Employment-Related Misconduct and the Likelihood of Appointing a Chief Diversity Officer
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2025-07-03
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en
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This study examines whether employment-related misconduct and the severity of its associated penalties increase the likelihood of a firm appointing a Chief Diversity Officer (CDO). Drawing on Stakeholder Theory (Freeman et al., 2021), this study hypothesizes that firms facing more severe instances of misconduct are more inclined to appoint a CDO, since stakeholders negatively affected by such behavior will pressure the firm to take visible actions. A binary logistic regression was conducted on data sourced from Good Jobs First, BoardEx, and LSEG. The results show no significant relationship between the severity of employment-related penalties and the likelihood of appointing a CDO. Nor do the CDO characteristics vary with misconduct severity. However, a significant moderating effect of firm visibility was observed. Firms with greater public exposure are more likely to appoint a CDO in response to misconduct. These findings suggest that reputational pressure from stakeholders may be a more significant driver of CDO appointments than the penalties associated with corporate misconduct.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen