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  • 1 Aug 2010
  • Conference Presentation

Firm Performance, Top Management and Minority Hiring: African‐American Coaches in the NFL, 1970‐2007

By: Andrew Hill and David Thomas
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
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Abstract

Studies of minority hiring have found that low-status firms are more likely to hire minority candidates. However, most work has examined hiring for entry and mid-level positions, not senior management, which differs in the level of 1) uncertainty regarding the optimal qualifications; 2) external evaluation; 3) accountability for overall performance. Given these differences, we hypothesize that legitimacy and risk concerns moderate the relationship between firm status and minority hiring. Using data from the NFL (1970-2007), we find that good teams more often hire minority head coaches, and bad teams more often hire minority assistant coaches.

Keywords

Performance Evaluation; Management Teams; Recruitment; Relationships; Risk and Uncertainty; Ethnicity; Sports Industry; Africa; United States

Citation

Hill, Andrew, and David Thomas. "Firm Performance, Top Management and Minority Hiring: African‐American Coaches in the NFL, 1970‐2007." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Montreal, QC, August 01, 2010.

About The Author

David A. Thomas

→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case By: Robin Ely and David A. Thomas
  • Race, Work, and Leadership: New Perspectives on the Black Experience By: Laura Morgan Roberts, Anthony J. Mayo and David A. Thomas
  • Beating the Odds: Leadership Lessons from Senior African-American Women By: Laura Morgan Roberts, Anthony Mayo, Robin Ely and David Thomas
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