Diversity Management and Trust: Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Purpose: The main aim of the paper is to identify and evaluate the state of the art in research on relationship between the concepts of diversity management and trust. The overarching question is what are the key contributions of the literature to deliver support to linkage between these two concepts. The literature analysis is also aimed at organising existing knowledge and identifying the key problems, trends and gaps in research output. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a systematic review of the literature, a content analysis on 18 peer-reviewed journal articles has been carried out. The Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection databases are used as a source for the sampling process. Findings: First of all, the results of the study allow to conclude that very few publications ranked as business and social scienc-es comprise together diversity management and trust. Thus, the analysed area seems to be an attractive field for further research. Among existing literature seven key research areas were identi-fied, representing different approaches to the relationship between trust and diversity management. Research and practical limitations/implications: The Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection databases, which were used to identify the publications analysed, do not contain all publications in the field of the study. Different languages of full text constituted an additional obstacle. Originality/value: The paper contributes to the diversity manage-ment and trust literature in three ways. First, it discovers a research gap in the field of linkage between trust and diversity management. Secondly, it organises existing body of knowledge and finally it identifies the key problems and trends in research output. Paper type: theoretical, literature review.