Title: Leveraging diversity through a psychological perspective on managing innovation in a diverse workplace

Authors: Joost Miedema

Addresses: Department of Innovation Management and Strategy, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands

Abstract: In the current paper, several (social psychological) theories and empirical studies explaining people|s behaviour in innovative and changing environments will be discussed. Based on social psychological theory and empirical studies, it is argued that for an organisation to be open, its members need to do more than just what is in their job descriptions. To understand why people behave in voluntary, discretionary behaviours that are important to the effectiveness of organisations, even though they are not clearly specified or strictly required, it is necessary to focus on the subjective feelings and thoughts. It is concluded that when striving for sustainable innovation, attitudes and values, fairness and justice-based evaluations and issues of identity need to be considered.

Keywords: social psychology; knowledge management; innovation management; sustainability; workplace diversity; attitudes; values; fairness; justice based evaluation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRDM.2010.033588

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 2010 Vol.10 No.3, pp.284 - 296

Published online: 06 Jun 2010 *

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