Resource efficiency in manufacturing: A case for board diversity

Abstract

Politicians, business leaders, and researchers have spent much time discussing and examining the impact of the changing workforce on U.S.-based companies’ competitiveness and on the nation’s overall economy. The manufacturing industry traditionally has been populated with a somewhat homogenous, mostly male workforce compared to some other industries, but that is now changing. Because of the general political and societal interest in manufacturing and as an evolving, historically male-dominated workplace, the association of diversity with financial performance and efficiency in manufacturing firms is timely and interesting. UET suggests that peoples’ ways of thinking and perceiving reality develop based on their prior experiences, knowledge, and values.6 In turn, decisions and behaviors are impacted by the way people think and perceive reality. […] for people in the top management positions of an organization, their prior experiences, knowledge, and values impact strategic decision-making and the strategies implemented by their organizations. Because prior knowledge and experiences tend to differ between ethnic, racial, and religious groups, members of these groups may develop differing ways of thinking and perceiving reality. Thus, according to UET, companies with homogeneous top management teams and/or boards of directors may operate and behave differently than those with diversity in the C-suite and board levels.