acts and interacts. It only affects organisational action and interaction if being woman, black and homosexual influences the way she is categorised by others (i.e. as similar or dissimilar to themselves), her technical skills and abilities (i.e. techne), and/or on her values and perceptions (i.e. cognition) of the world around her. Organisational diversity should therefore not only be defined in terms of diversity characteristics, but also in terms of how this diversity is constructed and on what these differences bring to the organisation in terms of techne and cognition. >The Innoversity Concept thereby focuses on two aspects of diversity, 1) diversity in techne and cognition and how this diversity is constructed, as these are closely related to organisational performance and 2) the way cognitive diversity is seen to influence interpersonal relations and cohesiveness.