Most diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are treated as risk-avoidance exercises rather than drivers of positive business outcomes. The article proposes using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), specifically the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), to integrate DEI perspectives and goals into corporate decision-making processes. AHP allows companies to draw out diverse views, build DEI criteria into decision models, and ensure decisions benefit from diverse voices and are made in an inclusive and equitable manner. This can improve business outcomes by building buy-in for DEI initiatives and enabling stakeholders to integrate their knowledge and perspectives into decisions.

1. 8/3/2021 Diversity initiatives are missing the point. Here’s how to fix them | World Economic Forum
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Your diversity, equity and inclusion
initiatives are missing the point. Here’s
how to fix them
02 Mar 2021
Garkay Wong
Director, Hartley McMaster
Most diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are treated as risk-avoidance exercises. Can this
change?
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are crucial to our pandemic
response but have been among the first to be cut;
Minorities and the economically vulnerable have suffered the most from the
virus and its economic impacts;
Tying DEI initiatives to business outcomes will ensure their robustness in times
of crisis.
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Governments have always had to deal with complex and conflicting criteria in their decision-
making processes. Take cost versus the quality of services, for example. Increasingly we are
seeing private enterprises grappling with similar issues under the label of ESG (environmental,
social and governance factors).
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is a major component of ESG, but most DEI initiatives are
treated as risk-avoidance exercises rather than drivers of positive business outcomes. If the
investment case for ESG is here to stay, as current trends seem to suggest, then there is a
practical reason for integrating DEI criteria into existing incentive structures.
Incentives should be aligned so that DEI, beyond just being the right thing to do, is also the
profitable thing to do. There are a variety of existing methodologies that allow for the
integration of both DEI perspectives and goals into corporate decision-making processes.
These methodologies are broadly categorized under Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA)
and, of these, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is proving to be easiest for corporate
leaders to embrace.
Incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion into your
decision-making
The AHP was developed in the 1970s by Professor Thomas L. Saaty as a support tool for
decisions containing either conflicting criteria or objectives or high levels of subjectivity. It is
rooted in mathematics and psychology and has historically been used to:
Structure business problems;
Build criteria upon which to judge potential solutions; and
Select the most suitable solution(s) based on the criteria.
A critical question from a DEI perspective might be: “how do we ensure our decision
processes benefit from diverse voices and that those decisions are derived in an inclusionary
and equitable manner?” While AHP wasn’t designed specifically to address DEI, its underlying
structure ensures that diverse voices can be incorporated into a decision model in the
following ways:
Draw out, via facilitated AHP, diverse views from employees in the decision-
making process;
Build DEI criteria directly into the model to enable those factors to influence
business outcomes.

3. 8/3/2021 Diversity initiatives are missing the point. Here’s how to fix them | World Economic Forum
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AHP helps business leaders hear from and take advantage of these diverse voices to evaluate
how closely proposed alternatives align with organizational objectives. Besides ranking only
traditional criteria such as profitability or risk, we can also rank those against stakeholder
views on diversity and inclusion to develop a properly weighted profile against which to
assess decision alternatives.
Create an open dialogue around diverging priorities
In practice, the use of AHP in and of itself already aids in the collection of diverse viewpoints
in making a decision, even if DEI isn’t explicitly defined as an objective. This is because its
structure controls for cognitive bias, ensures that viewpoints are collected just prior to active
discussion of the topic and uncovers areas of disagreement.
In other words, AHP provides a platform (anonymized where it’s warranted) where even the
most junior or soft-spoken stakeholder can feel safe to share their opinion; opinions that
senior stakeholders would not otherwise have heard or thought to consider. In the current way
of doing things, it isn’t uncommon for many diverse opinions to remain unshared because
stakeholders don’t wish to get into an argument with the CEO or otherwise feel exposed.
Uncovering conflicting viewpoints provides a valuable opportunity for stakeholders to
exchange insights around diverging priorities. A consensus is built around a set of core values
against which all decisions can be measured.
The values-based future of organizations
The final step of the process allows decision-makers to evaluate how closely different
decisions align with the organization’s objectives. Those objectives take into consideration the
relative preferences of all stakeholders involved. The process ensures transparency and the
ability to audit how a decision was made, increases satisfaction with the decision and trust in
the model and avoids “hidden” disagreements that can undermine implementation. Far from
being just a feel-good exercise, AHP has a proven, demonstrable and well-documented track
record of improving business outcomes by doing the following:
1. Build buy-in for DEI initiatives through a participatory process where stakeholders feel they
have not just a seat at the table, but also a voice;
An alternative approach to decision-making Image: Hartley McMaster
Opening a dialogue, facilitated via AHP, when diverging priorities are uncovered Image: Hartley McMaster

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2. Enable stakeholders (especially women and minorities) to integrate their knowledge and
viewpoints into the decision model;
3. Increase trust that decision was made in an equitable and inclusionary manner;
4. Allow business outcomes to be influenced by DEI objectives.
There are some things to watch out for. The AHP methodology could be misused to provide
false justification that decision outcomes had considered diverse views if those views were
overwhelmed when mathematically aggregated with those of other decision participants.
Experienced practitioners can help mitigate these issues and ensure models are deployed
responsibly.
If the pandemic has proven anything, it is that financial performance must be evaluated
alongside long-term value for society and the environment. The integration of values-based
decision-making will be a critical success factor for the long-term survival of companies.
License and Republishing
Written by
Garkay Wong, Director, Hartley McMaster
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
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