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The Value of Diversity

With so much talk in the media about diversity in the technology industry and many people debating over the value of diversity (e.g. the Google Manifesto), the question of whether diversity is really important to a company is a hot topic. A study conducted by the Harvard Business Review explored this question in detail. This study, which involved a survey of 1,800 professionals and 40 case studies, found that companies with leaders who exhibit inherent (gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation) and acquired (studying abroad) diversity traits outperformed companies without diversified leaders. The articles goes on to explain that minorities at companies with higher diversity in leadership are more likely to have their ideas heard and endorsed, allowing these companies to take advantage of market opportunities that may only be apparent to these minorities.

This topic is not only relevant to the current media spotlight on Silicon Valley, but also our discussion in class about “the strength of weak ties.” The boost in performance that diversity provides companies is a perfect example of how novel information comes across local bridges. Companies without diversified leadership may keep to their “local network,” which simply becomes a clique of nodes with strong ties. However, if you introduce diversified leadership, weak ties to other local networks are formed, bringing in valuable information that can be a game changer to the company’s future strategies.

 

https://hbr.org/2013/12/how-diversity-can-drive-innovation

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