Turning Diversity into Competitive Advantage: A Case Study of Managing Diversity in the United States of America

Esty, Griffin, and Hirsch (1995) state that today’s workforce is truly a mosaic of different races, ages,
genders, ethnic groups, religions, and lifestyles. As a manager or a supervisor, it is your job to make sure that
the desperate pieces of a mosaic fit together in a harmonious, coordinated way, maximally utilizing the
talents and abilities of each employee. If skillfully managed, this diversity can bring a competitive advantage
to an organization. If not, however, the bottom line can be negatively affected, and the work environment can
become unwelcoming. Dealing with a diverse work group is new terrain for most managers and supervisors.
The United States rose to the top using a-one-size-fits-all approach to managing employees. This work in
past because, historically, most of the work force was white, and male. This has all changed. The following
parts will clearly provide a description about diversity, changes in the United States work force, challenges
and opportunities of the changes for organizations, and how managers and supervisors as front liners deal
with diversity and to turn diversity into a competitive advantage.
Keywords: diversity, human resource management