Although this model has received considerable attention and has affected practice, research on the model has been lacking. Patrick McKay and his colleagues, Derek Avery and Mark Morris, have published a study on the link between diversity climate and store performance in a 2009 Personnel Psychology article.
McKay and his colleagues rely on previous work when defining diversity climate as “employees’ shared perceptions of the degree to which a firm is thought to utilize fair employee policies and socially integrate underrepresented employees into the work setting.” The logic of the IMCD is that employees, who feel valued, because of the existence of a positive diversity climate, will have a favorable opinion of their employer and will be motivated to perform well.
