Toward a model of diversity leadership: Examining leadership's role in creating an inclusive workplace

Issues of diversity and globalization are changing the ways that organizations do business around the world. To effectively and efficiently operate in a diverse, dynamic market, organizational leaders must find ways to best accommodate the needs of their diverse stakeholders: customers, employees, shareholders, etc. This study examined the ways in which leaders create inclusive work environments within their departments through their leader-member exchanges (LMX) and resource allocation. In a sample of 196 departments within a high technology organization, partial support was found for the hypotheses that LMX differentiation and resource allocation variance would moderate the relationship between work group diversity (tenure, gender, age, and racial diversity) and group outcomes (e.g. turnover, satisfaction, and feelings of inclusion). This research demonstrates the importance of examining status and resource disparity in the study of work group diversity. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed and areas of future research are offered.