Title: Workforce diversity in small enterprises: implications on firm performance

Authors: Attahir Yusuf

Addresses: College of Business and Management, University of Sharjah, PO Box 27272, Sharjah, UAE

Abstract: The study explored workforce diversity in the ||under-studied|| Arabian Gulf. Specifically, it investigated what small enterprises are doing right with respect to workforce diversity and what they are not doing right. It also studied the relationship between motivation to diversify, level of education, gender and level of workforce diversification in small enterprises. The result indicated that the organisations are doing much more towards diversification and there is also a positive and significant relationship between education and the level of workforce diversification in the SME sector. Diversified firms are also reported as recording higher performance levels compared to non-diversified firms.

Keywords: workforce diversity; organisational performance; small enterprises; expatriates; small firms; Arabian Gulf; SMEs; education levels.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMED.2005.006313

International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 2005 Vol.2 No.2, pp.240 - 256

Published online: 16 Feb 2005 *

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