Managing Diversity for Strategic Advantage

Dr Val Singh, Cranfield School of Management

This report commissioned by CEML sets out to do the following:

• Help the understanding of diversity and its importance for management and leadership.
• Give an overview of the impact of diversity on potential by examining the latest statistics on diversity in the managerial population.
• Provide an overview of the career barriers for women and ethnic minorities, so that the deeper issues regarding the impact of homogenous leadership and unintentional systemic discrimination on those who are different from the white male can be understood.
• Review the business case for gender and ethnic diversity.
• Give an overview of the theoretical models informing diversity management (this section co-authored with Dr Kim James)
• Review some recent initiatives on diversity management, including a new Cranfield School of Management project into diversity management performance and measurement in the private and public sectors.
• Consider implications in terms of learning points for leaders and managers.