Sexual orientation diversity as a source of competitive advantage

Dr George Cunningham of Texas A&M, who moderated the recent panel on diversity in sports marketing in which the FGG participated (see HERE), has publised a study on the impact of sexual orientation diversity in university athletics departements:

In a recent article published in Sport Management Review (see here), I showed that sexual orientation diversity positively contributes to objective measures of organizational effectiveness. This is particularly the case when the athletic department has a diverse and inclusive organizational culture. This is noteworthy for a host of reasons. First, these data are in line with our past research showing that diversity can contribute to the success of an organization. Second, most sport organizations seek to limit sexual orientation diversity, but this practice is ill-conceived. As shown here, the presence of LGBT employees only contributes to how well a sport organization functions. Finally, we see the benefits of having an inclusive workplace, particularly when the workforce is also diverse.