Managing Diversity and Inclusion in the Global Value Chain

Although many global and multinational organizations today have global diversity management statements, strategies and policies, their practices of diversity tend to remain local at the national level, rather than to comply with the global policies that organizations espouse to have [1-3]. There are significant reasons for this. First, diversity means different things across different countries as history gives meaning to diversity and inclusion [4-7]. For example, in the case of Britain the colonial past and therefore multiculturalism has been the dominant rationale for diversity [5]. Yet, in the case of Germany, the Nazi past prevents measurement and discussion of race and ethnic diversity unlike the way it is customary in English speaking countries Al Ariss et al. Second owing to significant differences among social movements and historical context that give meaning to categories of diversity and inclusion, highly varied priorities, practices and regulatory schemes have developed in each country [8]. Third, laws that regulate the diversity and Inclusion in organizations are national rather than global or international in nature, which means that in the absence of international laws in this field, cross-nationally consistent regulation of global organizations for diversity and inclusion remains an aloof ideal [9].

The central problem in regulating equality and diversity in global organizations remains the fact that such regulation happens at the national level and practice of diversity and inclusion across the global value chain [9], the international labour process from innovation to consumption, in organizations remains uneven across national borders. To give a concrete example, a global textile firm may report and celebrate improvements in gender and ethnic diversity in the boardroom in the UK and at the same time, fail to report yet continue to exploit migrant labour and women as cheap labour in sweatshops in Turkey [10]. Therefore, if the current regulation of global organizations remains nationally bound and if this pattern remains unchallenged the global value chain will continue to suffer from uneven diversity and inclusion of practices across countries. In the absence of international laws and coercive regulatory measures, there are only very few things that can help enforce a global value chain approach to management of diversity and inclusion in global organizations. First visionary and progressive leadership is required for organizations to consider equality, diversity and inclusion demands beyond national borders [9]. Second, voluntary measures both by individual organizations and collectives such as the ones under the umbrella of the United Nations could encourage such practices [11]. Third, customers and consumer pressure groups are a significant force in encouraging organizations to consider more responsible approaches to their diversity and inclusion approaches across their value chains [12]. Fourth, sustainability drives in many organizations could capture the significance of attending to the global value chains as corporate scandals, which can ensue when uneven practices and exploitation are revealed across the value chain, may harm the longevity of organization and tarnish their corporate brand. Finally, there is considerable competitive advantage in organizations to capture the value of diversity and inclusion not only in national settings but across the global sphere [13] as this is in line with the spirit of global demographic changes, which herald greater diversity in labour supply and demand.

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