The Confluence of Diversity and Ethics in Global Managerial Performance

Diversity and ethics are two topics that have skyrocketed to the forefront of global corporate performance in the past decades, and have done so for a reason. With phenomena such as glass and pink ceilings, as well as a global financial meltdown, mainly caused by immoral business performance, still on their performance radar, global corporations have come to the understanding that some rigorous measures need to be put in place. Increasingly, we can see the phrases “diversity” and “ethical performance” surfacing in corporate mission statements. At the same time, we see positions such as Chief Diversity Officer and Chief Ethics Officer displayed on the strategic officers’ lists at major corporations. These are all outflows of a not-so-distant past that was tainted by dreadful policies and behaviors in these two regards. Yet, while the above trends represent a positive development, a deeper look into the implementation of diversity and ethics policies in many corporations leads to the disheartening conclusion that they oftentimes implement these policies in the wrong way and for the wrong reasons.