Behavioral Advantages of Diversity: Strategies to make Inclusivity work in the Age of Corporate Social Justice
Behavioral Advantages of Diversity: Strategies to make Inclusivity work in the Age of Corporate Social Justice

Author(s): Julia M. Puaschunder
Subject(s): Behaviorism, Business Ethics, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: Scientia Moralitas Research Institute
Keywords: Authenticity; Behavioral Economics; Behavioral Ethics; Behavioral Insights; Social Justice; Social Transformation;
Summary/Abstract: We live in the age of Corporate Social Justice. After decades of advancements in behavioral economics and finance leadership, the time has come to highlight behavioral advantages of diversity. When people make decisions behaviorally with biases and quick error-prone irrationality, diversity can grant implicit means to overcome decision-making anomalies from rational choice. In particular, the present bias can be averted in opting for diversity, which is one of the most future-oriented choices as inclusivity is an innovatively-vibrant field of societal advancement in the age of Corporate Social Justice. Diversity preference for something new curbs repetitive choices and sunk cost fallacies when opting for inclusiveness of the new. Similarity preference biases that lead to suboptimally-limited choice ranges and inflexible considerations of already-known preferences as well as long-term formation of stereotypes and discrimination can be avoided by choosing what is new and different from the given in diversity implementation. Diversity management can also lower harmful social and cultural influences that imply conformity groupthink errors and tunnel vision leading to suboptimal choices and harmful consequences. In order for diversity to work and to reap the multifaceted behavioral benefits of inclusivity, this article also draws attention to three implementation strategies to make diversity flourish and foster meaningful inclusivity: (1) Bundling extremely diverse groups within networks and enhancing constructive exchange between representatives of diverse groups to foster the benefits of cross-pollination and creative ideas generation, (2) Diversification of human capital to profit from complementary skills enhancement, (3) Qualitative and quantitative diversity quality checks to ensure the authenticity of diverse representations within corporations in order to contribute to meaningful and positive societal change that diversity and inclusiveness are – in the end – foremost about.

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