Melbourne Business School - Theses
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ItemWorkforce gender diversity : is it a source of competitive advantage?(University of Melbourne, 2009)Research on workforce diversity at the organizational level gained momentum in the 1990s. Alternative forms of the diversity-performance relationship, derived from different theoretical perspectives, have been studied over the past 18 years. However, the results of these studies have been inconsistent. Based on contrasting theories, this research tests competing predictions of the gender diversity-performance relationship at the organizational level. These competing predictions are: a positive linear relationship derived from the resource-based view of the firm, a negative linear relationship derived from self-categorization and social identity theories, and a U-shaped curvilinear relationship derived from the integration of the resource-based view of the firm with self-categorization and social identity theories. Moreover, this research tests the moderating effects of two contextual factors: gender identity-conscious HR structures (few vs. many) and industry type (services vs. manufacturing). The main objectives of testing competing and contingent (moderating effects) gender diversity-performance predictions were to provide insights into the form of the gender diversity-performance relationship and to explain inconsistent results of past diversity research. The predictions were tested in two quantitative studies that adopted a combination of prospective and retrospective longitudinal research designs. Both studies were based on the sample frame of 1855 organizations listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Study 1 collected data through a survey and from archival data sources, and the study was based on time lags of zero, one and two years between diversity and performance. Study 2 used multiple sources of archival data and was based on time lags of one, two, four and five years between diversity and performance. Both studies also tested reverse causality to provide strong evidence for the gender diversity?performance relationship. The results show partial support for the predicted positive linear relationship and for the proposed moderating effects of HR structures and industry type. The results also demonstrate an unpredicted inverted U-shaped gender diversity-performance relationship. The curvilinear relationship indicates that different proportions of organizational gender diversity have different effects on organizational performance, which may be attributed to different dynamics suggested by the resource-based view and self-categorization and social identity theories. The findings also show that organizations with many gender identity-conscious HR structures and organizations from the services industry benefit most from organizational gender diversity. The research contributes to the field of workforce diversity in several ways. First, it provides a clearer understanding of the form of the gender diversity-performance relationship by testing three competing gender diversity-performance predictions. The results also help explain the inconsistent findings of past research that focused on the linear gender diversity-performance relationship. Second, because of its longitudinal design, this research provides stronger evidence for a causal relationship between gender diversity and performance than past research. Third, the test of the moderating effect of gender-identity conscious HR structures helps practitioners to understand the type of HR structures that best aligns with gender diversity. Similarly, the test of the moderating effect of industry type helps practitioners to better manage diversity in the services and manufacturing industries.