Book review of Michelle Mor Barak, Managing Diversity: Towards a Globally Inclusive Workplace, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005. $49.95 papercover

Lambert, Susan J.

English

ScholarWorks at WMU

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare 
Volume 34 
Issue 1 March Article 15 
2007 
Review of Managing Diversity: Towards a Globally Inclusive 
Workplace. Michalle Mor Barak. Reviewed by Susan J. Lambert. 
Susan J. Lambert 
University of Chicago 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw 
 Part of the Social Work Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Lambert, Susan J. (2007) "Review of Managing Diversity: Towards a Globally Inclusive Workplace. 
Michalle Mor Barak. Reviewed by Susan J. Lambert.," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 34 : 
Iss. 1 , Article 15. 
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol34/iss1/15 
This Book Review is brought to you by the Western 
Michigan University School of Social Work. For more 
information, please contact wmu-
scholarworks@wmich.edu. 
Book Reviews 185
abandoned. In Ontario reports and recommendations to attack
child abuse do not advocate revisions of child protection poli-
cies and services that would change the current emphasis on
punishment of abusers. Societal preoccupation with personal
safety and punishment trumps efforts to create a sense of collec-
tive responsibility for social problems such as the vision of the
early child savers who saw child protection, rather than pun-
ishment, as an obligation of a moral and just society. A vision
of the collective good could allow investments in supportive
infrastructures such as day care which could reduce the stress
of parenting and perhaps reduce child abuse and neglect. This
book is an insightful comparative history of how communities
at different times conceptualized children's citizenship rights
and how those ideas have informed child protection.
John M. Herrick
Michigan State University
Michhlle Mor Barak, Managing Diversity: Towards a Globally
Inclusive Workplace, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications,
2005. $49.95 papercover.
This book extends knowledge on issues of diversity in the
workplace into a global context. The focus is interdisciplinary,
drawing on research and theory from the academic disciplines
of social psychology, sociology, and economics, as well as from
the human resource and employment literatures. The chap-
ters tackle issues of central importance to those interested in
considering the inter-relationships among social policy, social
work, and employment in today's world economy.
The book is divided into three sections. The first section
sets the "macro" context for conducting business in the world
today. Detailed data and analyses are presented on cross-na-
tional trends in social policy, population growth and migra-
tion, socioeconomic indicators, and educational levels. The
second section considers "micro/mezzo" dimensions of di-
versity, which include individual and inter-group experienc-
es. These chapters look at workforce diversity from different
social psychological perspectives, including prejudice and
186 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
discrimination, and review concepts and research on social in-
clusion-exclusion, culture and communication, and interper-
sonal relationships. The third section of the book focuses on
employer practices related to managing a diverse workforce
in the global context explicated in the previous sections. The
highlight of this final section is that Mor Barak moves the
reader away from a focus on diversity toward a focus on inclu-
sion, which is more consistent with European perspectives and
scholarship in this area.
The inclusive workplace model Mor Barak presents is
based on an ecological framework that views the organization
as embedded in different levels of the environment. Inclusion
occurs at four levels-the workplace, the community, the
nation state, and cross-nationally. While diversity perspec-
tives may focus attention on the benefits of valuing differences
among individuals within an organization's workforce, the
inclusive workplace model she presents includes discussion
of why firms should be, and how firms can be, involved in
the larger community and in broader social change efforts. In
doing so, the model bridges the worlds of social policy analy-
sis and employer practice and offers unique insights into the
role of the public and private sectors in forging a new future
for today's workers.
A major strength of the volume is the ongoing clarification
of what attention to workplace diversity means in everyday
corporate practice. Mor Barak makes a convincing case that
consideration of diversity is not about attending to differenc-
es in the attributes of people that make each person unique.
Rather, it is about attending to those characteristics of individ-
uals that yield negative or positive consequences, which can
vary by country and in different cultures. This framing allows
her to employ examples from a wide range of nations and cul-
tures while maintaining a clear focus. She argues that although
the sources of meaningful differences among peoples may
vary within and across workplaces, communities, and nations,
there are common reasons and strategies for structuring work-
places for inclusion, that is, for minimizing the negative conse-
quences of individual, and inter-group, differences.
The examples provided in the book should be enough
alone to interest most readers; they certainly enrich the value
Book Reviews 187
of the book for classroom teaching. The book is infused with
cases from around the world that well exceed the usual line-up
of "enlightened" European nations. Readers will learn about
employment laws and practices in Malaysia, Ghana, India,
South Africa, Namibia, and Ethiopia, to name but a few of the
countries drawn on in the volume. Moreover, the examples
included are not just "best practices." They highlight ethical
challenges and limitations to corporate citizenry such as the
Bhopal disaster and attempted cover-up by Union Carbide,
Denny's treatment of African American customers. Although
there is ample attention to firms in the United States, the US
is not the starting place for most comparisons or the yardstick
by which initiatives are measured. The viewpoint of the book
is truly global.
A related strength of the volume is that it is infused with a
Human Rights perspective: individuals are viewed as holders of
rights regardless of their individual characteristics and nation-
ality. Indeed, Chapter Two includes the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the
United Nations in 1948. The workplace is regarded as a pos-
sible arena for fostering understanding and tolerance among
the peoples of the world, a stance that seems particularly rel-
evant today.
There are only a few and minor limitations to the volume.
One is that the divide between the macro and meso/micro per-
spectives on diversity discussed in the first two sections of the
book is not always bridged. Some discussions remain at a psy-
chological level. Inclusion is defined largely by how individu-
als feel, for example, the extent to which they think they have
access to information and are included in decision-making. A
second limitation is that scholars might have more confidence
in the conclusions drawn were citations used more frequently
to support assertions. That said, Mor Barak brings in the em-
pirical literature throughout the chapters and the book seems
balanced in terms of its assessment of extant knowledge. By
integrating established knowledge on diversity issues with
contemporary perspectives on inclusion and globalization,
this book pioneers the next generation of scholarship on issues
of workforce diversity.
Susan J. Lambert
University of Chicago


Review of \u3cem\u3eManaging Diversity: Towards a Globally Inclusive Workplace.\u3c/em\u3e Michalle Mor Barak. Reviewed by Susan J. Lambert.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare Volume 34 Issue 1 March Article 15 2007 Review of Managing Diversity: Towards a Globally Inclusive Workplace. Michalle Mor Barak. Reviewed by Susan J. Lambert. Susan J. Lambert University of Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw  Part of the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Lambert, Susan J. (2007) "Review of Managing Diversity: Towards a Globally Inclusive Workplace. Michalle Mor Barak. Reviewed by Susan J. Lambert.," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 34 : Iss. 1 , Article 15. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol34/iss1/15 This Book Review is brought to you by the Western Michigan University School of Social Work. For more information, please contact wmu-scholarworks@wmich.edu. Book Reviews 185abandoned. In Ontario reports and recommendations to attackchild abuse do not advocate revisions of child protection poli-cies and services that would change the current emphasis onpunishment of abusers. Societal preoccupation with personalsafety and punishment trumps efforts to create a sense of collec-tive responsibility for social problems such as the vision of theearly child savers who saw child protection, rather than pun-ishment, as an obligation of a moral and just society. A visionof the collective good could allow investments in supportiveinfrastructures such as day care which could reduce the stressof parenting and perhaps reduce child abuse and neglect. Thisbook is an insightful comparative history of how communitiesat different times conceptualized children's citizenship rightsand how those ideas have informed child protection.John M. HerrickMichigan State UniversityMichhlle Mor Barak, Managing Diversity: Towards a GloballyInclusive Workplace, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications,2005. $49.95 papercover.This book extends knowledge on issues of diversity in theworkplace into a global context. The focus is interdisciplinary,drawing on research and theory from the academic disciplinesof social psychology, sociology, and economics, as well as fromthe human resource and employment literatures. The chap-ters tackle issues of central importance to those interested inconsidering the inter-relationships among social policy, socialwork, and employment in today's world economy.The book is divided into three sections. The first sectionsets the "macro" context for conducting business in the worldtoday. Detailed data and analyses are presented on cross-na-tional trends in social policy, population growth and migra-tion, socioeconomic indicators, and educational levels. Thesecond section considers "micro/mezzo" dimensions of di-versity, which include individual and inter-group experienc-es. These chapters look at workforce diversity from differentsocial psychological perspectives, including prejudice and186 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfarediscrimination, and review concepts and research on social in-clusion-exclusion, culture and communication, and interper-sonal relationships. The third section of the book focuses onemployer practices related to managing a diverse workforcein the global context explicated in the previous sections. Thehighlight of this final section is that Mor Barak moves thereader away from a focus on diversity toward a focus on inclu-sion, which is more consistent with European perspectives andscholarship in this area.The inclusive workplace model Mor Barak presents isbased on an ecological framework that views the organizationas embedded in different levels of the environment. Inclusionoccurs at four levels-the workplace, the community, thenation state, and cross-nationally. While diversity perspec-tives may focus attention on the benefits of valuing differencesamong individuals within an organization's workforce, theinclusive workplace model she presents includes discussionof why firms should be, and how firms can be, involved inthe larger community and in broader social change efforts. Indoing so, the model bridges the worlds of social policy analy-sis and employer practice and offers unique insights into therole of the public and private sectors in forging a new futurefor today's workers.A major strength of the volume is the ongoing clarificationof what attention to workplace diversity means in everydaycorporate practice. Mor Barak makes a convincing case thatconsideration of diversity is not about attending to differenc-es in the attributes of people that make each person unique.Rather, it is about attending to those characteristics of individ-uals that yield negative or positive consequences, which canvary by country and in different cultures. This framing allowsher to employ examples from a wide range of nations and cul-tures while maintaining a clear focus. She argues that althoughthe sources of meaningful differences among peoples mayvary within and across workplaces, communities, and nations,there are common reasons and strategies for structuring work-places for inclusion, that is, for minimizing the negative conse-quences of individual, and inter-group, differences.The examples provided in the book should be enoughalone to interest most readers; they certainly enrich the valueBook Reviews 187of the book for classroom teaching. The book is infused withcases from around the world that well exceed the usual line-upof "enlightened" European nations. Readers will learn aboutemployment laws and practices in Malaysia, Ghana, India,South Africa, Namibia, and Ethiopia, to name but a few of thecountries drawn on in the volume. Moreover, the examplesincluded are not just "best practices." They highlight ethicalchallenges and limitations to corporate citizenry such as theBhopal disaster and attempted cover-up by Union Carbide,Denny's treatment of African American customers. Althoughthere is ample attention to firms in the United States, the USis not the starting place for most comparisons or the yardstickby which initiatives are measured. The viewpoint of the bookis truly global.A related strength of the volume is that it is infused with aHuman Rights perspective: individuals are viewed as holders ofrights regardless of their individual characteristics and nation-ality. Indeed, Chapter Two includes the Universal Declarationof Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of theUnited Nations in 1948. The workplace is regarded as a pos-sible arena for fostering understanding and tolerance amongthe peoples of the world, a stance that seems particularly rel-evant today.There are only a few and minor limitations to the volume.One is that the divide between the macro and meso/micro per-spectives on diversity discussed in the first two sections of thebook is not always bridged. Some discussions remain at a psy-chological level. Inclusion is defined largely by how individu-als feel, for example, the extent to which they think they haveaccess to information and are included in decision-making. Asecond limitation is that scholars might have more confidencein the conclusions drawn were citations used more frequentlyto support assertions. That said, Mor Barak brings in the em-pirical literature throughout the chapters and the book seemsbalanced in terms of its assessment of extant knowledge. Byintegrating established knowledge on diversity issues withcontemporary perspectives on inclusion and globalization,this book pioneers the next generation of scholarship on issuesof workforce diversity.Susan J. LambertUniversity of Chicago

https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3238&amp;context=jssw

Review of \u3cem\u3eManaging Diversity: Towards a Globally Inclusive Workplace.\u3c/em\u3e Michalle Mor Barak. Reviewed by Susan J. Lambert.

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