Diversity Management: Der programmatische Umgang mit kultureller Vielfalt. Eine sprachwissenschaftliche Analyse/Diversity Management: The Programmatic Treatment of Cultural Diversity. A Linguistic Analysis

Abstract

Germany is a country characterized by diversity: many international companies are based in Germany and numerous German enterprises operate abroad. With 20.5 percent of the popula- tion being of migrant background, Germany is close to that of typical immigration countries, such as the United States of America, Canada and Australia. The employment of a diverse workforce, regardless of age, gender, religion, ethnic background, sexual orientation or physi- cal abilities of the employee, is highly beneficial for companies and offers various opportuni- ties. Not only has this become the focus of recent research on the topic of diversity, it has also gained the interest of society, politics and economy. The economic advantages of companies and public sector entities who hire diverse operatives, are used strategically in the human re- source management of various companies. This thesis approaches this topic from a discourse analytic point of view. The aim lies in the analysis of the programmatic discourse of Diversity Management in German companies, with respect to Cultural Diversity Management, in order to respond to the latest demographic changes in Germany. For the purpose of the analysis, the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse is used as a method to investigate the treat- ment of Diversity in the German companies Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Deutsche Bahn AG and Deutsche Bank AG.