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  • January–February 2019
  • Article
  • Organization Science

Who Loses When a Team Wins? Better Performance Increases Racial Bias

By: Letian Zhang
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Abstract

Although it is well known that organizational and team performance influences strategic decision-making, little is known about its impact on ascriptive inequality. This study proposes a performance effect on racial bias: higher team performance reduces managers’ performance pressure and, therefore, leads to more managerial bias in the subsequent round. I find strong evidence for this proposition using a fine-grained dataset from the National Basketball Association. In this highly competitive industry, team performance is positively associated with coaches’ subsequent exercise of racial bias: players experience more favorable treatment from same-race coaches after their teams have won more games. This study demonstrates an important relationship between performance feedback and racial bias and suggests that even in highly competitive industries, managerial bias may be prevalent in high-performing teams and organizations.

Keywords

Discrimination; Race And Ethnicity; Performance Feedback; Nba; Prejudice And Bias; Race; Ethnicity; Performance; Sports

Citation

Zhang, Letian. "Who Loses When a Team Wins? Better Performance Increases Racial Bias." Organization Science 30, no. 1 (January–February 2019): 40–50.
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About The Author

Letian Zhang

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

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    • March–April 2020
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    An Institutional Approach to Gender Diversity and Firm Performance

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    Shaking Things Up: Unintended Consequences of Firm Acquisitions on Racial and Gender Inequality

    By: Letian Zhang
    • 2019
    • Harvard Business Review (website)

    When Gender Diversity Makes Firms More Productive

    By: Stephen Turban, Dan Wu and Letian Zhang
More from the Author
  • An Institutional Approach to Gender Diversity and Firm Performance By: Letian Zhang
  • Shaking Things Up: Unintended Consequences of Firm Acquisitions on Racial and Gender Inequality By: Letian Zhang
  • When Gender Diversity Makes Firms More Productive By: Stephen Turban, Dan Wu and Letian Zhang
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