How Top Management Commitment on Diversity Leads to Organizational Innovation: The Evidence from China

Abstract

Apart from various challenges such as globalization and technological advances, workforce diversity has also been regarded as a central issue in the management field. However, many organizations still have difficulties putting this concept into practical use, even for many Chinese organizations. And diversity management (DM) remains at the theory stage, the implementation of diversity management practices is more an issue of talk than actual activities. In response to this issue, this study aims at exploring the relationships between top management commitment, HR diversity practices, and organizational innovation. Data collected from 195 high-tech companies in China shows that top management’s commitment positively impacts the implementation of HR diversity practices, and implementation of HR diversity practices can improve organizational innovation. In addition, the implementation of HR diversity practices mediates the association between top management’s commitment and organizational innovation. The findings in our study provide evidence for examining the antecedents and outcomes of HR diversity practices. Finally, the theoretical and managerial implications of our study are discussed.