The Promises and Pitfalls of Corporate Diversity Initiatives

Organizations interested in increasing diversity should understand that simply increasing their numbers does not guarantee increasing their profits. There are various diversity dimensions to account for, best practices to adopt, and work on inclusion to do in order to establish successful diversity management programs.

Additionally, beyond legal compliance, companies deciding to promote diversity and inclusion must juggle various competing motives. In order to make a business case for prioritized focus on D&I, this paper summarizes key findings from the vast literature on increasing diversity at organizations and avoiding the potential pitfalls of popular inclusion practices.