Essay: Benefits of having a diverse workforce (articles review)

JULY–AUGUST 2018 ARTICLE HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
The Other Diversity Dividend
By: Paul Gompers and Silpa Kovvali
In this article, Paul Gompers and Silpa Kovvali examine the improved effectiveness of a diverse company, specifically in the Venture Capital industry. The authors discuss the history of the venture capital industry, illustrating how the bedrock of its tradition is to work with and hire people who are alike. For example, it claims that a manager from a company will be more likely to hire someone of the same race as themselves or even that have gone to a similar school. To illuminate their point, the authors make use of various statistics which illustrate the vast impact that certain characteristics have on the probability of an individual being employed. The article continues as the authors ardently condemn non-diverse venture capital organisations as being less successful than those that are diverse. The author’s critique of non-diverse investment groups is that they lack the creative thinking required to help a young company flourish. This lack of creativity, of course, stems from a restriction in thinking as they only hire people of similar traits who will in turn think similarly. The article then develops key ways a business can incorporate a more diverse approach to employment, proposing that if those who are part of recruitment are more diverse, diversity will happen naturally. Again, making use of statistics illustrating that a woman is more likely to hire a woman than a man is to hire a woman.
This article is useful for my essay as it provides an interesting insight into the potential benefits of having a diverse workforce. The article also provides an example of an interesting sector in the business world which finds itself steeped in tradition. This could be interesting to use to explore the differences between more traditional industries as well the more liberal. The article is also from quite a well-recognised source, that being of the prestigious Harvard Business Review which reinforces its credibility. However, the article does fail to outline the challenges of employing a more diverse environment in the workforce and finds itself to be very one-sided. The article seems to perpetuate that if a workforce were to succeed, it needs to be diverse, leaving out potential cultural barriers in communication which may make employee interaction challenging.
Overall, this article provides useful background information into a specific industry and is helpful in illustrating the potential benefits which a business can reap if they employ a more diverse framework. This article forces readers to consider exploring possibilities which are outside of their comfort zone and to work with different people, to generate better results.
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Exploring workplace diversity and organisational effectiveness: A South African exploratory case study
J. Veli Mazibuko, Krishna K. Govender
SA Journal of Human Resource Management | Vol 15 | a865 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v15i0.865
In this article, J. Veli Mazibuko and Krishna K. Govender explore the cultural diversity within the previously segregated South African society. The article identifies the barriers which businesses face in their ‘post-apartheid’ world as common practise within South Africa is not to diversify but rather for people to stick to their own kinds of people.
The authors’ purpose in writing this article as well as conducting research into this field is to illuminate potential links between a diversity within an organisation and its ability to achieve its objective, effectiveness. To ascertain the results, they were looking for, the authors conducted a survey of 227 employees, testing 5 hypotheses. Once all the data was collated, certain statistical analysis techniques were used to identify correlations between different factors and the authors could arrive at several conclusions. The article establishes a different angle to diversity and its impact on a business. The research conducted highlights that not only does diversity in the workplace improve effectiveness but more interestingly it concludes that diversity in leadership within an organisation can spike the business’ performance. However, the one hypothesis that is rejected illustrates that diversity does not necessarily impact on the effectiveness of a business despite some evidence suggesting a strong correlation between the implementation of diversity and high levels of effectiveness.
As such, this article is very useful for my essay from two different aspects. Firstly, it eludes to a different type of diversity, focusing on diversifying leadership as well as the actual workforce. Such findings will broaden my discussion about the impact that diversity can have on the employees of a business as well as its efficiency and effectiveness. Moreover, the research within the article is conducted in a professional and eloquent matter and it is derived from a reputable source in the South African Journal of Human Resource Management. Secondly, the article challenges the widely-accepted notion that diversity indisputably improves a business’ performance, illustrating that there are other factors that must be considered before arriving at such a basic conclusion.
The article reinforces its own extensive research by including several other pieces of evidence from a variety of sources, illustrating that it is not on its own in the way that it positions its opinion. However, a key limitation of this article is that it is not industry specific and thus is more of a generalisation than specific critiques. The article is also only specific to South Africa which may limit its application due to the history and political nature of country.
Overall, the article offers an interesting insight into the impact of diversity on a workforce, especially in such a diverse country. The article forces its reader to challenge the futuristic approach to management which advocates that diversity is the key to the success of tomorrow.
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Non-linear relationship between gender diversity in the partnership and profit performance in accounting firms
August 2016Pacific Accounting Review 28(3):306-336
DOI:10.1108/PAR-07-2014-0029
In their article, Chih-Shun Hsu, Lopin Kuo and Bao-guang Chang attempt to capture the relationship that can be found between gender diversity and business performance. The authors explain that for a proper analysis to be conducted, they focused on a specific industry in a specific country to improve the collection of their results. As such, the article has a stern focus on the gender diversity within the Taiwanese Accounting industry, particularly at a management level and observes how its incorporation impacts on the business’ performance.
This article will prove to be useful for my essay on several accounts. Firstly, it offers a critical insight into a very specific area of the business world due to the focus being on Taiwanese accounting firms. This will allow me to pinpoint my discussion to this area and thus have a richer, more specific exploration which can more closely be applied, rather than a vast generalisation. Moreover, the article also elucidates on the role of a diverse management structure which will allow me to expand my discussion and not only reflect on diversity amongst employees. The article also clearly signifies the distinct positives of having a diverse workforce. It describes it as one that “introduces diverse perspectives, values and social networks to the team”. This will allow me to hone in on the necessity for a business to establish a diverse workforce and then augment this argument using the statistics that the article presents to back up its claim.
The article uses different models to establish its various hypotheses. Additionally, it also provides several other key aspects of research which support and strengthen its contention. Furthermore, the article engages in a discussion which consists of cynically condemning previous research of lacking true conviction due to their failed of acknowledgement of several key aspects of diversity. As such, the article asserts its authority on the topic of diversity by challenging the previous research illustrating where its flaws lie and presenting evidence to suggest the contrary. This ability to challenge other research makes it a great source to use for my essay as it provides me with an alternate view on a wide topic, adding depth to my discussion.
However, this article does consist of some limitations. The main limitation is that it is solely focussed on the accounting industry within Taiwan. Whilst this is a strength to the article, it is also a weakness as its content may not be entirely applicable to other industries or even other countries. Another limitation is that the article only engages in the discussion of gender diversity which it’s only a small aspect of the idea of diversity. Hence, it may limit my ability to discuss the entire concept of diversity.
Overall, this article offers an interesting insight into the impact of gender diversity within the accounting industry and provides several key points of discussion which I can utilise within my essay.