Little is known about the relationship between workplace diversity and corporate ethics even though these two initiatives share similar ethical roots (Alder & Gilbert, 2006), and are quite popular in corporate America (Kochan, Bezrukova, Ely, Jackson, Joshi, Jehn, Leonard, Levine, & Thomas, 2003; Murphy, 2001). This study seeks to contribute to knowledge in these two areas by assessing whether diversity’s contributions to firm performance are maximized through its effects on the firm’s ethical processes. Using data that were collected on a sample of Fortune 500 firms, this study tested several hypotheses with predictor variables that represent two manifestations of diversity in corporate America: diversity management and the diversity of the boards of directors. Mediated hierarchical regression results from this study show that some aspects of a firm’s ethical practices help explain the relationship between diversity management and firm performance. In addition, I find a positive relationship between board of directors’ racial diversity and diversity management, which reinforces the importance of board of directors’ composition in directing strategic initiatives. The study also provides support for the social cognitive theory’s premise that prior experiences affect the learning and modeling of new norms (Bandura, 1969; 1998).
","abstract_html":"<p>Little is known about the relationship between workplace diversity and corporate ethics even though these two initiatives share similar ethical roots (Alder & Gilbert, 2006), and are quite popular in corporate America (Kochan, Bezrukova, Ely, Jackson, Joshi, Jehn, Leonard, Levine, & Thomas, 2003; Murphy, 2001). This study seeks to contribute to knowledge in these two areas by assessing whether diversity’s contributions to firm performance are maximized through its effects on the firm’s ethical processes. Using data that were collected on a sample of Fortune 500 firms, this study tested several hypotheses with predictor variables that represent two manifestations of diversity in corporate America: diversity management and the diversity of the boards of directors. Mediated hierarchical regression results from this study show that some aspects of a firm’s ethical practices help explain the relationship between diversity management and firm performance. In addition, I find a positive relationship between board of directors’ racial diversity and diversity management, which reinforces the importance of board of directors’ composition in directing strategic initiatives. The study also provides support for the social cognitive theory’s premise that prior experiences affect the learning and modeling of new norms (Bandura, 1969; 1998).</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["SaintDic, Yves-Rose"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Management","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. K. Praveen Parboteeah","Dr. Neal Mero","Dr. Torsten Pieper"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-11-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-11-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:00Z","subjects":["diversity management","workplace diversity","board of directors' diversity","corporate ethics","social cognitive theory","Business","Business Administration, Management, and Operations","Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics","Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd/656","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. K. 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This study seeks to contribute to knowledge in these two areas by assessing whether diversity’s contributions to firm performance are maximized through its effects on the firm’s ethical processes. Using data that were collected on a sample of Fortune 500 firms, this study tested several hypotheses with predictor variables that represent two manifestations of diversity in corporate America: diversity management and the diversity of the boards of directors. Mediated hierarchical regression results from this study show that some aspects of a firm’s ethical practices help explain the relationship between diversity management and firm performance. In addition, I find a positive relationship between board of directors’ racial diversity and diversity management, which reinforces the importance of board of directors’ composition in directing strategic initiatives. The study also provides support for the social cognitive theory’s premise that prior experiences affect the learning and modeling of new norms (Bandura, 1969; 1998).
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Modeling Diversity Management Practices in Corporate Ethics: The Spillover Effect"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. K. Praveen Parboteeah","Dr. Neal Mero","Dr. Torsten Pieper"],"dc:creator":["SaintDic, Yves-Rose"],"dc:date.available":["2014-12-15T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Little is known about the relationship between workplace diversity and corporate ethics even though these two initiatives share similar ethical roots (Alder & Gilbert, 2006), and are quite popular in corporate America (Kochan, Bezrukova, Ely, Jackson, Joshi, Jehn, Leonard, Levine, & Thomas, 2003; Murphy, 2001). This study seeks to contribute to knowledge in these two areas by assessing whether diversity’s contributions to firm performance are maximized through its effects on the firm’s ethical processes. Using data that were collected on a sample of Fortune 500 firms, this study tested several hypotheses with predictor variables that represent two manifestations of diversity in corporate America: diversity management and the diversity of the boards of directors. Mediated hierarchical regression results from this study show that some aspects of a firm’s ethical practices help explain the relationship between diversity management and firm performance. In addition, I find a positive relationship between board of directors’ racial diversity and diversity management, which reinforces the importance of board of directors’ composition in directing strategic initiatives. The study also provides support for the social cognitive theory’s premise that prior experiences affect the learning and modeling of new norms (Bandura, 1969; 1998).
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd/656"],"dc:subject":["diversity management","workplace diversity","board of directors' diversity","corporate ethics","social cognitive theory","Business","Business Administration, Management, and Operations","Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics","Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods"],"dc:title":["Modeling Diversity Management Practices in Corporate Ethics: The Spillover Effect"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Management"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:00Z"}