Abstract
In Italy, up to now little attention has been paid – both in research and management practice – to the issue of how the presence and contributions of foreign workers with a migratory background are or could be valorized to the advantage of the organizations that employ them. Nonetheless, as a few exploratory studies have recently highlighted, there seems to be space for tackling such a challenge. The paper intends to strengthen this promising line of inquiry, by drawing on the results of a qualitative study that is being concluded in spring 2014 within the context of the Italian part of the project “DIVERSE – Diversity Improvement as a Viable Enrichment Resource for Society and Economy”, supported by the European Commission (Grant Agreement No. HOME/2012/EIFX/CA/CFP/4248 *30-CE-0586564/00-20). The research sheds light on diversity management initiatives towards immigrant human resources implemented by a sample of ten organizations which are located in the region of Lombardy and are different with regard to size and sector. The emerging picture looks significant in several respects. Firstly, it enables to identify relevant practices of inclusion and valorization of immigrant employees, which, consistently with a “shared value” logic, tend to generate benefits for foreign human resources themselves, the organizational performance and even the local community. More generally, we are led to discern some traits of what might be defined as a sort of “Italian way” to cross-cultural diversity management, based on a distinctive intertwining of deliberate strategies and informal relational mechanism of organizational life.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Selected papers |
Pages | 1-21 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Event | IMISCOE (International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion in Europe) 11th Annual Conference: "Immigration, social cohesion & social innovation" - Madrid, Instituto Universitario de Estudios sobre Migraciones (IUEM), Universidad Pontificia Comillas Duration: 27 Aug 2014 → 29 Aug 2014 |
Conference
Conference | IMISCOE (International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion in Europe) 11th Annual Conference: "Immigration, social cohesion & social innovation" |
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City | Madrid, Instituto Universitario de Estudios sobre Migraciones (IUEM), Universidad Pontificia Comillas |
Period | 27/8/14 → 29/8/14 |
Keywords
- Diversity management
- Immigrant workers
- Lavoratori immigrati