A Paradox Matrix of Organizational Strategy and Implementation of Workforce Diversity Policies

This study sought to establish the influence that a diversity responsive organizational strategy has on the implementation of workforce diversity policies in Public Universities in Kenya. A positivist paradigm using descriptive cross sectional survey research design was used. The population of the study comprised of employees of 22 Public Universities in Kenya that existed prior to December, 2014. Purposive sampling was used to select seven universities that participated in the study while Yamane’s (1967) formula was used to calculate the sample size. A sample size of 393 was used. A structured questionnaire with Likert-type interval scale anchored on a five-point scale was developed to collect primary data. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard error were calculated for the respective variables through use of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version Nineteen. Inferential statistics were used to test the significance of the overall model at 95% level of significance. Contrary to the study expectations, streamlining of diversity policies in organizational strategy is seen to negatively influence the rate at which the institutions implement such policies. The study recommends for further research that adopts a time series design aimed at gathering continuous data to monitor organizational strategies by public universities and their effect on the already developed diversity policies particularly as stipulated in the Constitution of Kenya.


Introduction Background of the Study
The world has over the years witnessed increased diversity at the workplace which has created a need for management to give keen thought on workforce diversity policies. Workforce diversity means that people have differences in various perspectives key among them being primary dimensions like gender, ethnicity, culture, age, disability, religion, social status and personality traits (Schermerhorn, Hunt & Richard, 2005, Reece & Brandt, 1993. It also incorporates secondary characteristics like disparities in income, education religious beliefs and parental status).
The issue of workforce diversity is a phenomenon which affects all nations around the world. As such various instruments for inclusiveness at the workplace have been developed to promote workforce diversity globally, regionally at the national level. For example, the International Labour Organization (ILO) outlines the need for equality and justice in employment regardless of the person's background. Instruments like the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA, 1995) and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1979) are all United Nations (UN) tools aimed at promoting gender equality at all levels in member states.
Despite all these efforts through policies, regulatory requirements and declarations to promote workforce diversity, there exist gaps in the implementation stage. Literature has tried to offer explanations as to why policy implementation is faced with challenges. This study has singled out the role of organizational strategy in implementation of workforce diversity policies in public universities in Kenya.

Workforce Diversity
Workforce diversity management has been defined in different ways. In broad terms, it includes primary and secondary dimensions. The primary dimension include static characteristics like age, race, ethnicity and gender. Secondary dimension comprises distinctiveness that can be changed such as income, education and religious beliefs. Schermerhorn, Hunt & Richard, 2005;and Reece & Brandt, 1993). This study is concerned with the primary dimensions of workforce diversity in public universities in Kenya and singles out ethnicity, gender and persons with disability as key areas of study. This is because these dimensions have been expressively captured as key in the Constitution.
Attention to workforce diversity practices in Kenya was fueled by the awakening of communities and the need for representation and equal opportunities and resources, and climaxed in 2008 after the chaos that followed the 2007 contested general elections. It was due to those chaos that the NCIC was established to spearhead unity, with the mandate to ensure ethnic workforce diversity in public employment including universities. Research in the area of diversity management such as that of Kibaji (2010) has established that negative ethnicity and intolerance have been a major weakness in the management of the universities. Section 7 of the NCI Act, 2008 stipulates that workforce in public institution should not comprise of more than a thirty per cent from the same community.

Organizational Strategy
In today's knowledge economy, workforce diversity hiring is quickly becoming an organizational strategy for competitive advantage. The business case for workforce diversity recruiting has been strengthened by studies linking workforce diversity to organizational performance. Many organizations view workforce diversity recruitment as a business strategy (Aoife, Edel, Denise, Rousseau & Patrick, 2013). These authors identify a number of recruitment strategies; among them the knowledge-based employment and job-related employment. Organizations would consider workforce diversity recruitment if it makes business sense. Lockwood (2005) identifies four reasons for strategic workforce diversity recruiting as innovation and informed decision making, representation, improved public image and wider markets.

Public Universities in Kenya
The genesis of public universities in Kenya dates back in 1956 when the Royal Technical College was established in Nairobi. Following a 1961 Act of the East African Commission, the Royal Technical College was converted to Nairobi College (now University of Nairobi). Other more universities including the private ones emerged as the need for higher education intensified. As Kenya becomes more sophisticated and with mounting numbers from diverse communities, races, religious backgrounds and other workforce diversity dimensions assessing higher education, it is paramount that a diverse workforce is inevitable. Zusman (2005); Yatin, Hamid, Shah, & Hassan (2018); Shbeilat, Al Harasees (2018) recognized that universities of the 21st century experience philosophical challenges to the nature, values, and control of universities. Strictly adhering to the set policies such as that stipulating workforce diversity composition will not only help reduce conflict but also give universities a competitive edge in the market.

Statement of the Problem
A diverse workforce has been commended for its potential to create organizational harmony, improve productivity and assist the understanding of greater customer needs. In its efforts to leverage these benefits, the government of Kenya has developed policies which should guide staffing procedures. However, the implementation of such policies is still unexplored. Organizational strategy play a crucial role in the implementation of such workforce diversity policies. Yet despite the large number of studies conducted in the area of workforce diversity in Kenya, little exists exploring the role played by organizational strategy. For instant, there are those studies focusing on challenges of managing diverse workforce (Heike, Edeltraud & Gumato, 2011), importance of managing workforce diversity (Tabitha., et. al. 2013) and effects of workplace workforce diversity management on organizational effectiveness (Otike, Omboi & Mwalekwa, 2011). This study therefore seeks to bridge the gap by examining the influence of organizational strategy on implementation of workforce diversity policies in public universities in Kenya.

1.
To explore the relationship between streamlining workforce diversity policies with organizational strategy and implementation of workforce diversity policies in public universities in Kenya 2.
To establish the relationship between perceived productivity of a diverse workforce and implementation of workforce diversity policies in public universities in Kenya

H01
There is no significant relationship between streamlining workforce diversity policies with organizational strategy and implementation of workforce diversity policies in public universities in Kenya

H02
There is no significant relationship between perceived productivity of a diverse workforce and implementation of workforce diversity policies in public universities in Kenya

Theoretical Review
The study of workforce diversity today has stimulated discussion among scholars in human resource management. The term workforce diversity entered into human management literature in 1980s as the United States responded to demographic changes within the workforce and global completion through diversity management. It was also a reaction to the introduction of equity legislation and practices. It is widely acknowledged (Konrad, 2003;Kelly & Dobbin, 1998) that a major impetus to its development was a government commissioned report entitled Workforce 2000 (Johnston & Packer 1987), which examined the changing demographics of the US workforce. Johnston and Packer (1987)) pointed out that, in the years between 1987 and 2000, the workforce would become older, more feminized and more disadvantaged as only 15 percent of the new entrants to the labor force would be native white males, compared to 47 percent in that category in 1987. They stressed the need for national investment in education and training, along with changes in the organization of work and working conditions to accommodate the needs of women workers, minority workers of Blacks and Hispanics origin, people with disability and the aging population. Diversity management addresses both workforce diversity and social justice issues.
Theoretical underpinning for the study was drawn from the field of Diversity Management. They include Rawls's Theory of Justice (1971), Equity Theory (1965), Social Identity Theory (1979) and Policy Implementation Model (Pressman & Wildavsky, 1973). These theories form the foundation of diversity and lays ground for the understanding of issues of workforce diversity polices and consequently implementation of such policies.

Research Methodology Research Paradigm and Design
The study adopted a positivist paradigm which Creswell (2009), describes as quantitative in nature and based on rigid rules of logic measurements, truth, absolute principles and prediction. This paradigm is appropriate for this study because of its objectivity and use of quantitative research methodology to measure perceptions, attitudes and opinions about workforce diversity. It also utilizes a descriptive cross sectional survey research design as it affords the opportunity to capture population's characteristics and test hypotheses. Consequently, the researcher has no control on the variables thus cannot manipulate them making it inappropriate to use other research designs such as experimental research design (Kothari, 2003).

Target Population
The target population for this study comprises of all public universities in Kenya. The public universities were preferred since their structures are well defined and are likely to exhibit elaborate relationships among the study variables. Moreover, a NCIC (2012) study had revealed massive imbalances in workforce diversity which were of interest to the researcher. Respondents were selected from both the academic and non-academic staff from the universities that form the unit analysis in this study. The total population for the 22 public universities' workforce as per the 2014 statistics was about 25,000.

Sampling Procedure and Sample Size
The first stage of sampling was to select the public universities that will form part of the study. This was done using purposive sampling. Seven universities namely University of Nairobi (UoN), Kenyatta University (KU), Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology (JKUAT, Maseno University, Moi University, Egerton University and Maside Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) were purposively selected. The second stage of sampling was to indentify respondents from the selected seven universities. The sample size was calculated using sample formula by Yamane (1967) as below: Where "n" is the sample size, "N" is the population size and "e" is the level of precision at 95% confidence level with an error 5%. A sample of 393 was selected which included 125 and 268 individuals from academic and non-academic staff respectively.

Research Instruments
The study used both primary and secondary data. The sources of primary data included individuals who provided information when interviewed, administered questionnaires or observed. The questionnaire was the key instrument for the research. Secondary data was derived from universities websites, journal articles, books, periodicals, government publications, media reports and Acts of Parliament among others. Data about gender and disability composition was accessed from existing information in the human resources records. Such secondary data was triangulated with primary data to ascertain the level of implementation.

Data Collection and Analysis
Data was collected using questionnaires. The following research model was adopted for this study; IWDP=βo+ β1 X1+ β2 X2+ e In function form this model can be expressed as follows: IWDP = f(X1, X2, e) Where IWDP = Implementation of Workforce Diversity Policies X1 = Mainstreaming of diversity policies in strategy X2 = Perceived productivity βo = Constant βi = (i=1,2,3,4)=regression coefficient at ith variable e = Error Term (the error is normally distributed with a mean of zero and a variance of one)

Results and Discussion
The response rate for the study was 94% which was considered adequate for the study.

Descriptive Statistics
The study explored the means and standard deviations (SD) of variables studied which included independent variables of contextual factors and moderating variable of stereotype. Statements were anchored on a five point Likert scale ranging from 1= Strongly Disagree to 5=Strongly Agree. Mean scores of sub-set statements as well as the aggregate averages were computed. A mean score of 2.5 indicated an average rating while means above or below represented a high or low measures in descending or ascending order respectively. Standard deviation was also computed as a measure of variations from the mean. A small SD indicates that most of the sample means lies near the middle while a large SD implies that the sample mean is spread out over a large rate of values (Harper, 2000). As opposed to large SD, small SD is a good estimator of the population mean.

Streamlining of Diversity in Organizational Strategy
Streamlining of diversity in organizational strategy was indicated to measure the degree to which universities anchored workforce diversity policies in their organizational strategies. This was based on the premise that where policies are underscored and aligned to the broad strategy of the organizations, they are likely to be implemented to a large extend. To establish the level at which diversity is anchored on strategy, a set of six items was developed. Results are presented in Table 4.1 The findings in Table 4.1 indicate that to a large extent workforce diversity policies are streamlined with organizational strategy (mean=3.46, SD=0.075). This implies that the strategic plans of the institutions have incorporated strategies for making the organizations diverse in terms of gender, ethnic and disability. It can also be interpreted to mean that policies on those perspectives are available in the universities. The findings further reveal that workforce diversity policies are poorly (mean=1.8, SD=0.8) operational in universities implying that the institutions may have developed polices for mere compliance leaving diversity just at the policy level. There was also strong disagreement with the statement that one gender is strongly strategically aligned than the other to the institutions objectives (mean=1.78, SD=0.077). This agrees with the views of Oladipo & Abdulkadir (2011) that no gender differences exist in attainment of organizational goals and mission.

Respondents Scores on Perceived Productivity
Productivity was indicated by the perceived organizational output using dimensions of gender, ethnic and persons with disabilities. This was based on the premise that diversity which is marked with heterogeneous workforce is likely to produce better output compared to a homogenous workforce.
To establish the perceived level of output, six items were developed. Results are presented in Table  4.2 Findings in Table 4.2 indicate that to a large extent a diverse workforce is associated with high productivity (mean=3.11, SD=0.070). This indicates that a diverse workforce provides the synergy that impels employees to increase their efforts. The employer would thus employ a diverse workforce to tap from this benefits. Most of the respondents however indicated that the mere act of bringing in the minorities in the organization does not translate to any benefit (mean=4.41, SD=0.71). This supported Liswood (2010) studies that it is not enough to create a corporate version of 'Noah's Ark' in bringing in two of each kind unless the organization engages them to benefit from their diverse perspectives. It was also indicated that to a great extent (mean 4.50, SD=0.63) employees from some communities are hindrances to the achievement of the University's' objectives. The lowest mean score (mean=1.68, SD=0.073) was about persons with disabilities which may indicate why organizations may not be keen to employ people of this category. Results in Table 4.3 reveals that the average mean scores of organizational strategy was 3.285, SD=0.0725. The results indicate that a comprehensive organizational strategy is perceived to a large extent to be beneficial to an organization (mean=3.11) as well being well inclusive to include policies that address workforce diversity issues (mean=3.46, SD=0.075). From these results, there is an expectation that the degree of implementation of workforce diversity policies increases.

Implementation of Workforce Diversity Policies
This study identifies ethnic composition, gender and physical ability/disability dimensions as indicators for the degree to which workforce diversity policies have been implemented.

Ethnic Composition
Ethnicity is used interchangeably with tribalism to mean a group of people who share the same culture and identity including language, geographical location and behaviour norms and attitude (Cybulski, 2005).
To measure the ethnic composition in public universities, five items were developed where respondents were asked to state how strongly they agreed with related statements. Results are presented in Table 4.4.

Gender and Disability Proportion
Gender representation was indicated by the ratio of men to women. Regulatory requirements stipulate that no more than two-thirds (33%) of the workforce should be of the same gender in any public organization. Absolute data on the ratio of women to men was collected from the respective universities as percentages. The scale used meant that an institution where either gender accounted to 0-10% was ranked as very poor, (11-20)%=poor, (21-30)% as fair, (31-40)% = good while those with (41-50) were ranked as very good. This scale was then converted to a five point likert scale from 1-5 in ascending order. It was then aggregated and average mean scores calculated. Results are presented in Table 4.5  Table 4.5 indicate a fair gender representation public universities (mean=2.98, SD =0.066). This implies that the workforce fall within the regulatory requirement of the two-thirds gender policy (between 31-40%). These results may imply that public universities are striving to comply with the two thirds gender policy because this is an improvement from Onsongo (2009) where female academic staff accounted for only about 26%. The mean score for persons with disability was poor (mean=1.99, SD=0.028) indicating that the institutions far below the minimum requirement of 5% stipulated by the Constitution. This could be attributed to the complexity and cost involved in implementing such policies. For example, diversity policies do not spell out the process that should be followed in recruitment of PWD or the explanation of who qualifies to be included in this category.

Correlation Analysis Results
Correlation analysis using Pearson Product moment correlation coefficient technique was used to establish the relationship between streamlined diversity policies in organizational strategy, perceived productivity of inclusive strategy and implementation of workforce diversity policies. Table 4.6 summarizes the results. .000 .000 N 370 371 371 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
The results in Table 4.6 indicate that the relationship between streamlining of diversity policies on strategy and implementation of WDP is moderate, negative and statistically significant (r=-0.582, p-value=0.000<0.05). This implies that the more diversity policies are streamlined in the wider strategy of the organization, the less the organization implements such policies and vice versa.

Hypothesis Testing
This study was based on the premise that there is a relationship between organizational strategy and implementation of workforce diversity policies in public universities. Two hypotheses were developed in line with these relationships. To establish the statistical significance of the respective hypothesis, simple and multiple regression analysis were conducted at 95% confidence level.

Streamlining of Diversity Policies and Implementation
The first objective of the study led to the development of the following hypothesis which was tested:

H01 There is no significant relationship between streamlining of workforce diversity polices and implementation of workforce diversity policies in public universities in Kenya
The results are presented in Table 4.7 The results in Table 4.7 show that streamlining of diversity polices on strategy had a statistically significant influence on implementation of workforce diversity policies and therefore the hypothesis is rejected. It explained a 34.5% of its variation (R 2 =0.345). The Regression coefficient value of the computed scores of organizational strategy was -1.277 with a t-test of -13.86 and a significant level of 0.000. This implies that an increase in the degree to which workforce diversity policies are streamlined in strategy decreases the overall implementation level of workforce diversity policies. At the same time, the more profitable a diverse workforce is perceived, the less the degree of implementation of workforce diversity policies. These results are contrary to the findings of Lockwood's (2005) business case for diversity perspective, that for an organization to value and comply to diversity policies, it must offer tangible benefits. Consistent with Lockwood's findings (and contrary to the findings of this study) is Wilson & Atlanta, (2009) whose studies established that higher operating results and a stronger stock price growth were major considerations for a gender diversity in organization. It was established that the overall significance in the model suggest that the regression was statistically significant at 5% (F=192.2; P-value=0.000).
These findings portray a paradox scenario since they contradict predetermined expectations of the study. This is because the study hoped that where organizations have clear diversity policies that are included in their wider strategy, then such policies are likely to be implemented to a large extent. However some explanations may be offered to this. One, it is possible that institutions put workforce diversity policies in their strategy with good intentions but the spirit of interpretation is not to the tune. This would then limit commitment to the policy thereby leaving the policies just on paper. It can therefore be expressed as a cover-up, a strategy of concealment to prevent public suspicion and questions about institutions' workforce diversity agenda. Moreover, public universities are monitored for quality service delivery and so documentation is critical even when what is documented remains only at the blue print level.

Perceived Productivity and Workforce Diversity Policies
To establish the relationship between perceived productivity associated to inclusive policies and implementation of workforce diversity policies, a second relevant hypothesis was formulated as follows: H02 There is no significant relationship between perceived productivity associated to inclusive diversity policies and implementation of workforce diversity policies in public universities in Kenya Results are presented in Table 8 Table 4.8 show a significant influence of perceived productivity on implementation of workforce diversity policies. The hypothesis is therefore rejected at 5% confidence level. Regression of aggregated mean score of implementation of workforce diversity policies against perceived productivity produced an R 2 of 0.387 as shown in Table 4.32. This implies that perceived productivity explained 38.7% of the variation in composite score for implementation of workforce diversity policies. These results have revealed a statistically significant negative relationship between perceived productivity associated with inclusive strategy and implementation of workforce diversity policies (Beta = -0.503; P-value = 0.000). The statistically significant negative relationship between perceived productivity and implementation of WDP suggest that perceived productivity influences implementation of WDP in public universities.

Conclusions and Recommendations Conclusion
Despite being entrenched in the Constitution it is clear from the study findings that there is a great deal more work to be done to enhance understanding of the intended purpose of the policies, the implementation processes, underlying challenges and potential benefits. The study established concerns that the potential expense of accommodating a worker with a disability are a major barrier as it contributes to a substantial financial burden to an organization. Such perceived financial implications may extend to infrastructure related costs of making workplace accessible, increased premiums for health insurance or workers compensation, legal and financial risk should a workplace injury or accident occur, as well as indirect costs like as extra supervision or time needed to complete tasks.
The findings of the study revealed that a gender gap exists in public universities where female employees are the minority. This means that although gender diversity policies broadly aim at bringing affirmative action for either gender, it is obvious that at the time of this study, women are the focus of diversity policies. This will bring in more women in the mainstream and eventually lead to the long sought for gender equity at the workplace.
Strategy is crucial in focusing and guiding the focus and direction of every organization. As such every aspiration or commitment that an organization wish to make must be aligned to its strategy. To enhance implementation, policies must be reinforced by being anchored on organizational strategy, a move that seems to be in place in public universities. Interestingly, the study revealed that the more workforce diversity policies are anchored on strategy, the less they get implemented. Thus a conclusion is made that public universities may be hiding behind documenting diversity policies just to cover up and safeguard their images. It emerged from the study that organizational strategy in well inclusive spelling out how diverse it should be in line with the Constitution, yet the level of implementing such policies decline. Further, a conclusion is made that an institution that incorporates diversity policies in their organizational strategy is perceived to be one associated with high productivity. A general expectation is that where this is the case, such an organization should strive to ensure that it is inclusive, yet the study has proved otherwise. This is a paradox that requires further research! This study contributes to theory and knowledge in the area of workforce diversity, policy and strategy development by cautioning policy makers on the danger of enforcing policies that the masses have no ownership about. There is need for participation so that stakeholder acceptability can be achieved.

Recommendations
Based on findings of the study, the following recommendations are made to policy makers at the national level, human resource practitioners in public universities and other public institutions. Since organizational strategy in public universities emerged to have incorporated workforce diversity policies adequately, attention should be focused on policy implementation. Sensitization efforts should be intensified to show both the monetary and non-monetary benefits of an heterogeneous workforce as opposed to homogeneity. This is important because a strategy which is cost effective was indicated as popular.
The study further challenges researchers in the discipline of psychology to explore the implementation of diversity policies from that angle because ideally the problem of the homogeneity witnessed at the workplace is not due to lack of polices but rather policy implementation. The focus should now shift to the psychological thinking of the policy implementers.