Enhancing innovation through gender diversity: a two-country study of top management teams
European Journal of Innovation Management
ISSN: 1460-1060
Article publication date: 17 June 2022
Issue publication date: 2 January 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Building on upper echelons theory, the authors advance the literature on the influence of diversity on innovation by studying the link between top management team (TMT) gender diversity and innovation performance and the link's boundary conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyze survey data from 390 manufacturing establishments in Germany and India through an ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis.
Findings
TMT gender diversity is positively related to innovation performance. The influence of gender diversity on innovation performance is not strengthened by team level attributes, including cognitive proficiency and openness to external information. In contrast, TMT gender diversity enhances innovation performance more strongly in Germany than in India, indicating the relevance of country-level cultural norms for leveraging gender diversity.
Research limitations/implications
The authors' study is built on data from two countries only, based on TMTs in the manufacturing sector and cross-sectional. Future studies may address these limitations by considering more countries, examining TMTs in the service sector and applying experimental or longitudinal research designs.
Practical implications
Executives should establish gender diverse TMTs to enhance innovation performance and leverage diverse views of male and female managers effectively. Managers located in countries with strongly hierarchical cultural norms should promote egalitarian values at the organizational level to increase the effectiveness of gender diverse TMTs.
Originality/value
This is the first study which examines the moderating effect of country-level cultural norms on the relationship between TMT gender diversity and innovation performance.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research has been supported by a Korea University Business School Research Grant.
Citation
Hemmert, M., Cho, C.K. and Lee, J.Y. (2024), "Enhancing innovation through gender diversity: a two-country study of top management teams", European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 193-213. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-08-2021-0383
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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