Listening ability and the Discourse on Diversity: how to avoid the excessive power of “the new"

In this paper we set out to interpret the concept of Diversity Management (DM) by analysing the rhetoric of management discourse. We focus on the gap that exists between what is officially stated in DM programmes and what is actually achieved by HR managers in the following companies: IBM Italia; Adecco Italia; l’Oreal Italia; Microsoft Italia; Coca Cola HBC Italia; General Motors Italia; Procter & Gamble Italia; American Express Italia; Novartis; HP Italia, DSM, Magneti Marelli, Ente Autonomo Volturno, Gruppo Oviesse, AD Form&ATP, Access Italia, ANM, Bagnoli Futura, De Cecco and Datalogic. Our analysis of the gap between “declared” and “enacted” will help us give an answer to the following question: how is diversity management influenced by the various ways in which managers use the language or discourse of their specialisation? In adopting a critical management approach, we shall refer to the two key concepts of rhetoric and diversity. Rhetoric (2.1.) will be seen to have a dual application: as “instrument of persuasion” and as a dialectic or process of language construction in itself, without pursuing preconceived objectives. Diversity (2.2.) will also be viewed in two perspectives: one, restrictive, which considers diversity in terms of the traditional variables such as age, gender, religion, and so on; and the other, extensive, based on the concepts of identity and “listening ability”. In section 3 we shall see how the crux of our research is itself the problem of how to define the methodological framework. In particular, we shall highlight the methodological pluralism that underlies grounded theory and the heterogeneity of tools available to an approach to critical management in the “radical constructivist” tradition. In order to contextualise our analysis of managerial rhetoric, we shall look at some linguistic expressions registered in DM programmes and in conversation with some of the HR managers in the featured companies. These official declarations will be set against the policies and organizational actions actually put into practice. In the conclusions (4), we’ll stimulate further debate, summarising the research findings and our contribution.