The impact of race on organizational culture within public organizations

Executive summary

This research project examines racial diversity in top management of public organizations, cultural differences of race, culture and public organizations that have supported the reason for the different possibilities of access to leadership race public organizations

The subjects of research are public organizations, public institutions, local and central public administration structures and political organizations.

The research has two basic objectives:

- To assess the present situation

- To identify appropriate strategies for action in order to improve the access of various races in the top management of public organizations.

The key actions through which these objectives will be achieved are: to study recent specialized publications, to develop six studies to assess the current situation and to write a project on this theme.

The information provided by the evaluation studies and research project will be the base for future public management studies within the organizational culture area. They will also provide theoretical foundation on which will be developed complete strategies for removing artificial barriers between the races in public organizations.

More over these will be working tools for governmental and nongovernmental organizations that support racial diversity in the top management positions the research results will be presented at national and international conferences organized on human resources theme within public institution.

Context

Our society is becoming more complex and diverse. Overall population is growing, we are more ethnically diverse, and we are getting older. New patterns of migration have affected previously homogenous communities.

Equality legislation has helped challenge much discrimination and prejudice, for example The Race Relations Act protects individuals from racial discrimination and harassment and creates a right to challenge discrimination in the courts or at an employment tribunal. It is unlawful for a person to discriminate against another person on racial grounds - this means race, color, nationality, or ethnic or national origins.

But there are still big equality gaps as the real problem in the British public sector is with senior level recruitment and retention. This is often where diversity is weakest, and there are huge cultural and ethical barriers which need to be faced and addressed before there are results

Institutional racism denotes those patterns, procedures, practices and policies that operate within social institutions so as to consistently penalize, disadvantage and exploit individuals of nonwhite racial/ethnic groups.

Aims and objectives

The purpose of this research is to identify the causes and effects of institutional racism upon organizational culture in the public institutions.

General objectives

1. to study public organizations focusing on organizational culture to assess their current situation and its causes

2. to identify possible racial differences in public management and what strategies best suited to improve it

Questions awaiting response from the research are at least the following:

1. Are there any differences between races in building careers in public organizations?

2. What racial characteristics will define the portraits of future managers ?

3. Are there any differences between races in terms of skills, qualities and leadership styles?

Specific objectives:

1. Defining the theoretical concept of organizational culture associated with public management.

2. Theoretical analysis of the concept of institutional race discrimination in the broader context of management and public management in particular.

3. Deepening theoretical contextual elements of national and comparative analysis for European and American context.

4. Developing an instrument for measuring race discrimination associated with public organizations in the UK

5. Data collection and information related to the research theme and building a database of case studies of organizations studied.

Outputs and outcomes

Outputs:

- Study of organizational culture in public institutions - a theoretical approach

- Study of racial diversity between the leaders in public institutions within UK - case studies

- Study of differences and similarities between corporate cultures in institutions run by people belonging to different races - case studies

- Study of European organizations vision regarding race discrimination - evolution and prospects

- Scientific Project Report

- Impact Report

- Editing a best practices guide for organizational culture within the public sector

- Developing an instrument for measuring race discrimination associated with public organizations in the UK