Impact of Ethnicity on Management and Channel Building in Minority Enterprises

Abstract

As the number of ethnic minority enterprises continues to grow dramatically in the U.S., these enterprises have become a significant priority for both public policy makers and businesses who wish to target minority markets. Doing business with minority firms and customers is no longer the right thing to do but a business necessity. Given the lack of literature in this area, the present study aims to improve our understanding of selected issues in management of minority firms. It focuses on the marketing decision making and supervisory behaviors of ethnic minority business managers and derives implications for channel building. Specifically, the study examines the impact of ethnic affiliation on personal values, supplier selection and supervisory behaviors of managers from the two largest ethnic groups in the U.S., Hispanics and African-Americans. Using the dominant Anglo-American culture as a benchmark for comparison, the results indicate a significant effect of ethnicity on the dependent variables. The results yield a number of future research avenues and implications for building efficient distribution networks with and for minority businesses.