Location-Level Links Between Diversity and Innovative Climate Depend on National Power Distance

Abstract

In this study, we examined the relationship between the demographic diversity and innovative climates of 248 organizational locations of a multinational company in 24 countries. Supporting a status characteristics perspective, multilevel analyses revealed that diversity in the more task-oriented demographic attributes of organizational tenure and functional background was negatively related to these locations' innovative climates in high-power-distance countries but positively related to the locations' innovative climate in low-power-distance countries. These interactive effects were not found for the more relations-oriented demographic attributes of age and gender.