An Examination of the Antecedents of TMT Global Diversity in USA Firms

Abstract

Researchers have found that if managed properly, TMT global diversity can have positive effects such as stronger performance, yet little attention has been paid to what factors encourage or discourage TMT global diversity. In this paper, we develop a theoretical model to address this question and it includes six main antecedents to TMT global diversity: the degree of the firm international diversification, the firm’s past performance, the international experience of the CEO, the global diversity of Board of Directors, foreign ownership levels, and executive compensation. Understanding the antecedents of TMT global diversity should help shed light on what levers might be used to improve global diversity in situations where global diversity might lead to stronger effects on the firm.A proposal version of this paper was presented in the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Strategic Management Society in Atlanta, Georgia. The current version is a work in progress and has been expanded using the feedback from conference attendees and reviewers.