2nd ICAI 2022

International Conference on Automotive Industry 2022

Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic

and social firm behavior through the Diversity and Inclusion measures is imperial for explaining the phenomena in management and business (Agullera Guerrero-Villegas et al., 2018). 2. Literature Review From the theoretical point of view gender diversity in corporate boards can influence performance through many channels. Greater gender diversity brings increased heterogeneity in attitudes, beliefs or values, improving the decision-making process. Furthermore, a higher proportion of women in the boards can enhance creativity and critical thinking (Christiansen et al, 2016; Lee and Farh, 2004). Shrader et al. (1997) assume that managerial talent is distributed normally among women and men in the case of greater representation of women in boards and also improves organisational learning and climate. On the other hand, gender diversity could also increase factors, which have negative effect on firm performance. For instance, results of Melsom (2015) indicate a positive relationship between female managers and sickness absence rates or Lee and Farh (2004) suggested existence of lower group cohesion in gender mixed groups. According to Kanter´s critical mass theory (Kanter, 1977) the effect of women representation in boards on corporate performance is mixed and determined by gender composition of controlled group. This theory postulates that, until a certain “critical mass” of women in a group is reached, this group does not benefit from the different abilities and skills that women bring into the group. Age diversity management across organizations has been discussed widely in the literature review. Majority of studies show that age diversity is negatively connected to firm performance and firm prosperity (Tanikawa et al., 2017). Furthermore, age diversity management has emerged especially throughout COVID era across the firms as they have faced four different generations working in the multinationals (Bengtsson et al., 2020). Also, there is a shift in the upper echelons of the multinational firms and middle-sized firms by having on board top managers, who are either generation Y or Z, which differs from what used to be in the early 2000s. Below are listed three relevant and up-to-dated studies, which cover age diversity management (Paoletti et al., 2020). According to Resource dependence theory, board members’ international experience is one of the key factors for access to information and knowledge of international best practices and contemporary business strategies (Bocquet et al., 2019). Higher proportions of board members with international experience positively influences companies’ access to essential resources, such as advice regarding international best practices (Heyden et al., 2015). Companies with internationally experienced board members can better introduce and encourage international business policies including CSR practices. CSR maintains better stakeholder engagement and offers companies a form of competitive advantage over rivals,which leads to reducing the cost of capital, strengthening market position and enhancing profitability (Shahbaz et al., 2020). Foreign directors can bring their cultural values and perspectives on companies’ role in society and stakeholder view of business into communication in boards. Foreign board members are also more focused on shaping visions and more CSR-oriented business (Harjoto et al., 2018). These foreign board members’ presence brings new different

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