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Organizational Decoupling in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: From its Evidence in Organizations to its Impact on Workers

par De Cock, Valérie
Président du jury Gassner, Marjorie
Promoteur Toma, Claudia
Co-Promoteur Celik, Pinar
Publication Non publié, 2024-12-10

Thèse de doctorat

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Résumé :

Despite global recognition of the importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), many organizations still fail to achieve significant progress in these areas. One contributing factor may be organizational decoupling, where a significant gap exists between organizations’ talk, actions, and results. Organizational decoupling has been investigated across various fields as a key factor contributing to organizations’ inability to drive genuine change. We argue that the DEI domain is also vulnerable to this phenomenon. Therefore, this dissertation aims to present both theoretical and empirical evidence showing that organizational decoupling is an important phenomenon to incorporate into research on DEI in the workplace.This dissertation centers on the phenomenon of organizational decoupling and explores its antecedents and consequences within the context of DEI. Specifically, three objectives are pursued. First, we clarify and establish the theoretical significance of organizational decoupling in DEI research. Second, we address the limited evidence of its presence in the DEI domain, with a particular focus on European corporations. Third, we shift the attention from the organizational consequences of decoupling to its impact on workers.These objectives are addressed across five chapters. Chapter 1 elaborates on and revisits the conceptualization of organizational decoupling within the DEI context and proposes a nomological network by integrating insights from the organizational decoupling literature, as well as the psychology and management literature on DEI. Based on our new conceptual framework, Chapter 2 empirically investigates the presence of organizational decoupling in European organizations. Chapters 3 and 4 contribute to the nomological network by examining the psychological consequences of organizational decoupling within the DEI domain for workers. Chapter 5 concludes the dissertation with a comprehensive discussion and a conclusion.This dissertation makes significant contributions to both DEI management and organizational decoupling literature. First, it advances the DEI management literature by demonstrating that organizational decoupling is a key phenomenon within the DEI domain, employing a newly developed conceptual model to identify and analyze it. It further identifies organizational decoupling in DEI as a critical factor contributing to negative outcomes for workers, potentially acting as a reinforcing cycle that perpetuates the lack of progress in DEI efforts. It also highlights the risks of DEI communication that either mirrors societal norms or suffers from inconsistencies. Second, this dissertation contributes to the organizational decoupling literature by shedding light on the often-overlooked internal dynamics within organizations that can lead to decoupling. Moreover, it emphasizes that this phenomenon not only harms organizations but also has significant negative effects on workers. The practical implications are two-fold. First, the findings reveal distinct forms and risks of organizational decoupling within the DEI sphere. Second, they provide insights on developing effective strategies for addressing and mitigating these risks.