er races, ages, or ethnic groups than did older employees. A little more than 50 percent of all workers indicated that they did have a preference for working with people of the same race, sex, gender, and education (Work-force study finds divisions..., 1993).
The only hopeful result was that employees who have greater experience living or working with people of other groups showed a stronger preference for workplace diversity. However, most employees did not have this experience, either in living or work situations.
There are two different ways to look at workplace diversity. Many organizations think of diversity as a problem, causing conflict and discord in the organization. Other organizations think of diversity as an opportunity, affirming diversity as a gift to the organization (Thomas, 1990).
One of the gifts of diversity, if managed well, is that decision-making, creativity, and innovation can all improve. Diversity allows for the airing of different perspectives, which can improve problem-solving (McLeod and Lobel, 1992). All people do not think the same. This can be an advantage in an organization that seeks to be entrepreneurial and innovative.
Another source of diversity, which can be both gift and problem, exists in the transnational corporation which brings together employees of one group and managers of another group. For example, O'Boyle (1991) reported on a situation in which Japanese managers supervised the work of U.S. employees. The results were definitely mixed from the employees' perspective.
The company that was studied, Setex, Inc., was a Japanese-American joint venture located in southwestern Ohio. According to the blue-collar workers, there are several advantages in working under Japanese management. They indicated that the factory was very clean, safe, well-lit, and ergonomically designed. They also liked the fact that every worker was part of a team, allowing for considerable camarad...