A DISCOURSE ANALYTICAL APPROACH TO EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GLOBAL DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES – FOREIGN SUBSIDIARY DISCOURSES ON GLOBAL DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Jussi Leponiemi, Department of Management, University of Vaasa, Finland
Adam Smale, Department of Management, University of Vaasa, Finland

Abstract
The objective of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of global diversity management practices developed by a well-known European MNC, and applied in their Finnish subsidiary. The study takes place nearly six years since the MNC began the transfer of its global diversity management values, policies and practices to the subsidiary. The paper adopts a qualitative research methodology and a discourse analytical approach to data analysis. By identifying the discourses represented and referred to by Finnish subsidiary personnel on the topic of managing workforce diversity and workforce diversity’s appearance with regard to organisational developmental activities and organisation’s objectives, the study aims to evaluate qualitatively the effectiveness of the MNC’s global diversity management practices. A total of five discourses were identified during the data analysis. Each discourse is relevant for the topic and takes a subsidiary personnel viewpoint to a policy transfer discussion.
Keywords: diversity management, multinational corporation, transfer, HRM