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February 08, 2007
....Diversity: Proven to Pay
A few reports are finally surfacing over a 2006 study proving empirically that racial diversity has a positive impact on a company's bottom line. Conducted by Professor Cedric Herring of University of Illinois at Circle, the research, apparently the first of its kind, evidences that employers with more racial diverse workforces enjoy a cornucopia of blessings as compared to their less diverse competitors: higher sales, more customers, and better market share and profits.
The research is available in the various forms: as an academic report DoesDiversityPay, as well as a more graphic and less dense PowerPoint-styled .pdf version (ask me for a copy). Professor Herring also anticipates it to be the subject of an upcoming book with the working title of From Affirmative Action to Diversity: The New Business Case for Equal Opportunity.
Presumably, the argument extends to supporting the economic power of other diversity on all levels - age, gender, nationality, etc. So, not only does the "old boy club" offend, now we know it also hurts the bottom line.
Posted by danfelix at February 8, 2007 01:37 PM
Comments
Interesting. Thanks for the post and the new knowledge.
-Rob
Posted by: Rob Engelman at February 9, 2007 06:20 PM
