Cultural Divergence or Convergence: What is Better for the Individual, the Group, and the Organisation? Evelyne Glaser
Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria

The article applies the balance theory to the ideal composition of multicultural teams and concludes that a moderate level of cultural divergence will achieve best results. Cultural diversity enhances creativity and leads to a new form of consciousness provided that the group undergoes a well-monitored team-building process and that authentic communication takes place between the team members. Key words: cultural diversity, multicultural teams, team performance

Possible Effects of Workforce Diversity on Organisational and Group Performance

The topic of workforce diversity has been widely treated in management literature over the past fifteen to twenty years. The focus has been mainly on the question how organisations can benefit most from it. Researchers such as Cox1, Taylor2, and Richard3 have argued that workforce diversity, when properly handled, can improve firm performance, raise organisational efficiency and effectiveness, add value, and contribute to competitive advantage. Others, like Kilduff et al.4, Abramson et al.5, and Chikudate6 have looked at the extent to which cognitive diversity affects the group and/or the company. Some attempts have been made by Tsui et al.,7 and Mamman,8 to look at diversity from the employees perspective.

Yet the issue of diversity reflects a systemic problem: On the one hand, with ongoing globalisation, an increasing level of diversity in firms cannot be avoided and can be very beneficial to the organisation. On the other hand, groups and organisations tend to drive out diversity. Milliken and Martins9 have found ample proof in their research about the negative effects of diversity in organisational groups and confirm that groups and organizations will act