Deliberations on Gender-Based Diversity in Top Levels of Management
Deliberations on the role that gender-based diversity in the top levels of management plays in the performance of organizations have been raging for ages. Ruiz-Jiménez, Fuentes-Fuentes and Ruiz-Arroyo in 2016 attempted to contribute to the topic through their research focused on knowledge combination capability (KCC) and innovation performance. Their study leads to an article published as “Knowledge Combination Capability and Innovation: The Effects of Gender Diversity on Top Management Teams in Technology-Based Firms.” This article draws inspiration from various prior studies done, which magnify the importance of organizations combination capability that lead to the advancement of an organization’s innovation hence competitiveness. The focus on top management teams is since these representatives of the company are tasked with making strategic decisions on the utilization of organization resources geared toward achieving organizational goals and objectives. The researchers are also motivated in plugging the gap existing in the fact that very few studies have been done to interrogate the role that gender diversity plays in innovation.
The Hypotheses and Research Methods Employed
The authors hypothesize that a firm’s KCC is directly proportional to its innovation performance and that a higher gender diversity at the top levels of management leads to a more positive KCC and innovation performance. To prove the two hypotheses, the authors target the technology-based firms in Spain, particularly, in pharmaceutical, chemical and technology manufacturing industry. They employed two research methods, namely: telephone interviews and questionnaires taking due consideration to protect the responders’ anonymity and thus improve the truthfulness and reliability of the responses. Out of the 998 responders sought, only 224 were obtained translating to a success rate of 22.44% (Ruiz-Jiménez, Fuentes-Fuentes and Ruiz-Arroyo 507). After further cleaning, only 205 responses were fit for use in the study. The set of measurements used for the study were innovation performance, knowledge combination capability and gender diversity in the top management. Innovation performance was based on parameters such as the number of new products and services in the market and their speed of development. Various indicators such as the degree to which employees shared new ideas were used to measure KCC. The responses were recorded on a Likert scale, where numerical strength correlates to the strength of innovation performance. gender heterogeneity was measured using Blau’s index. Other parameters such as the age and size of an organization were used as the control variables.
Results of the Research
Using diverse models of study and hierarchical linear regression analysis, various results were obtained by the researchers in relation to their hypotheses. Use of the first model proves the assumption that KCC and innovation performance correlate positively. The second method used ascertains that the control variables have minimal influence on innovation performance. The third model showed that there is no direct correlation between gender diversity and innovation performance. The final model confirms that gender diversity plays a moderating role in the combined parameters of the study.
Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research
The study performed is limited in terms of the style employed. The cross-sectional way of analysis foregoes drawing of conclusion-based variables studied and their direction of causality. The authors advise utilization of a longitudinal style of analysis. Variations of the geographical extent and the scope of management levels are advised for future studies.
Advancement in Organizational Performance and Competitiveness
The authors achieve their objective of advancing the assertion that gender diversity at the top echelons of management encourages the diversity of ideas, which leads to a better quality of managerial decisions that consequently follows to improved organizational performance and competitiveness.
Works Cited
Ruiz-Jiménez Jenny María, María del Mar Fuentes-Fuentes, and Matilde Ruiz-Arroyo. "Knowledge Combination Capability and Innovation: The Effects of Gender Diversity on top Management Teams in Technology-Based Firms." Journal of Business Ethics, vol.135, no.3, 2016, pp. 503-515.
