Managing diversity and inclusion: An international perspective. Jawad Syed and Mustafa Özbilgin, (eds), London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, pp.356, ISBN: 9781446294642

• Published date: 01 June 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12085
• Date: 01 June 2017

Managing diversity and inclusion: An

international perspective. Jawad Syed and

Mustafa Özbilgin, (eds), London: Palgrave

Macmillan, 2015, pp.356,

ISBN: 9781446294642

DENNIS GABRIEL PEPPLE

1

Department of People,Management and Organisation, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield

The concepts of diversity and inclusion have taken centre

stage for a wide range of stakeholders(Jamal et al., 2010;

Giles, 2016), from governments to business organisations

and industries. In recent years, migrants from

impoverished or war ravaged countries in Africa and

Middle East have continue to top the agenda of

governments and policy makers in Europe and North

America (Levin, 2012; Boeri et al., 2015).The issues of

gender and minority rights in Muslim majority countries

continue to draw the attention of scholars and activists

(Ali and Kramar, 2015; Monshipouri, 2015; Pföstl,

2015). Issues of diversity in Africa range from religious,

ethnic and tribal vio lence, to the tensions b etween

expatriate and host communities in the oil producing

countries (De Juan, 2015; García-Rodríguez, et al.,

2015; Murmu, 2014;Samy et al., 2015; Warren and Troy,

2015). Debates about diversity and equal opportunity are

also relevant in emerging economies and new economic

giants such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South

Africa (BRICS) (Nkomo et al., 2015; Ralston et al.,

2015). Drawing on insights and experiences of diversity

management from the Europe, Australia, USA and

BRICS countries, the book in review stands out as a

valuable resource to understand and contextualise

diversity across many countries and continents.

The book in review, titled Managing Diversity and

Inclusion:an International Perspective addresses the

contextual and global issues related to diversity

management. It demonstrates that the issues of diversity

management, equal opportunities and inclusion are not

only socially and politically important; these also affect

all sectors of the economy and industry. For example, a

recent call for and heated debate about diversity in the

Oscars (aka the Academy Awards) indicates that the

entertainment industry too does not escape issues of

structural and attitudinal challenges when it comes to fair

representation of racial minorities (Syed, 2016).

With the increasingly heterogeneous demography of

the population and the workforce in the 21st century

(Levin, 2012), managing diversity is regarded as a key

challenge of human resource practitioners (Murmu,

2014). This is because the impact of diversity

management is not only seen in the outcome of

businesses, it may also lead to a socially responsible and

inclusive organisation (Syed and Kramar, 2009). Rapid

globalisation requires organisations to brace up with the

challenges of diversity management (Andrevski et al.,

2014). Diversity management has a Western origin (Syed

and Özbilgin, 2009) and has overtime been challenged

with context-specificity (Jamali et al., 2010). Hence a

major test for diversity management as a concept is its

appeal and utilityin diverse national and cultural contexts.

The book provides frameworks for understanding and

satisfying the uniqueness and belongingness needs of

employees in other to enable inclusive workplaces.

Correspondence:Dennis Gabriel Pepple,The Business School,Department

of People, Management and Organisation, University of Huddersfield,

Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH, United Kingdom, Tel:

+447704914579. E-mail dennis.pepple@hud.ac.uk

European Management Review, Vol. 14, 115–117, (2017)

DOI: 10.1111/emre.12085

©2016 European Academy of Management