Article one describes the main key aspects of leadership that consists of experience, knowledge, personal attributes and competencies (Kulkarni, 2018). Organisational skills are also needed in order to keep up with a fast-changing society, that is based on innovation, and collaboration. To strengthen a solid and sustainable leadership process, it is important to prepare for the future and develop your own skills. Also, it is essential to acknowledge the changes in organisations leading to a more diverse workforce.
Moreover, Erin Mayer assumes that leaders who understand cultural differences have increased chances of becoming successful which is discussed in article two. Mayer has developed a model centered around eight duties that a leader should respect, which enhance their productivity. It helps leaders realise how culture affects international collaboration. Mayer asserts that it is necessary to understand how people’s cultures affect human interactions, but the perception of another culture is dependent on one’s own culture (Trapp, 2014).
Furthermore, greater racial diversity in student leadership programs has shown to increase lasting leadership capacity. A study where confidence, motivation and advocacy for social issues was tested showed that more diversity led to higher scores. The effect of diversity was more significant on white students, since for them interacting with a more diverse group may be new and therefore benefit them more. Nevertheless, it illustrated that diversity benefits every participant (Unknown, 2018).
Lastly, article four describes the physiological phenomenon known as “think manager, think man” that suggests that our expectations of a good leader favours men as the traits associated with leaders, like forceful and dominant, are stereotypically associated with men (Brands, 2015). Individuals often fail to see potential in women, due to the existing male bias in our cognitive processing. Despite this, it is shown that males and females act similar in senior roles. This leads to women being highly underrepresented in top management positions showing a clear organisational bias.
Article one, two and three discuss qualities that are needed in order to become an effective leader. More specifically, article two and three mention how increased understanding of diversity helps leader’s performance. Article two, three and four examine three different types of diversity and their impact on the workforce. Article two and three show a positive side of diversity. However, the fourth article highlights an inequality created in the workforce as a result of existing stereotypes.
D) Article one was chosen, because it emphasizes the importance of leadership within a changing work culture and breaks down the key elements of what it takes to be a leader. The source is Human Resources oriented so it focuses on employee management.
Article two was selected because it provides detailed information about the importance of cultural diversity in the globalization age and effective solutions to enhance workplace productivity. Forbes is also a sufficient source for business articles because it is known as a top tier business magazine.
Article three was chosen because it examines the relationship between racial diversity in student leadership programmes and leadership capacity. Phys.org is a suitable source, because it is a science, research and technology aggregator and therefore only collects and suggests trustworthy papers with data-based evidence.
Article four was chosen as it emphasises the gender difference that still exists in the workforce. Additionally, the article brings in another perspective to our research, showing the effect of stereotypes in the workforce. The Guardian was used as it is one of the world’s most respected and well-known news sites with qualified auditors.
2. A) Everyday knowledge is founded on personal experiences, authority and tradition. We encounter this information in our daily lives, which we usually accept as true without questioning it. Sometimes it deceives us, since human perception and emotions influence our way of thinking, which could lead to inaccurate observations. Scientific knowledge, on the other hand, prevents these mistakes, as this type is acquired through research. The data is collected, there should be a clear purpose of the research and interpretations should be reported systematically and transparently. Thus, research can be defined as a systematic process undertaken to increase knowledge. (Eljuri, 2013)
B) We cannot state that all information is true because there are factors that can influence or manipulate the way we receive the message or the information itself. Firstly, it can be tampered with, for example a researcher can falsify the data. Secondly, there may be mistakes in research. Lastly, there can be a strong subjective point of view in which people stick to their opinion no matter what.
3. To what extent does diversity in the working environment define the performance of a leader?
We have chosen this research question, because it links to our articles, meets the requirements of a good research question, we find the topic interesting and we believe that this research question will lead to an elaborate project. Lastly, the question addresses a significant matter within business and management that we would like to explore.
4. Our research objective is to emphasise the influence of diversity in the working environment and to show that the impact of diversity on a leader’s performance is often underestimated. The impact of globalisation is increasing and working environments are becoming more diverse. It is necessary that people understand the influence, for them to deal with the effects efficiently.
5. Our research question will classify as fundamental research, since it will expand knowledge regarding the impact of diversity on the workforce. Furthermore, the findings will have significant value to society, but it will not bring a solution to a problem itself. Finally, we have decided on the topic and research objective ourselves. Fundamental research brings out value to society but is not directly applicable to problems in the real world and is assumed to be the foundation of applied research. Applied research gives practical solutions that are relevant to managers in organisations.
6. Scientific articles (Full reference in bibliography)
A) Article one: The impact of cultural diversity in corporate boards on firm performance
B) The article was found via the university’s library website (www.eur.nl/ub). Advanced search was used where the keywords “cultural”, “diversity”, “firm” and “performance” were filled in the search bar. The results were narrowed down by using the filter “Last 5 Years”.
C) This is the first study examining the role of cultural diversity of the board on firm performance. They discourage “romanticizing” cultural diversity regarding company results. The article defines cultural diversity as “the average of cultural distances in all pairs of board members” (Frijns, Dodd and Cimerova 2016, p. 525). Cultural diversity has more negative than positive aspects. However, the negative effects could be decreased by firm complexity and presence in foreign markets. They find that for firms with a strong presence in foreign markets, the negative relation between performance and cultural diversity disappears. Moreover, complex firms performance is not affected by cultural diversity, whereas for non-complex firms, performance is negatively affected. They further examine that the negative effect is concentrated among independent directors, because of dependent directors being in frequent contact with each other. Finally, it is mainly the diversity in individualism and masculinity that affects the effectiveness of boards.
D) The first scientific article which was published in 2016 was chosen as it is directly relevant to leadership and cultural diversity. Both negative and positive sides of cultural diversity are mentioned, so the reader gets to understand various perspectives. Moreover, solutions for mitigating the negative effects are included. Finally, it assumes that there are only two main factors of diversity that strongly affect the effectiveness of boards of director which are masculinity and individualism.
E) Citation score: 34, EJL, 2017: P, Harzing’s (2018) journal quality list: A
A) Article two: Leader Cultural Intelligence in Context: Testing the Moderating Effects of Team Cultural Diversity on Leader and Team Performance
B) The second scientific paper was found by using the university’s library website. The following search terms were used: “racial” “diversity” “leader”. Filters were selected which would show articles published between 2008 and 2018. The article came up as article 14 in the suggestions.
C The scientific article “Leader Cultural Intelligence in Context: Testing the Moderating Effects of Team Cultural Diversity on Leader and Team Performance” states that today’s leaders face the challenging reality that cultural diversity is becoming more common and therefore individual values are dramatically changing. Due to global competitive pressures and development opportunities abroad, the demand for managers, with the capability to lead diverse teams and respect ethnic and national backgrounds, increases. Consequently, organisations demand leaders with vital leadership skills, namely cross-cultural skills or leader cultural intelligence, which influence leader’s performance in culturally diverse business environments. Therefore, cross-cultural competence is a crucial leadership skill today. Since there are important gaps in research regarding leader cultural intelligence (CQ), CQ is examined as a skill for leaders managing culturally diverse teams. The study explicitly tests the link between leader CQ and follower perceptions of both leader and team performance on culturally diverse teams.
D) This specific article is relevant, because the article does not answer the full research question but a crucial aspect of it. Additionally, the article supports the arguments stated in our research objective. Lastly, the article is recent, since it has been published in 2011.
E) Citation score: 177, EJL, 2017: S, Harzing’s (2018) journal quality list: B
A) Article three: Are companies beholden to bias? The impact of leader race on consumer purchasing behavior
B) The article was found through the university’s library website; two filters were selected: “articles” and the date of publication of the articles to not be older than 2008. The search words used were: “diversity”, “racial” and “leader”. The article was the 15th article of the suggestions.
C) The scientific article “Are companies beholden to bias? The impact of leader race on consumer purchasing behavior” analyses how consumers perceive leaders and the influence of racial stereotypes. Studies showed that typical leader prototypes degraded the image of people of colour in leadership roles as they are not stereotypically considered as classic business leaders. Experiments illustrated how failure provokes negative stereotypes of non-white leaders. However, familiarity helps reduce this negative image, that could normally lead to low-performance, as it changes people’s impressions on the matter. Finally, over time the idea of poor performance of coloured leaders has decreased due to factors such as the motivation to come off as unbiased.
D) This article is relevant, because it shows the way racial stereotypes can manipulate people’s impressions on the matter and can cause low performance as a leader linking to the research question. It also emphasizes the changing aspect of this stereotype: the willingness to not be biased, for example, helps someone’s mindset evolve and, in the end, they do not link failure with Black leaders. Lastly, it is a very recent article, so it is unlikely that the data is outdated.
E) Citation score: 5, EJL, 2017: STAR, Harzing’s (2018) journal quality list: A
A) Article four: The performance effects of gender diversity on bank boards
B) Article four was found through the university’s library website, using the key words “gender”, “diversity”, “performance” and “effect”. Filters were used to narrow down the results using “Articles” to select the format and “Last 10 Years” to obtain scientific articles published after 2008. “The performance effects of gender diversity on bank boards” was the 5th article found.
C) The research article “The performance effects of gender diversity on bank boards” suggests that previous literature proposes that gender diversity in bank boards show varied effects on financial bank performance. The article argues that the mixed results are caused by the non-linear, U-shaped relationship between female participation in bank boards and bank performance. After analysing approximately 90 bank holding companies in the U.S during the period of 1999-2015, using instrumental variables methods, the researchers have come to the conclusion that gender diversity in the board has a positive effect on performance after a certain level of gender diversity is reached. Moreover, the positive effect on performance was only shown in better capitalized banks. Despite the findings which are showing positive effects of female representations in bank boards, women are highly underrepresented in leadership positions of banks.
D The scientific paper written by Ann L. Owen and Judit Temesvary is relevant as it is closely related to our research question discussing the effects of gender diversity in leadership positions on a company’s performance. However, it investigates the effects of one type of diversity, showing the importance of multiple sources in research. Furthermore, the article was published in May 2018 meaning that the findings are recent. Lastly, the conclusion supports the research objective which emphasises the importance of diversity in organisations.
E) Citation score: 4, EJL, 2017: P, Harzing’s (2018) journal quality list: A