Diversity and the "Bottom Line"

Numerous modern diversity consultants have claimed that diversity programs are good for business profits. But it that true?

Thomas Kochan is a Professor at MIT. He is past president of both the International Industrial Relations Association and the Industrial Relations Research Association. Some of Kochan’s recent books include: Restoring the American Dream: A Working Families’ Agenda for America; Management: Inventing and Delivering its Future; Working in America: A Blueprint for the Labor Market, Learning from Saturn; Managing for the Future: Organizational Behavior and Processes, 3rd edition, 2004; An Introduction to Collective Bargaining and Industrial Relations, 3rd ed. 2003; In 1988 his book, The Transformation of American Industrial Relations received the annual award from the Academy of Management for the best scholarly book on management. Here is his take on the diversity industry:


“The diversity industry is built on sand…The business case rhetoric for diversity is simply naïve and overdone.” (Fay Hansen Workforce April 2003)