Barjinder Singh, associate professor of management, explores the role of community and diversity climates in the workplace, and how it contributes to innovation.
In his latest research, Barjinder Singh,聽associate聽professor of聽management聽at聽the聽Martha and Spencer Love School of聽Business, investigates the role of community climate in driving innovation at work.
The co-authored聽study,聽鈥,鈥澛爌ublished in Organization Management Journal, examines how diversity climates,聽both within the organization and in the geographical community, influence employees鈥 ability to think creatively and implement聽new ideas.
Singh鈥檚 research treats diversity as a strategic resource, not a surface-level initiative. Grounded in the Conservation of Resources theory, it argues that inclusion strengthens employees鈥 sense of meaning at work, which in turn boosts innovation.
Key Findings
- Employees who perceive their organization as supportive and inclusive聽may be聽more likely to feel聽their work聽is聽meaningful.
- Innovation聽isn鈥檛聽shaped by the workplace alone.聽The聽study聽explores聽a 鈥渃ommunity-to-work spillover鈥 effect,聽examining聽whether聽inclusive communities, in addition to organizations, can positively influence how employees perform.
- The聽relationship between聽an聽organization鈥檚聽diversity聽climate聽and聽meaningful work聽may be聽stronger for non-managerial employees.聽For聽employees聽without formal authority, inclusion聽may聽play聽a critical role聽in how聽they聽feel聽valued and purposeful.
鈥淭hese findings give students an evidence-based way to think about聽leading in聽diverse workplaces,鈥 said Singh.聽鈥淚n my organizational behavior and leadership courses, I use the research to show how inclusion, meaningful work and status dynamics can influence performance and innovation.鈥
The research was co-authored with聽Stephanie聽Solansky聽at Texas State University San Marcos, Donna Stringer at the University of Houston Clear Lake and聽Sarthak Singh at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Singh, who joined 黑料不打烊 in 2017, teaches courses in organizational behavior, human resource聽management聽and business ethics. His research has appeared in leading journals including the Journal of Organizational Behavior,聽Journal聽of Business Ethics and Human Resource Management.