Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird die Frage nach den kritischen Erfolgsfaktoren der Integration von Menschen mit Behinderung in das Berufsleben aufgeworfen. Mit Forschung zu dieser und weiteren Fragestellungen zum Thema der wirtschaftlichen Eingliederung beschäftigt sich das im Jahr 2009 gegründete Center for Disability and Integration an der Universität St. Gallen (CDI-HSG). Aufbau und Tätigkeitsfelder des Centers sollen im Folgenden überblicksartig vorgestellt werden. Des Weiteren werden zentrale Forschungsfragen des betriebswirtschaftlichen Bereiches anhand eines konkreten Forschungsprojektes exemplarisch dargestellt.
Increasing demographic diversity is one of the major workforce trends but evidence about its effects is conflicting. The possibility of yielding both positive and negative effects led Milliken and Martins [Milliken, F. J., & Martins, L. L. (1996). Searching for common threads: Understanding the multiple effects of diversity in organizational groups. Academy of Management Review, 21, 402-433.] to call diversity a "double-edged sword." In this article, we will Focus on age and disability heterogeneity, 2 dimensions of diversity that are on the rise and share important commonalities but have not yet received the attention they deserve. We will outline similarities and differences between age and disability, review the literature on age and disability diversity effects on performance, and ultimately provide a conceptual model with variables that moderate the performance effects of age and disability diversity. We argue that to forge a single-edged sword (i.e., foster positive effects of age and disability diversity while preventing negative effects), organizations should pay specific attention to 3 types of moderators: (a) leadership behavior including leader-member exchange, transformational leadership, health-focused leadership, and top management leadership, (b) organizational climates including diversity climate, climate for inclusion, and age-diversity climate, and (c) human resources practices including diversity-related HR practices, age-specific and age-inclusive HR practices, and the more individual-centered approach of idiosyncratic deals. We conclude with an outlook on future research in the fields of age and disability diversity and practical recommendations for managers and organizations.
Demographic change, increased retirement age, and efforts to shorten the duration of education will lead to a more age-diverse workforce in future. Age diversity’s successful management will therefore become an important business issue for company practitioners. Unfortunately, knowledge concerning the outcomes of diversity in general and age diversity in particular lacks consistency. On the basis of the similarity-attraction paradigm, social identity and self-categorisation theory, token status, and inequality, some scholars argue that diversity has negative effects. On the basis of the information/decision-making perspective, other scholars predict that diversity has positive outcomes.
