Metabolically Diverse Organization (MDO): A Conceptual Framework for Human Diversity and Psychosocial Risk in Organizations

Metabolically Diverse Organization (MDO) is a conceptual framework for understanding how differences in human biology, physiology, behaviour, identity, and lived experience can shape workplace experiences and organizational outcomes. The MDO framework proposes that organizations are not composed of psychologically or physiologically identical individuals. Factors such as metabolic differences, energy regulation, stress responses, sleep, alcohol use, body composition, hormonal variation, and other dimensions of human diversity may intersect with organizational systems, workplace behaviour, performance expectations, and psychosocial risk. Rather than treating individual differences as isolated personal characteristics, MDO examines how these differences interact with organizational structures and social environments. The framework is particularly concerned with situations in which organizational practices—such as performance management, behavioural expectations, team-building activities, remote or rotational work, and workplace norms—may produce different experiences or levels of exposure for different people. MDO also introduces a broader perspective on human dignity, psychological safety, and organizational behaviour, examining how repeated workplace experiences can influence an individual’s sense of belonging, self-worth, agency, and perceived dignity over time. The framework is intended to contribute to interdisciplinary discussion across occupational health and safety, organizational psychology, psychosocial risk, human factors, diversity and inclusion, workplace behaviour, and organizational design. This Zenodo record documents the development of the MDO concept and provides a citable research artefact for further discussion, critique, refinement, and potential empirical investigation. MDO is presented as a conceptual framework rather than as an established scientific theory, and its propositions require further theoretical development and empirical validation.