Inclusive organisations in the digital age

22 - 24 April 2024 | Executive MPA Seminar

Inclusive organisations in the digital age seeks to explore issues related to the management of workforce diversity in organisations, with a particular focus on innovation-oriented organisations. It aims to draw from various insights from political science, sociology and organisational studies in order to unravel a number of aspects playing a role in current debates around social diversity more generally. The course plans to cover at least four relevant themes. Firstly, it will provide a succinct overview of how democratic theories on equity, representation and inclusiveness are reflected at the organisational level and the practical challenges involved. Secondly, it will discuss how demographic changes and other environmental factors (legislation, cultural shifts, competitive pressures, etc.) operate as determinants of workforce diversification processes and how context shapes the resulting configurations. A third pillar will explore different models for the management of workforce diversity in the context of fast-changing environments that involve the role of leadership, organisational culture, recruitment and appraisals, as well as communication. Finally, the course will discuss the evidence surrounding the impacts of workforce diversity on both the organisations and their services, particularly how it affects dynamic capacities and the delivery of services to different clienteles in the digital age. For each of these topics, the course plans to offer a deep perspective, comprehensively tackling key debates and addressing the many open questions that remain with this timeous topic.

Main topics and learning objectives

At the end of the course, it is expected that participants:

• Become acquainted with the most important academic debates on organisational justice and its connections to diversity and inclusiveness.
• Develop a thorough and balanced analytical approach to assessing social justice principles at the workplace.
• Acquire a set of managerial tools to best unlock the potential of organisational inclusiveness for performance, innovation and creativity.
• Develop the necessary skills to understand the empirical evidence on what works and what doesn’t in the area of diversity-related organisational justice.

This seminar is offered in the open enrolment programme and as part of the Executive MPA programme.