Top Management Gender Diversity and Internationalisation in Different Institutional Contexts: Evidence from Germany and Poland

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 706-737
Author(s):  
Anja Küpper ◽  
Tobias Dauth
Keyword(s):  
Work Experience ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Practical Interest ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Management Teams ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Board Diversity ◽  
Country Level

The diversity of top management teams is a topic of increasing scholarly and practical interest. It is argued that globalisation requires international operating firms to staff their management teams with international and diverse members. We investigate the influence of institutional environments on gender and internationality diversity in boards to shed light on the question “Why do top management teams look the way they do?” Our sample includes top management team members of the largest stock listed firms in Germany and Poland. The sample consists of 60 firms and 852 individuals from 2019. Our findings suggest that the presence of non-natives and women on corporate boards and the international orientation of board members, in terms of education, work experience and directorships, are attributable to national institutional systems. While Germany´s top managers are becoming increasingly internationally diverse and have increasing gender diversification, the figures for Poland are also increasing, but on a much smaller scale. We argue that country-level institutions play an important role in shaping the diversity of corporate boards. Future research should place more emphasis on the external national environment when investigating board diversity.

A social capital view of women on boards and their impact on firm performance

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Oldford ◽  
Saif Ullah ◽  
Ashrafee Tanvir Hossain
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Board Diversity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Board Gender Diversity

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to leverage a two-sided view of social capital to develop a model of board gender diversity and firm performance using social capital data from Northeast Regional Center of Rural Development.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examine a large sample of 2,322 US publicly listed firms over the period 1996 to 2009. The final sample consists of 14,634 firm-year observations.FindingsThe authors find that when a firm's social network is not supportive of gender diversity, corporate boards have lower levels of female representation. The strength of a social network's social ties exacerbates the relationship between social capital and board gender diversity. The authors also report a negative relationship between female board membership and firm performance in social networks that are not pro-diversity. Robustness tests reveal that the authors’ social capital view of board diversity also applies to board ethnic diversity.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses primarily on blue chip firms due to data constraints. It will be interesting for future researchers to investigate a broader spectrum of firms from a broader perspective of diversity beyond the study’s gender and ethnicity findings. Furthermore, this study assesses the US context, and future research could investigate firm sociability in other national contexts.Practical implicationsThis study contributes new insights to the discourse on gender diversity on corporate boards which stand to inform both policy and practice. The results of the study can inform the position of an industry association on board gender diversity, with guidance on how messaging across networks can be more effective should it account for the hidden bias that the authors uncover in the current study. From a manager's perspective, this study can help those managers and boards trying to enhance board gender diversity by providing a more complete understanding of the factors that can limit progress.Originality/valueThis study contributes a social capital view of board gender diversity to the growing literature of corporate governance, board diversity and local environmental influences on corporate policies.

scholarly journals Does Diversity in Top Management Teams Contribute to Organizational Performance? The Response of the IBEX 35 Companies

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Mercedes Rodríguez-Fernández ◽  
Ana I. Gaspar-González ◽  
Eva M. Sánchez-Teba
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Management Teams ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Demographic Diversity ◽  
Organizational Policies ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory ◽  
A Company

This study contributes to the dissemination of the theoretical and empirical knowledge on the Upper Echelons Theory, considering training and demographic diversity in Top Management Teams (TMTs) as a unique feature of companies, in our case, the IBEX 35 companies. Based on the results, we can confirm that the inclusion of women in management teams positively influences the sales of a company and contributes to increasing financial results. Age and knowledge of two or more languages are important factors in achieving an increase in financial performance. From the point of view of business practice, the results obtained are useful for increasing knowledge of which TMT characteristics are valid, which allows for better results and the establishment of responsible organizational policies that promote the inclusion of gender diversity in TMTs. In addition, the results of this study indicate that the incorporation of members of other non-Spanish nationalities would constitute a distinctive feature of a company and would enrich it not only financially, but also culturally.

scholarly journals Board of Director Diversity and Corporate Performance: The Case of South Korea

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-58
Author(s):  
Hannah Jun ◽  
Hyojin Kim
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Corporate Performance ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Local Market ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Board Diversity ◽  
Board Of Director ◽  
Area Of Concern

Recent corporate governance scandals (such as those at Uber) have reemphasized the importance of proper oversight and monitoring to ensure sustainable corporate performance. While the issue of how to improve corporate governance is not a new one, we have seen a resurgence of interest in whether diversity – particularly at the board of director level – improves this oversight function and, ultimately, corporate performance. This paper contributes to the academic discussion on board of director diversity with a focus on gender diversity and introduces Korea as a subject of analysis given that corporate governance remains a key area of concern for the local market and that, despite having had a female president in its relatively short democratic history and launching the WomenCorporateDirectors Korea branch in 2016, it ranks last among OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) member states in terms of female representation on corporate boards. We contribute to the academic debate on the relationship between gender diversity on corporate boards and corporate performance by undertaking a comprehensive literature review on board diversity and corporate performance, introducing data on Korean boards of directors and generating testable hypotheses for future research.

Top management teams characteristics and firms performance: literature review and avenues for future research

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Aboramadan
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Management Teams ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Entrepreneurial Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Performance Literature

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the empirical literature on the relationship between the characteristics of the top management teams (TMTs) and the performance of entrepreneurial firms. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was carried out on 33 empirical studies related to TMTs and performance through analyzing and summarizing the quantitative studies conducted in this area. Findings The results of the literature review show that the relationship between TMTs (demographics and heterogeneity) and the performance of entrepreneurial firms is not straightforward and further investigation is still needed in this area. Practical implications The author maps the theoretical and empirical research of TMT demographics and heterogeneity in relation to firms’ performance and possible moderators and mediators, which govern the relationship between TMT composition and firms’ performance. Originality/value The author presents a detailed future research agenda for the purpose of advancing the theoretical and empirical knowledge on TMT-performance links. The review provides a comprehensive picture of TMT-firms’ performance literature and what should be done to enrich the literature.

Women in the Upper Echelons: Women on Corporate Boards and in Top Management Teams

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihae You ◽  
Siri Terjesen ◽  
Diana Bilimoria
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Resource Dependence ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Management Teams ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Upper Echelons ◽  
Firm Level

In light of the growing number of women in the upper echelons, it is necessary to integrate and synthesize research on women at the top of corporations. The extant literature occurs in several disciplines—appearing in the fields of management, strategy, finance, economics, organizational behavior, ethics, sociology, and industrial relations—and is disparate and fragmented. A large and growing set of scholars provide various theoretical perspectives and empirical findings addressing organizational demographics, supply side factors, and outcomes. A number of theories are employed to understand the issue of women in the upper echelons, including resource dependence, tokenism and critical mass, glass cliff, social identity, human capital, social capital, and signaling theories. Most articles use U.S. data and tend to deal with the effect of female CEOs or that of female representation on corporate boards and top management teams (TMTs) on various firm-level outcomes. The majority of the studies investigate a potential relationship between gender diversity and financial performance. Research on this topic can guide policy and practice, improving the performance of organizations and the individuals who work within them.

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