Diversity Management in the Small and Medium Sized enterprises: A study applied in the Littoral Region of Cameroon

Abstract

SME in Cameroon is known as the “corner-stone” of the economy. At the same time, just as the troubling environment conditions the execution of their activities smoothly, so do they become resistant. This piece of work aims to assess the effects of diversity management on the SMEs in Cameroon. To guide ourselves towards achieving this objective, we asked the question, in what way does diversity management affect the SME? In our attempt to answer this question, we opted for a qualitative research approach with inductive reasoning. To be logical, our population of study is made of any SME mindless of its domain of activities within the littoral region of Cameroon and our sampled population is made up of the proprietors and/or the main human resource persons in these enterprises, making a total of six participants retained in this study due to saturation, thanks to the use of an interview guide for data collection; administered through face-to-face contact with the aid of an audio recorder. The collected data were analyzed manually based on thematic analysis. The results from the analysis show that : gender (100%), generational diversity (100%), ethnic and cultural diversity (100%), family status (60%), and inclusion of persons with disabilities (35%), are the main mechanisms of diversity management that are mostly practiced, and at the same time, they have different effects in the SME in Cameroon. This piece of work is limited only to sole SMEs in their domain of activity, which could lead to a multiplication of each case in a further study. To this effect, the different top resource persons in the SME should respect the stipulations of the Cameroon labor code against the practice of discrimination against workers, especially persons with disabilities. At the same time, the workers should be able to distinguish between the workplace and the areas of influence of their traditional titles, except in family-owned SMEs.

Keywords: Diversity, Management, SME

JEL Classification: I31

Type of paper: Empirical research