A source of vital relationships.

• Author: Wiley, Fletcher H.
• Position: Minority board of directors

Most minority directors also bring a network of national and international contacts that no one else on the board possesses.

Let's begin by setting aside for the moment the many civic reasons for creating and maintaining ethnic diversity on corporate boards and focus on the central business question directors pondering board constituency must confront: "How will ethnic diversity on our board increase our corporation's profits and shareholder value?" I propose to answer this question by first examining the roles of directors and reasons individuals are selected for participation. Thereafter, I will delineate how ethnic minorities provide certain advantages to boards that are not otherwise available, and why these advantages are critical to the corporation's growth and development.

Corporate directors are generally selected for their categorical and/or individual profiles. Examples of categorical characteristics include persons who are:

* reflective of the corporation's major shareholders;

* ensconced in institutions which have traditionally held a seat on a particular board (e.g., a bank president or newspaper publisher);

* in-house members of senior corporate staff;

* representative of a major market segment (e.g., former government officials); or

* professionally involved with the corporation (e.g., lawyer, banker, vendor, etc.).

Individual characteristics of persons selected to become corporate directors include:

* general wisdom and sagacity;

* specialized professional expertise (e.g. law, finance, marketing, etc.); or

* a close personal relationship with the chairman, another director, or the CEO.

In any case, whether a categorical, individual, or combined set of criteria are utilized, it is nevertheless true that corporate directors are selected to fulfill certain roles within a board and become, thereby, an asset to the board and the corporation.

At this juncture, one might wonder why application of the above criteria hasn't resulted in greater ethnic diversity on corporate boards in the past? There are, of course, many reasons. But certainly part of the answer lies in the fact that the establishment of close functional relationships, intercommunications, and "comfort zones" among the races - particularly at the level of intimacy, candor, and trust necessary in corporate boardrooms - is still in its infancy. Indeed, many more years of conscious, focused, enthusiastic, and affirmative efforts will be required before greater ethnic...