Organizational Perspectives
Diversity of Board and Performance - Intermediate Role of a High-Power CEO
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Byungseong Min
We examine how diversity of board affects performance while emphasizing how and why high-power CEOs (i.e. CEO duality) influences the relationship. We posit that this difference in the mediation is led by distinctive mechanisms of interfacing power with dominant logics between insider and outsider in family firms. In the context of our study, task-related cognition reflected in diversities of the lengths of service and different functional roles among board members appear to be important for the focal task of institutionalizing the duality. This endogenously determined CEO duality in turn affects performance through different mechanisms depending on outsideness of CEOs in family firms, where high-power nonfamily CEOs follows a market logic contingent upon the traditional agency problem while family CEOs follows a family logic contingent upon the behavioural agency problem. Further to developing an integrated model of the strategy process in the upper echelons, our results illustrate diversity of board can be a substitute for bounded internal accountability mechanism.
Using Culture to Change Culture: The Inclusion Capital Framework
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kate Linklater
Organisational culture within police agencies is often described in the literature as resistant to change. With the expectation that police forces are more representative of the community they work in, calls for an increase in diversity have resulted in varying strategies to make this occur. However, even where diversity has been increased, this has not necessarily resulted in the inclusion of all individuals in the workplace. As such, strategies to increase diversity need to be tailored to the culture of policing workplaces. Using a constructivist grounded theory methodology, this research employed semi-structured interviews with New South Wales Police Force officers to ascertain their perceptions and experiences of difference and diversity in the ranks. The data from these interviews was used to analyse overall themes within police culture, rather than focusing on individual diversity category characteristics. The result was a framework that explains how officers accept their colleagues in the workplace, and how each officer can navigate this landscape to increase their own levels of acceptance. It explains why some individuals, regardless of difference or diversity characteristics, are more included in the policing workplace than others. More importantly, it provides a framework for police managers to increase levels of inclusion in the workplace, ensuring that the burden does not continue to be met by the individual. In using this framework, it is possible to encourage a more inclusive police culture that values diversity, without trying to enforce it.
Managers' Attitudes on Diversity and Effects on Their Leadership Behaviour
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Knifka Linda
For many years, large companies in Germany have been engaged in diversity policies with the aim of, for example, increasing employee satisfaction and thus reducing staff turnover. Due to the shortage of skilled workers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are also increasingly engaged in diversity management. However, there have been no systematic studies on this so far. Therefore, this contribution deals with the following research questions: (1) What perception of and attitude towards diversity do managers have? (2) What effects do these have on leadership behaviour? The aim is to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of diversity and to uncover contextual conditions for SMEs. As part of the EFRE project DIAMANT, 80 guideline-based interviews with managers in SMEs in Germany are being conducted. Based on a deliberate random sampling, about 20 interviews will be considered and evaluated by qualitative content analysis to answer the questions. Initial results show that managers are important to successfully implement diversity management. Furthermore it seems that there are discrepancies between the first and second hierarchical levels with regard to problem awareness and willingness to implement. This is the first qualitative study that describes the broad spectrum of perceptions and understanding of diversity among managers in SMEs in Germany. With this, companies can (further) develop support structures to maintain the quality of the company's performance. For example, training opportunities should be offered, like sensitisation training, to enable managers to perceive the different individuals in teams. Further recommendations for action are currently being developed.
Data-driven Diversity: Using Your Skills to Make a Difference
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session LaShana Lewis
Data is all around us. From calculating projections to influencing meaningful decision-making, the impact data has on the way we live and work is increasing rapidly. But, what does this mean for data processes and the business world as a whole, when not everyone has a seat at the table? This study outlines the importance of diversity in business and how you can consider data through the lens of diversity and inclusion, using your skills as a data professional to raise awareness and make lasting change.
