Business Administration and Management
DiVERSITY MANAGEMENT - PERCEPTIONS
AND AHITUDES BY CZECH MANAGERS
Ludvik Eger, Zuzana Indruchová
Introduction
The purpose of research survey is gaining
basic information about the way managers in
the Czech Republic perceive the significance of
diversity management (DM). The survey is
focused on a group of relevant respondents
and the way they approach the implementation
of diversity management in the field of the
development of human resources in organizations
in the Czech Republic.
The basis of diversity management concept
can be seen in the natural substance of
diversity existing in the human society where
diversity of people from the point of their age,
gender, race, ethnicity, mental and physical abilities,
sexual orientation and other characteristics is
a natural thing [3], [13], [11].
Diversity management, which originated in
the US, came to Europe in the 1990s [13], [22]
but In the EU company practice it has been
developing and significantly applied only
recently.
Hubbard [11, p. 27] defines diversity management
as "a process of planning for, organizing,
directing, and supporting these collective mixtures
in a way that adds measurable difference to
organizational performance." The concept of
diversity management itself has been developing,
for example, in the concept presented in
Metcalfe and Woodhams [17], Holvino and
Kamp [10], Eger et al. [3], Bleijenbergh et al. [1 ]
or Kirton and Greene [14]. The latter two
authors highlight the necessity of studying
diversity management also from the point of
view of fhe national specifics and the social
context of any given country.
On the one hand, we can currently see the
accent being put on more broadly interpreted
approaches to diversity management linked
with the concept of the organization culture but
also linked with the social responsibility etc. On
the other hand, we pay attention to the studies
that highlight even specific features, for
example Süß and Kleiner [22] for Germany,
Risberg and Soderberg [19] for Denmark,
Klarsfeld [15] for France or Kirton and Greene
[14] for the UK.
In the Czech Republic diversity management
has gradually become a topical and
important issue in the field of the development
and use of human resources, namely after the
Czech Republic joined the European Union [4], [9].
1. Research
The purpose of the present research study is to
describe the state of the factual perception of
the diversity management issues in the
organizations in the Czech Republic. The study
is carried out by interviewing a relevant group
of respondents.
1.1 Research Questions and
Objectives
The basic research question is formulated as
follows: "What is the current state of diversity
management in companies in the Czech
Republic?" It is obvious that our study can only
be a partial output and has its limitations from
the point of view of its focus and the set of
respondents. Its advantage is that it surely
belongs to the firsf research studies in the
Czech Republic focusing on managers and HR
specialists.
The research study implemented with the
group of managers and HR specialists, especially
from the companies situated in Prague has its
objective in finding out about the existing state
of the perception of the significance of diversity
with a set of respondents from the chosen
target group. The analysis of the output of the
research will bring deeper knowledge of the
DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2014-1-006 1, XVII, 2014 73
Ekonomfka a management
monitored issues concerning the target group
on an example of the respondents' set and
subsequently topics for the field of further
education in context of the development of
diversity management in organizations in the
Czech Republic. We are aware of the
limitations resulting from the possibility of only
partial research as far as the representativeness
of the set is concerned, but the
intention is to gain a number of respondents so
that the outputs may enrich our knowledge in
this field, be it only in a limited way. With regard
to the novelty of the topic in the Czech Republic
there have been no similar research studies or
outputs of quantitative research of managers in
the diversity field published as yet.
The specific research questions were
formulated as follows:
• What is the existing state of the perception
of the significance of diversity management
by the group of managers and HR
specialists in the organizations operating
on the Czech market?
• How is diversity perceived as "a phenomenon
of our times" by the group of managers?
1.2 iVIethodoiogy of the Research
Survey
For the planned research the method of interviewing
was chosen and the tool was
an electronic questionnaire as a way of asking
questions and getting answers in writing. Its
advantage consists in the possibility of contacting
a large number of respondents in a short time.
The questionnaire was drawn up on the basis
of research of the issues in the theoretical part.
Its structure and the content of the partial
items are drawn up on the basis of foreign
research studies. Owing to the fact that the
sources of the selected fields are research
studies focusing directly on diversity, equal
opportunities or gender issues that had been
carried out in the US and other countries in the
past [7], [8], [11], [16], [18], it was necessary to
modify them locally and to keep in the
questionnaire only the fields applicable to the
Czech environment.
The questionnaire (Diversity Management
Survey = DMS) itself has been drawn up in
such a way that in the items focusing on measuring
the attitudes it uses the so called Likert scale
which represents the most reliable techniques
of measuring attitudes. The questionnaire
consists of the statements with which a five
point scale is used, from "Strongly agree" (point 1),
through "Neither agree nor disagree",
a medium scale point, up to "Strongly disagree"
(point 5) representing the opposite end [20].
In our case the statements are structured in
the individual sections of the questionnaire
(dimensions of diversity management) and they
are formulated unambiguously, which means
that the size of the questionnaire is not big and
any respondent only needs 15-20 minutes to
complete it. We consider this important
because we know that managers in the Czech
Republic are generally not willing to devote
much of their time for such types of research
even though these may be organized by an
independent university.
The questionnaire DMS consisted of the
following sections - dimensions of diversity
management and their items:
• Managing people (3 items).
• Co-workers - Everyday interaction with
colleagues at the same level (3 items).
• Principles of diversity management in
personnel processes (3 items).
• Policies and procedures (4 items).
Three or four items measure each section dimension
of diversity management.
The main part of the questionnaire was
completed by one more complex item called:
"Diversity as a phenomenon of our times",
which was specified as follows: "I understand
the concept of diversity management. I know
the significance of diversity for the company
where I work and I consider it important"
(1 item). On the whole, there were 14 items.
Furthermore, the questionnaire also contained
a specific section called "My own behaviour"
(5 items), which focused on gaining information
about the real behaviour of managers and HR
specialists in the company practice.
The questionnaire was piloted on a sample
of ten respondents - line managers - and its
purpose was to verify whether the questions in
the questionnaire were formulated properly,
whether the respondents understand them and
are willing to answer them. The stimuli from
managers led to a partial alteration of some
formulations as well as to the extension of the
input information and to further specification of
the time frame for the questionnaire completion.
74 2014, XVII, 1
Business Administration and Management
1.3 Data Coliection
The respondents were sent an e-mail containing
an active link to the questionnaire. Apart from
the link to the questionnaire the respondents could
also find in the above e-mail the information
about the topic and length of the questionnaire
as well as the reward for the respondents,
consisting in the possibility of getting familiarised
with the questionnaire results.
The respondents
Especially young workers in managerial
positions or in the positions of a HR specialist
with at least part time work responsibilities in
the field of human resources management
were the target group for the questionnaire
survey. A non-random selection of respondents
was chosen by means of the so called "snowball"
technique and gradually 250 respondents
were contacted from a number of companies
operating in the Czech Republic, mainly from
the Prague region (mostly international joint
venture companies) and these were invited to
participate in the research, either by means of
e-mail or a social network (Facebook, Linkedin).
The return on the questionnaire answers
was 39%, the total of 98 respondents answered
within two weeks. The average age of
a respondent is 32 (the lowest age is 21, the
highest 53, the most frequent age is 28; 29
years of age is the median). Women account
for 60% respondents. Most respondents are full
time workers (93%).
2. Research Questions, Hypotheses
and Partiai Results
For quantitative research the following partial
research questions and hypotheses were
formulated, and they are related to the desired
target, i.e. the description of the perception of
the significance - importance of diversity
management in the workplace with a group of
managers and other HR specialists. The significance
of diversity management is constructed
here on the basis of a summary (an average of
the answers) that originated from the
questionnaire outputs - 4 sections and its items
-h additional aggregate items.
To test the below hypotheses a t-test for
two independent selections was used and the
processing was implemented by means of MS
Excel. We aimed at looking for differences in
the perception of diversity management with
the monitored group of respondents from the
point of their achieved level of education, the
position in the organization, the size of the
organization and the length of their work
experience. For each individual area a question
is asked and a hypothesis is set.
The decision whether there is a significant
difference between the perception of diversity
management with a group of the respondents
according to the chosen viewpoint was taken
on the basis of a t-test. Statistical tests were
carried out at the 0.05 level of significance.
Question No. 1:
Does the level of achieved education of the
respondents affect their perception of diversity
management in the workplace?
Hypothesis No. 1 :
HQ: There is no difference in the perception of
the significance of diversity management with
the group of respondents with a lower and
higher level of education.
Partial result
• The set of respondents can be divided into
the respondents with university education
(4 graduates from Higher vocational
schools are also included), where n = 78,
and the respondents with secondary school
education, where n = 20.
• The calculated value of the t-test is 0.939
and the level of significance is 1.984. Because
the calculated value is lower than the
critical value we have to accept the null
hypothesis. There is no statistically significant
difference in the perception of diversity
management on the basis of the applied
aggregate data concerning the monitored
groups of respondents according to their
education (university, secondary).
Notice: there is problem with sample size;
one sample is less than 30 participants [20]. Next
results present two samples with similar size.
Question No 2:
Does the position of the respondents in the
organization affect their perception of diversity
management in the workplace?
Hypothesis No. 2:
HQ. There is no difference in the perception of
the significance of diversity management
depending on the position of the respondents in
the organisations, i.e. managers or specialists.
1, XVII, 2014 75
Ekonomika a management
Partial resuit
• It is possible to divide the set of the
respondents into two groups, i.e. the managers
and managing directors = the first group
that manages other employees (n = 47) and
the specialists whose responsibilities, at
least partially, are the issues of the
development of human resources in an
organization, i.e. n = 51.
• The calculated value of the t-test is 0.040
and the level of significance is 1.984.
Because the calculated value is lower than
the critical value we have to accept the null
hypothesis. There is no statistically significant
difference in the perception of diversity
management on the basis of the applied
aggregate data concerning the monitored
groups of respondents - managers and
respondents - specialists.
Question No 3:
Does the size of organization influence the
perception of diversity management in the
workplace by the interviewed respondents?
Hypothesis No. 3
Hg; With the monitored group of respondents
there is no difference in the perception of the
significance of diversity management in the
workpiace depending on the size of the
organization in which they work.
Partial resuit
• Because experience with diversity management
are especially in large enterprises
the sample can be divided to a category of
small and medium sized enterprises, i.e. up
to 500 employees (55%) and to a category
of large enterprises - corporations, i.e. here
501 and more employees (45% respondents).
According to the definition of the US.
• The calculated value of the t-test is 0.202
and the level of significance is 1.984.
Because the calculated value is lower than
the critical value we have to accept the null
hypothesis. There is no statistically significant
difference in the perception of diversity
management on the basis of the applied
aggregate data concerning the monitored
groups of respondents depending on the
size of organization.
Question No 4:
Does the work experience expressed in the
number of years of the respondents affect the
perception of diversity management in the
workplace by the interviewed respondents?
Hypothesis No. 4
Hg; With the monitored group of respondents
there is no difference in the perception of the
significance of diversity management in the
workpiace depending on the iength of their
work experience.
Partiai resuit
• The set of respondents can be divided into
two groups; the first group includes workers
with a short length of work experience of
less than one year and 1-4 years of work
experience, 43 respondents in total. The
second group includes workers with the
length of work experience of 5 and more
years, i.e. 55 respondents.
• The calculated value of the t-test is 0.294
and the level of significance is 1.984.
Because the calculated value is lower than
the critical value we have to accept the null
hypothesis. There is no statistically significant
difference in the perception of diversity
management on the basis of the applied
aggregate data concerning the monitored
groups of respondents depending on the
length of their work experience.
2.1 Partial Conclusion Concerning
the Research Survey
We worked with a set of 98 respondents whom
we divided according to their positions in
organizations, their level of education, the size
of the organization in which they work and also
according to the length of their work experience.
With the monitored set of respondents we
did not manage to prove any statistical significance
of the difference in the perception of the
significance of diversity management in the
workplace depending on the above variables.
We have to highlight here that the sample is
not representative and the results cannot be
over generalised. Nevertheless, this reference
survey, within the above mentioned monitored
categories typical of the interviewed sample of
respondents, represents a certain type of
description of the perception of diversity
management in the workplaces in the Ozech
Republic and this description corresponds with
the general opinion that in the Ozech Republic
diversity management is still rather a new topic.
For that matter, the above state is illustrated
even by a more detailed analysis of the special
76 BM2014, XVII, 1
Business Administration and Management
item "Diversity as a phenomenon of our times" diversity management. I know the significance
which, in the questionnaire, is further specified of diversity for the company where I work and
by the statement: "I understand the concept of I consider it important".
Responses concerning the item Diversity as a phenomenon of our times
Diversity as a phenomenon of our times
9 strongly agree
S Agree
B fieither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
BStronglv idisagree
Source: own
A partial anaiysis of the answer Strongly
agree showed that out of 25 answers - 14
respondents were from the category large
enterprises (over 501 employees) and the
analysis of the item Agree showed that out of
49 answers - 20 respondents were from large
enterprises - companies.
3. The Assessment of the Research
Tool and the Possibilities of
Further Research
As we have already stated, the present research
study "The perceptions and attitudes of diversity
in the workplace by managers in the Czech
Republic" surely belongs to the first implemented
research studies in the Czech Republic,
where the issues of diversity management,
both at academic and company level, belong to
relatively new topics, see also Eger et al. [3j.
Despite the limitations of the research
resulting from the extent of the sample and the
focus on the Prague region, it is possible to
state some other interesting data which might
be continued in any further research and which
even today bring some important information
about the perception of diversity management
in the Czech Republic by company managers
and HR specialists who, within their responsibilities.
at least partly focus on managing human
resources in organizations.
Here we would just like to remind that the
questionnaire originated on the basis of
inspiration from the research tools and outputs
from the research studies presented abroad
and before administering the questionnaire the
tool was piloted in the Czech environment.
Completing the questionnaire enabled us to
assess its basic qualities as a research tool.
The validity may be adequately derived from
the application of the given research tools. On
the basis of piloting the questionnaire and its
assessment by two experts we may say we
consider the tool valid.
The reliability of the questionnaire was
statistically assessed using Crombach's coefficient
alpha for the individuai parts of the
questionnaire. Let us state the area, the number
of items and the calculated result: Managing
people (3 items), Crombach a = 0.845, Coworkers
(3 items), Crombach a = 0.632,
Principles of diversity management in personal
processes (3 items), Crombach a = 0.693,
Policies and procedures (4 items), Crombach
a = 0.772.
Additionally even the following area was
included in our research but we removed it from
1, XVII, 2014 77
Ekonomika a management
the complex output: My own behaviour
(5 items), Crombach a = 0.608. This area was
inspired by tools from the publication by
Hubbard [11].
And, on the contrary, the item "diversity as
a phenomenon of our times" was added to the
above main items and is specified as follows:
"I understand the concept of diversity management.
I know the significance of diversity for the
company where I work, and I consider it important"
(1 item). This item belongs to the four specified
areas as far as the content is concerned.
From the calculated Crombach a for the
individual areas of the questionnaire it is obvious
that two areas were given very good
assessment. As far as possible further
research is concerned we recommend considering
the items in the area Co-workers and in the
additional item My own behaviour. Here an
opportunity for improving the applied research
tool can be seen.
An additional view of fhe implemented research
survey can be presented by calculating the
correlations between the areas of the
questionnaire and the gained aggregate index,
with the interim name "significance of diversity
management", fed from the above four sections
of the questionnaire and the additional item.
Pearson's coefficient of correiation, the individuai sections - dimensions of DiUI
Managing people
Co-workers
Principles of DM
Policies and procedures
: Diversity as a phenomenon
of our times
Mean
Standard deviation
Managing
people
1
0.40
0.27
0.51
0.70
1.87
0.91
Co-workers
1
0.47
0.61
0.71
1.52
0.53
Principles
of DM
1
0.61
0.74
1,93
0.78
Policies and
procedures
1
0.92
2.10
0.82
Diversity as
a phenomenon
of our times
1
1.89
0.58
Source: own
Table 1 summarizes our results and reports
the correlation matrix along with sections' dimensions'
means and standard deviations.
We can state that in our research survey
a high level of correlation between fhe sections
Politics and procedures and the overall index
was achieved. The four sections - dimensions
of DM correlated significantly with the overall
index = Diversity as a phenomenon of our times
(14 items).
On the other hand, the additional section
My own behaviour, fed from 5 items aimed at
the assessment of the respondents' own
behaviour in this field does not show
a significant relationship to the overall index
(significance of diversity management). This is
certainly an important result even though it was
only achieved with a limited set of respondents
with an intentional selection by means of the
snow-ball technique. It, in a way, illustrates the
fact that the sample of respondents (managers
and HR specialists with at least partial
responsibilities in the HR management) is
already aware of the concept of diversity
management but their own behaviour still
contradicts with this awareness of diversity
management at a practical level (table 2).
We consider the above findings an
interesting topic to be further used for
personnel management and for adult education
[2], [21]. To be an effective diversity manager,
at a behavioural level, "you must be able to
interact with others who are different from
yourself". [11, p. 100]. An important finding of
this survey is: there is contradiction and conflict
between level of knowledge of DM and own
behaviour of managers and HR specialisfs.
If is, however, necessary to support this
phenomenon by further conclusions from practice;
the best way to do it is further research.
78 EM2014, XVII, 1
Business Administration and Management
Pearson's coefficient of correlation, My own behaviour and overall index of DM
Managing
people
Co-workers Principles of
DM
Policies and
procedures
Diversity as
a phenomenon
of our times
My own behaviour 0.05 0.14 0.04 0.15 0.14
3.1 Research Limitations
The validity of the research tool can be derived
from its application as it was used in foreign
research studies and from the expert assessment
of the tool; the reliability of the applied tool can
be supported by the Crombach a coefficient.
What can be perceived as a limitation of the
research is the small size of the group of the
respondents from the capital of the Czech
Republic, as this city is considered an important
area of business and there are a number of
joint venture companies. Therefore the results
cannot be over generalized.
Conclusion
The research study implemented on a limited
but relevant set of respondents did not prove
any differences in the perception of diversity
from the point of view of their achieved level of
education, the position in the organization and
the length of their work. On the whole, the index
of the perception of diversity can be considered
positive and it shows that the group of the
relevant respondents is already familiar with the
issue of diversity management. (Aggregately,
the output was expressed as an average of the
overall index for all the respondents by the
value of 1.89 with a standard deviation 0.58).
The output from the present research study
corresponds with a similar study carried out by
Egerová et al [6] in which the above authors
compared even the opinions of managers from
the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic
(for Slovakia see also [12]).
Our desk research and quantitative research
from the year 2012, aimed at the countries of
the Visegrad Four [4], proves it necessary to
pay attention even to the national and regional
specifics when implementing diversity management
in organizations, a fact also highlighted by
Kirton and Greene [14] and other authors. On
the other hand, it is also necessary to perceive
common tendencies in the European Union
Source: own
that are typical of the field of diversity management,
which are perceived, for example, by
Wynne [23] as concentration on the following
five groups: older workers, ethnic minorities
representatives, representatives of some specific
religions, women, and disabled workers.
A discovered contradiction between the
perception of the significance of diversity
management in an organization and the
assessment of the behaviour of the monitored
group by the respondents themselves may
come as a sort of surprise. It may be necessary
to focus on this issue in any further research
but also in the process of implementing
diversity management in practical operations of
the Czech companies.
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doc. PaedDr. Ludviic Eger, CSc.
University of West Bohemia
Faculty of Economics
Department of Marketing, Trade and Services
leger@kmo.zcu.cz
Ing. Zuzana indruchová
Charles University in Prague
Faculty of Arts
Department of Adult Education
and Personnel Management
zuzana.indruchova@gmail.com
80 BM2014, XVII, 1
Business Administration and Management
Abstract
DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT - PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES BY CZECH
MANAGERS
Ludvik Eger, Zuzana Indruchová
Diversity management has become very important and reievant in the fieid of the human resource
deveiopment namely after the Czech Republic joined the European Union. Diversity management
is based on the strategy of an organization and it is aiso connected with corporate cuiture and
corporate sociai responsibility.
The research focused on iooking for the differences in the perception of diversity management
of the monitored group of respondents from the point of view of their achieved ievei of education,
the position in the organization, the organization size and the iength of their work experience.
The respondents were young workers in manageriai positions or in the positions of a HR
speciaiist with at ieast part time work responsibiiities in the fieid of human resources management.
The impiemented t-tests did not prove any statisticai significance in any of the monitored
differences and it can be stated that with the monitored group there is no difference in the
perception of diversity from the point of view of the ievei of their education, their positions in the
organization, the organization size and the iength of their work experience.
The compiementary research by means of the Pearson's Correiation proved a positive
relationship between the individuai sections of the questionnaire and the overaii perception of the
significance of diversity management by the respondents and even a high ievei of correiation of the
overaii index with the section Poiicies and procedures. On the contrary, oniy weak vaiues of
correiation were achieved within the additionai section focused at the respondents' own behaviour
in their workpiace in reiation to the overall index of the perception of diversity management.
Key Words: Human capitai, managers, organizations, diversity management, Czech Repubiic.
JEL Classification: M12, M53.
DOI: 10.15240/tui/001/2014-1-006
1, XVII, 2014 81
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