Organizational Development Team diversity, whether racial, gender, or other differences has both benefits and costs. Research shows that team diversity appears to increase conflict in the early stages of a team's formation and this often lowers morale.
One study compared teams on a wilderness survival exercise that were culturally diverse (composed of people from different countries) and homogeneous (composed of people from the same country). The teams performed equally well, but the diverse groups were less satisfied with their groups, were less cohesive, and had more conflict.
Despite this, there is evidence that, over time, culturally and demographically diverse groups may perform better. One reason is the effect of "surface-level diversity". READ MORE
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