Diversity on a team



Diversity on a team

Introduction

Teamwork has largely conquered the business world in recent years and more and more companies are using teams of different types for different missions, thus considering teams like the strong core of the production process. In the literature on groups, a team is defined as a small group. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that its members are complementary to levels of functions, expertise and skills (Engleberg & Wynn, 2007). Indeed, a group can be defined as a sphere inside which are gathered from workers as well profession and with the same qualifications, where everyone performs the same work (example: a law firm). A team is characterized by diversity of its members following a common goal. A team is usually made up of individuals with different functions, complementary skills and team spirit that allow them to cooperate and coordinate their tasks (Jackson & Ruderman, 1995).

The diversity as a feature of the team

Diversity has become an interesting area for research in management science. This is due to more and more important work situations in which teams heterogeneous are responsible. Diversity is defined by the authors in management science as the difference in terms of race, gender, nationality, origin, ethnicity, etc. It can also be defined as the differences in visions, behavioral differences between two groups of individuals due to differences socio cultural, or socioeconomic (Carr-Ruffino, 1996). To better understand the term diversity, several researchers such as have proposed to distinguish the different variables diversity by categorizing them into two main categories. Observable attributes category includes the race, gender, age and ethnicity. While the unobservable attributes include the training, discipline, and specialty, instead of the individual within the organization, characteristics or personal values (Passmore, 2009).

Concept of Human capital Diversity

Diversity of human capital along with the demographic, considered as type of heterogeneity, not so visible, but also has significant effects, even more intense than the last. This is what is commonly known as human capital diversity, i.e. the differences among group members about their knowledge, skills and skills where the value truly lies that people bring to organizations. If we focus our analysis on this dimension of diversity, might realize the teams can differ in the following aspects: Knowledge of work processes or skills, that is not necessarily technical skills but also other issues related to important for the operation of equipment such as the ability of ...