Title: Exploring the correlation between diversity and financial performance: an empirical study

Authors: Mengsteab T. Beraki; Mussie T. Tessema; Parag Dhumal; Kathryn J. Ready; Sebhatleab Kelati

Addresses: School of Business, State University of New York (SUNY), Farmingdale Campus, New York, USA ' Department of Business Administration, Winona State University, 75 W Mark Street, Winona, MN 55987, USA ' Department of Business, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, WI, 900 Wood Rd, Kenosha, WI 53144, USA ' Department of Business Administration, Winona State University, 75 W Mark Street, Winona, MN 55987, USA ' Faculty of Health and Social Work, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Zeißelstraße 42, 60318 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Abstract: Although a myriad of studies has been conducted on workforce diversity issues, only a handful of studies have examined the correlation between diversity-related values and the financial performance of companies. This study examines this relationship by testing the extent to which diversity-related values are correlated with the financial performance of publicly traded companies using companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Companies were grouped into primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors for the analysis. The findings reveal that the diversity value dimension is positively correlated with companies' financial performance. No significant differences were found between the commitment to diversity value dimension and the three sectors. Implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed.

Keywords: diversity; corporate value; culture; financial; non-financial performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBPM.2022.119578

International Journal of Business Performance Management, 2022 Vol.23 No.1/2, pp.206 - 223

Accepted: 23 May 2021
Published online: 09 Dec 2021 *

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