More and more French companies are seeking to integrate into their HR policy actions related to diversity which are evaluated and used as the basis of medium- term partnerships with associations, consultants and recruiters. This article aims at motivations behind Diversity Management in France and proposes four different policies. It also emphasizes the increasing part of the struggle against discrimination (people coming from "visible minorities", victims of exclusion on the grounds of religion, sexual orientation, weight or disability...) and the social responsibility of business in French companies.

Today's global capitalism differs from its historical precedents in the existence of enormous multinational businesses implanted in hundreds of countries, all making effective use of information technology and high-speed transportation. This form of capitalism is a completely new development and seeks increasingly to integrate social and ethical aspects in the operational rules of its players, reinforcing the image of ever greater openness to the world beyond. In the US, the Dow Jones Sustainability Stoxx index ranks the most efficient businesses according to their respect for the environment, safety —and diversity.

In France the tendency is so marked that we can now see a transfer of a certain number of social problems from the State to the domain of business. Fighting discrimination was traditionally the prerogative of the former, along with various militant individual or associative initiatives, but this is no longer the case. Beyond the establishment of a "contract of welcome and integration" and its engagement against racial discrimination, the State is increasingly leaving the way open for business to self-regulate and experiment. In the opinion of the authors, February 2005's Governmental Conference on Equal Opportunity supported trade unions and business initiatives against discrimination while at the same time minimizing the State's own direct mobilization as employer (over and above its communication campaigns on the issue of diversity).

On both sides of the Atlantic, the issue of diversity, the struggle against discrimination and the social responsibility of business is hot news; 11 million French people admit they have refused to purchase a product for "moral reasons"; employers say they are paying ever more attention to reconciling personal and professional life, so as not to penalize women (and an increasing number of men) on account of their role in the family; flexible working hours, job sharing, working from home, special leaves of absence and "timely" retirement are all tools used to favor diversity and its management.

Multinational businesses, Information technology, Governmental Conferences, Diversity Management, National interprofessional agreements, Diversity Management Policy, HR policy, American Express's Black Employee Network, Marketing strategies, Diversity Policies.