MIT Sloan Management Review Article on How Integrating DEI Into Strategy Lifts Performance

Incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices into core business planning can provide a competitive edge.

Today’s top leadership priorities include attracting and retaining top talent, fostering innovative thinking and action, motivating employee performance, and enhancing stakeholder value in an increasingly diverse and competitive market. At the same time, many leaders have supported diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to address inequities for marginalized groups. But our research shows that there is a broader opportunity to use DEI as a strategic lever in tackling the key challenges noted above and make the practice a critical driver of organizational effectiveness and performance.

Earlier research has found that there is a robust business case for DEI, with an array of potential benefits to organizations, including access to new markets, increased innovation, and improved employee engagement.1 A recent study of DEI practices at U.S. credit unions that I conducted with McKenzie Preston has surfaced further evidence that taking a strategic approach that integrates DEI into business processes is linked to better financial performance in terms of return on assets and net income.

About the Author

Quinetta Roberson is the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Management and Psychology at Michigan State University. She gratefully acknowledges the Filene Research Institute for its funding and support of the study described in this article.

Learn more about MIT SMR.