A field study of group diversity, workgroup context, and performance

Abstract

We explore how the context of an organizational workgroup affects the relationship between group diversity and various performance outcomes. In particular, we theorize and empirically examine the moderating effects of three categories of workgroup context variables: cultures (people- and competition-oriented), strategies (stability-, growth- and customer-oriented), and human resource practices (diversity- and training-oriented). We perform analyses on 1528 workgroups from a Fortune 500 information-processing firm. The results showed, for example, that members of groups diverse in functional background were paid higher composite bonuses when their workgroup context emphasized people-oriented ..