This article analyzes layers of meaning that are embedded in the concept of diversity in a financial institution. It examines the discourses about diversity that emerged over 2½ years, during which a CEO was intentionally trying to change his organization’s cultural norms and to become more sensitive to “valuing people.” By tracking the conversational patterns between the CEO and the organizational “discourse communities,” this research highlights the processes by which meaning gets ascribed to the concept of organizational diversity and its impact on organizational structures and culture across time.
This article was originally published In The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol. 38 No. 3, September 2002.
