Publications

09 Feb 2017
Cold Call Podcast

Black Business Leaders Series: Putting Diversity to Work

Keywords: Re: Robin J. Ely

18 Jul 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Diversity and Inclusion at Mars Petcare: Translating Awareness into Action

Keywords: Re: Katherine B. Coffman; Food & Beverage; Health

July 2020
Background Note

Gender Diversity on Boards: Views from Norway

By: Aiyesha Dey

The issue of gender diversity on boards has received increased attention in U.S markets over the past few years. In 2018, California introduced a law which required boards of U.S-listed firms with headquarters in California to include at least one female director by... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Board Decisions; Gender; Diversity; Governing and Advisory Boards; Norway; United States

November 2004
Case

IBM's Diversity Strategy: Bridging the Workplace and the Marketplace

By: David A. Thomas and Ayesha Kanji

Explores how IBM incorporated diversity into its business strategy, making the case that workforce diversity is critical to marketing its products and services to its customers. In the early 1990s, Ted Childs, vice-president of Workforce Diversity, proposed to CEO Lou... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Diversification; Business Strategy; Integration; Global Strategy; Organizations; Markets; Information Technology Industry; United States

August 2009
Case

Meeting the Diversity Challenge at PepsiCo: The Steve Reinemund Era

By: David A. Thomas and Stephanie Creary

This case profiles PepsiCo's diversity journey under the leadership of former chairman and CEO Steve Reinemund who instituted diversity as one of the company's strategic imperatives. It demonstrates the ways in which Reinemund partnered with his leadership team and... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Performance Effectiveness; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

05 Oct 2010
Working Paper Summaries

A Positive Approach to Studying Diversity in Organizations

Keywords: by Lakshmi Ramarajan & David Thomas

October 2012
Case

Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Elena Corsi

Royal Dutch Shell has been among the early players to implement diversity and inclusion policies in the 1990s, first in the U.S. and then globally. In May 2009, Peter Voser, CFO and soon-to-be CEO, wants to adjust the company's business, headcount, and cost levels to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Managerial Roles; Restructuring; Resignation and Termination; Diversity; Financial Crisis; Energy Industry; Netherlands

spring 2003
Article

The Effects of Diversity on Business Performance: Report of the Diversity Research Network

By: T. Kochan, K. Bezrukova, R. Ely, S. Jackson, A. Joshi, K Jehn, J. Leonard, D. Levine and D. Thomas

Keywords: Networks; Research; Performance; Diversity

Article

Cultural Diversity at Work: The Moderating Effects of Work Group Perspectives on Diversity

By: R. J. Ely and D. A. Thomas

Keywords: Perspective; Groups and Teams; Jobs and Positions; Diversity

Article

Cultural Diversity on Wall Street: Evidence from Consensus Earnings Forecasts

By: Kenneth Merkley, Roni Michaely and Joseph Pacelli

We examine how cultural differences among agents influence the aggregate outcome of a common forecasting task. Using both exogenous shocks to sell-side analyst diversity and panel regression methods, we find that increases in analyst cultural diversity positively... View Details

Keywords: Culture; Forecasting; Sell-side Analysts; Information Aggregation; Diversity; Forecasting and Prediction; Information; Performance Improvement

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March–April 2020
Article

An Institutional Approach to Gender Diversity and Firm Performance

By: Letian Zhang

This study examines data from 35 countries and 24 industries to understand the relationship between gender diversity and firm performance. Previous studies report conflicting evidence: some find that gender-diverse firms experience more positive performance and others... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Theory; Cross-cultural; Diversity; Gender; Organizations; Performance; Situation or Environment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

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2021
Talk

The Business Case for Diversity

By: R. Ely

31 Aug 2020
What Do You Think?

Why Don’t More Organizations Understand the Power of Diversity and Inclusion?

(iStock) iStock SUMMING UP Does Diversity Really Enhance Performance? As I’ve pointed out in the past, a tenet of the MBA classroom is that if a case problem splits the class, it will produce a good discussion. This appears to have been... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 2025
Article

Differentiating on Diversity: How Disclosing Workforce Diversity Influences Consumer Choice

By: Maya Balakrishnan, Jimin Nam and Ryan W. Buell

Companies are facing increased pressure to “walk the talk” on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their operations. One specific call-to-action from stakeholders is the public disclosure of EEO-1s. Companies with 100+ employees are federally mandated to annually... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Corporate Disclosure; Diversity; Employees; Perception

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1994
Chapter

A Workshop Design for Teaching Diversity

By: D. A. Thomas

Keywords: Teaching; Diversity; Design; Curriculum and Courses; Education Industry

December 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Teaching Note

Managing Diversity at Spencer Owens & Co. and Managing Diversity at Cityside Financial Services (TN)

By: Robin J. Ely

Teaching Note to (9-405-047) and (9-405-048). View Details

Keywords: Diversity