Against all odds: how the institutional context shapes diversity management in the Central and Eastern European Oil and Gas industry

Purpose Due to their multifarious backgrounds, multinational enterprises from emerging economies offer unique research opportunities to push the boundaries of our understanding knowledge of diversity management in transitional contexts. In that regard, Central and Eastern European multinationals present a blind spot in diversity management research. Design/methodology/approach This article examines the extent to which context shapes the discourse on diversity management in the Oil and Gas industry across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) through a qualitative approach based on content analyses of corporate communication data matched with data on national institutional contexts. Findings The data suggests a lack of effective pro-diversity pressures across CEE except for cultural pressure in European Union member countries. However, CEE Oil and Gas companies report a broader scope of diversity management than studies of Western counterparts suggest. Companies with subsidiaries in Western countries show convergence towards etic diversity approaches, while local and regional companies are more divergent. Originality/value This article defines the boundary conditions of diversity management in the Oil and Gas industry across nine CEE countries and how they impact the diversity discourse in the industry. This article also showcases the impact of foreign market presence in the West as a driver for diversity management reporting.