Tensions and Challenges in the Management of Diversity and Inclusion in IT Services Multinationals in India

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21654
• Published date: 01 March 2015
• Date: 01 March 2015
• Author: Rory Donnelly

Human Resource Management, March–April 2015, Vol. 54, No. 2. Pp. 199–215

© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI:10.1002/hrm.21654

Correspondence to: Rory Donnelly, Birmingham Business School, The University of Birmingham,

UniversityHouseEdgbaston Park Road, Birmingham B15 2TY, United Kingdom, Phone: +44 (0)121 414 5144,

E-mail:r.donnelly@bham.ac.uk.

Such practices often include the creation of mi-

nority interest groups and the provision of career

progression support specifically for workers from

these groups (Cooke & Saini, 2010).

This US-initiated agenda has gained interna-

tional currency among HR managers and orga-

nizational leaders, including those operating in

emerging economies (Healy & Oikelome, 2007;

Li, Wai Lung Chu, Lam, & Liao, 2011; Sippola

& Smale, 2007). India is a key exemplar among

these economies (Stumpf, Doh, & Tymon, 2010).

It is an extremely heterogeneous nation by eth-

nicity, language, and faith. Yet the legal and orga-

nizational infrastructure for diversity in India

is patchy and limited. Equal opportunities and

Introduction

Diversity and inclusion have become

prominent organizational and societal

concerns due to increasing market,

firm, and workforce internationaliza-

tion as well as legal, social, and eco-

nomic changes (Shen, Chanda, D’Netto, &

Monga, 2009). In this article, diversity and inclu-

sion (D&I) management refers to voluntary or-

ganizational interventions designed to recognize

and accommodate workers’ demographic and

personal differences into formal and informal

organizational structures through deliberate mea-

sures and policies, with the aim of maximizing

the contribution of staff to organizational goals.

TENSIONS AND CHALLENGES IN

THE MANAGEMENT OF DIVERSITY

AND INCLUSION IN IT SERVICES

MULTINATIONALS IN INDIA

RORY DONNELLY

Information technology (IT) services multinationals in India provide rich

environments for the analysis of emerging patterns of diversity and inclusion

management. Growing interest in this fi eld of management has been accentuated

by claims tabled by the business case and resource-based rationales. However,

challenges and tensions potentially undermine not only the viability of these

assertions, but also the impact of diversity and inclusion interventions them-

selves. This article investigates the tensions and challenges faced by a sample of

fi rms in India in relation to age, gender, and intra- and international diversity. The

fi ndings shed light on the implications of these tensions for HR management in

these organizations, which need to be addressed if the claims put forward by the

business- and resource-based perspectives are to be realized and the manage-

ment of diversity and inclusion is to be successfully aligned with business and

HR strategies. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords: diversity, inclusion, India, business case, resource-based view

200 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, MARCH–APRIL 2015

Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm

India’s rapidly

expanding IT

services sector

features extensive

multinational

knowledge-intensive

activity, where

the application

and impact of D&I

initiatives is likely

to be salient, and

so it provides a

rich context for the

analysis of emerging

management

patterns.

The findings reveal tensions between the rhet-

oric of HRM theories and organizational policies,

management practice, and employee behavior in

the sample firms. Moreover, they cast light on the

implications of these tensions for HR management

in these organizations, which need to be addressed

if the claims advanced by the business-case and

resource-based perspectives are to be realized

and the management of D&I is to be successfully

aligned with their business and HR strategies.

The D&I Agenda: The Promise of Business

and Performance Enhancements

Diversity management is a relatively nebulous

functional construct, punctuated by contrasting

interpretations and continuing debate (Foster

& Harris, 2005; Oswick, 2010). This is because

it effectively constitutes a blanket term for the

management of a growing list of intersecting

individual differences, which vary with respect

to the degree to which they are directly visible.

Depending on national and organizational con-

text, these include but are not limited to age,

gender, ethnicity, disability, religion, social and

marital status, sexual orientation, personality,

and culture (Shen etal., 2009).

Diversity management builds on the social

categories covered by conventional equal opportu-

nities policies to include personal characteristics,

with the emphasis placed on positive voluntary

action rather than compliance with external leg-

islation (Jayne & Dipboye, 2004; Kossek, Lobel, &

Brown, 2005). Valuing, harnessing, and utilizing

demographic diversity and overcoming negative

discrimination and segregation are the commonly

espoused aims and ambitions of diversity advo-

cates and related policy statements (Healy, Kirton,

& Noon, 2010).

For some, this equates to a bifurcation with

the more traditional framework of equal oppor-

tunities, evidenced through the identification

of a range of distinguishing features (see, e.g.,

Kandola & Fullerton, 1998; Liff, 1997). However,

the degree to which these constitute practical or

analytical contours is subject to ongoing debate,

as is the extent to which there is evidence of any

real shift (Kaler, 2001). At firm level, this can be

particularly apparent due to overlaps in practice

and a tendency for the moniker of diversity man-

agement to be merely superimposed on to equal

opportunities policies, thereby obfuscating dif-

ferentiation on the behalf of HR practitioners and

organizational members (Foster & Harris, 2005;

Oswick, 2010).

Nevertheless, analyses of HRM discourse and

policy developments show that diversity manage-

ment continues to eclipse equal opportunities in

antidiscrimination legislation are components

of the Constitution and laws to protect the civil

rights of vulnerable groups, but they are not fully

comprehensive and are weakly enforced (Woodard

& Saini, 2006). Indeed, in an internationally com-

parative index of diversity readiness compiled by

the Society for Human Resource Management

(SHRM) and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)

(2009), India ranked 41 out of 47 countries.

Such national-level assessments may in part

be influenced by the scarcity of empirical research

examining the management of D&I in firms in

India (Budhwar & Varma, 2010). Consequently,

it is important that we address this lacuna by

enhancing our understanding of

D&I in this environment (Greene &

Kirton, 2010; Hoque & Noon, 2004;

Kamenou, 2007; Nishii & Özbilgin,

2007). India’s rapidly expanding

information technology (IT) services

sector features extensive multina-

tional knowledge-intensive activity,

where the application and impact of

D&I initiatives is likely to be salient,

and so it provides a rich context

for the analysis of emerging man-

agement patterns (see Ali, Kulik, &

Metz, 2011; Cooke & Saini, 2010).

The research detailed in this

article provides insight into the

management of D&I from the per-

spective of senior organizational

leaders in IT services multination-

als in India because of the pivotal

role of these actors and organiza-

tions in shaping policy and practice,

not only within but also outside

their firms. Through this prism, the

article focuses on the relationship

between organizational D&I policies

influenced by HRM theory and busi-

ness case arguments and the views

and actions of management and

staff, as accounted for by the sample.

In particular, the following research questions

are explored. How are age, gender, and intra- and

international diversity viewed and managed by

HR leaders in multinational IT services firms in

India? What challenges do they face in achiev-

ing their goals in relation to the management of

D&I policy and practice in these areas and why?

To address these questions, original data were col-

lected through qualitative semistructured inter-

views with top-level D&I agents in multinational

IT services firms in the high-tech clusters of Delhi

as well as the industry body, together with the

acquisition of organizational policy documents.