Acculturation and diversity management at work: The case of multicultural South Africa

Globally, organizations are becoming increasingly more diverse. In Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) contexts, this is often the consequence of globalization and increased migration. For plural, non-WEIRD contexts such as South Africa, this is different. In South African organizations, diversity is a consequence of labor legislation that advances “Brown” (i.e., Black African, Coloured [mixed race], and Indian) people, who were disadvantaged during apartheid, in the employment market. This chapter presents the Dual Process Model of Diversity (DPMD) as a means for understanding pathways towards positive diversity management. The DPMD combines an acculturation framework (Berry, 1997) with a dual-process model of occupational health (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007) and makes a distinction between positive (enhancing) and negative (encumbering) factors influencing the pathways (cf. Ely & Thomas, 2001). We argue that organizations should consider their institutional role (e.g., organizational norms, culture, policies, and practices) to promote the integration of employees.
Keywords: acculturation, dual process model of diversity, multiculturalism, segregation, organizations, South Africa