Ethnic and Male / Female Diversity and the Performance of European Banks: Can Ethnic and Male / Female Diversity Influence the Financial Performance of European Global Banks?

The global spread of technology, trade, culture, gender and ethnic differences have dramatically changed workforce composition and the way companies think about and deal with their employees. Theory suggests diversity creates better results: improving decision-making, problem-solving and increasing sensitivity to different market segments and should contribute to positive financial performance. Does ethnic and male/female diversity influence financial performance? European global banks are ideal for such an investigation because they are internationally operative, largely involved with society and have serious shareholders, all of which make it compulsory to operate in a responsible and transparent manner. When this investigation was conducted, several European global banks were in the middle of large-scale mergers or acquisitions. This investigation tests the theory using a questionnaire and statistical analysis followed by a qualitative investigation using the same variables.