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• Article | Harvard Business Review | July–August 2018

  The Other Diversity Dividend

  Paul Gompers and Silpa Kovvali

  Researchers have struggled to establish a causal relationship between diversity and financial performance—especially at large companies, where decision rights and incentives can be murky, and the effects of any given choice can be tough to pin down. So the authors chose a “lab rat” with fewer barriers to understanding—the venture capital industry. VC firms are fairly flat: Every investor is a decision maker, and choices have clear business consequences. Using publicly available information, researchers can see how similar or different decision makers are and compare decision quality on the basis of investments’ performance. After examining tens of thousands of VC investments, Gompers has found that diversity significantly improves financial performance on measures such as profitable investments at the individual portfolio-company level and overall fund returns. And even though associating with similar people can have social benefits for those people, it can lead investors and firms to leave a lot of money on the table. In this article Gompers and Kovvali describe the research and provide recommendations for reaping the business benefits of diversity.

  Keywords: Diversity; Decision Making; Finance; Performance Improvement; Venture Capital;

  Citation:

  Gompers, Paul, and Silpa Kovvali. "The Other Diversity Dividend." Harvard Business Review 96, no. 4 (July–August 2018): 72–77.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2018 (Revised May 2018)

  Yo-Yo Ma and Silkroad

  Rohit Deshpandé, Paul A. Gompers and Scott Duke Kominers

  Silkroad—a cross-cultural music collaboration that world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma had spearheaded since 1998, was preparing to celebrate its 20th anniversary. In parallel, Ma was stepping back from his role as the organization’s Artistic Director. Silkroad had come of age, gaining international recognition for its uniquely global music, which blended musical traditions from across the world—especially Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and America. The Ensemble had also forged strong partnerships with universities, local governments, and civic groups and developed an array of outreach programs to help people understand and express themselves through music. Ma was confident that there could be no better time to hand over leadership. But the transition was bittersweet: He felt a deep personal connection both to the Ensemble as a whole and to every one of its performers and staff members. And he wondered how reducing his involvement would affect the organization’s sustainability.

  Keywords: Cultural entrepreneurship; Managing diverse teams; Leadership transitions; Global innovation; nonprofit organizations; music; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Music Entertainment; Leadership; Transition;

  Citation:

  Deshpandé, Rohit, Paul A. Gompers, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Yo-Yo Ma and Silkroad." Harvard Business School Case 818-110, March 2018. (Revised May 2018.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2018

  Clover Food Lab

  Paul Gompers and Silpa Kovvali

  Citation:

  Gompers, Paul, and Silpa Kovvali. "Clover Food Lab." Harvard Business School Case 818-073, March 2018.  View Details

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