Volume 5, Number 4

Impact of Workforce Diversity on Profitability of Firms Listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange

  Authors

Zvinaiye Chimbadzwa¹ Lighton Dube¹ and Emmanuel Guveya², ¹Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe, ²AEMA Development Consultants, Zimbabwe

  Abstract

The study employed the quantitative methodology to establish the impact of workforce diversity on firm performance measured by profitability of thirty-five (35) firms listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange using panel data collected over the period 2009 – 2015. Board gender and executive diversity were found to have a positive and significant impact on profitability as measured by returns per share and gross profit whilst board education diversity was found to have a positive and significant impact on profitability as measured by gross profit. Geographic location diversity was found to have a negative and significant impact on profitability as measured by returns per share and gross profit. Whether a firm is located in the rural areas had a positive and significant impact on profitability as measured by gross profit. The study recommends that companies should come up with diversity-enabling policies in order to enhance firm performance.

  Keywords

Workforce diversity, returns per share, Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.