Title: TBD
Study: Board Diversification Strategy: Realizing Competitive Advantage and Shareowner Value (Virtcom Consulting)
Finding: TBD
Note about The Woman Effect Research Index: This study was performed by researchers not affiliated with InPower Women. Our Research Index includes all relevant research to the subject of women, business and power. We do not influence how the research was conducted or reported by the researchers. In our abstracts, we focus on pulling out the most actionable advice for individual women. To suggest additional research we should index, or discuss our choice of abstract focus, please contact us
InPower Insight: TBD
Summary:
The researchers at Virtcom demonstrated that as more women and ethnic minorities obtain board and management positions, there are signs of greater market opportunities. For the purposes of the study, a diverse individual is identified as a female or non-white individual. This is often referred to as visual diversity, as the study does include information about skill diversification and how this method can increase productivity as well. One of the key findings of this study is that there are still disparities in the corporate realm concerning gender and race diversity. Pertaining to gender disparities, women occupied only 17 percent of positions on Fortune 500 boards. The study referred to the Catalyst study, which suggested that when women occupy three or more positions on boards, there is a better performance in return on sales, equity, and invested capital. Another key finding of the study purported that companies with less diversity among board members did not fare as well financially. Moreover, Virtcom also found that in companies with greater diversity among board directors, there was a Head of Diversity. This person is positioned to oversee matters of corporate diversity, create initiatives, strategically implement programs to increase diversification and record the outcomes. Virtcom also suggests several more practices to increase board diversification including Diverse Board Member Identification, Diverse Candidate Slate, and Board Member Utilization. For Diverse Board Member Identification, practices include considering candidates who hold high ranking positions but are not yet CEOs and developing relationships with higher places of learning that cater to minority populations. For the Diverse Candidate Slate approach, Virtcom suggests hiring executive search firms to create diverse candidate slates or creating committees with diverse members set on finding diverse candidates. Finally, for the Board Member Utilization approach, the chair of the board must create a cooperative environment and urge new members to present their ideas.
Personal Coaching Tip: TBD
Keywords: Collective intelligence, individual intelligence, problem-solving
