Date of Conferral
6-29-2024
Date of Award
June 2024
Degree
Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)
School
Management
Advisor
Gregory Uche
Abstract
Business managers’ lack of leadership strategies leads to a lack of a diverse workforce in most high-powered positions. Business managers who fail to implement appropriate leadership strategies for improving diversity and inclusion in the workplace can experience poor innovation, high employee turnover rates, decreased productivity, and decreased customer satisfaction. Grounded in social identity theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the leadership strategies business managers use to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace to improve performance in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Participants were four business managers who successfully used leadership strategies to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace for performance enhancement. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and company websites and analyzed using thematic data analysis. Four themes emerged: people involvement and training, leadership style and organizational policy, communication and feedback, and recruitment process. A key recommendation for leaders is to communicate the importance of diversity and inclusion by holding individual employee monthly chats that allow employees to provide feedback without repercussions. The implications for positive social change are significant, as the potential to increase financial business performance can lead to the creation of job opportunities, provision of social amenities and welfare, and promotion of the socioeconomic development of the regional communities.
Recommended Citation
Robinson, Eric Ray, "Leadership Strategies Business Managers Use to Improve Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace" (2024). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 15986.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/15986
