5.2. Normative commitment
Top executives as individuals may also espouse social values that are normative in nature (i.e., doing the right thing). Ely and Thomas (2001) referred to this hypothesis as the “discrimination-and-fairness” perspective, where managing diversity is a mechanism for ensuring equal opportunity, fair treatment, and an end to discrimination with no instrumental link between diversity and firm performance. Following Rokeach (1973), an individual's social values may include such qualities as “freedom,” “equality,” and “world peace.” These values link the individual to society and indicate the importance of and concern for the interaction the individual has with others (Hood, 2003).These values are also, theoretically, closely related to civil rights or discrimination against persons of a different race or ethnic background. For example, Rokeach (1973) found “equality” to be related to joining a civil-rights organization, participating in a civil-rights demonstration, and making eye contact with persons of another race. Given that a firm is a reflection of its CEO (Hambrick & Mason, 1984), it follows that firms led by CEOs with strong social values are more likely to be committed to social issues such as diversity. As an example, Agle, Mitchell, and Sonnenfeld(1999) found CEOs who espoused social values also had more concern for others (“other-regarding”).