According to a survey of 121 human resources professionals from Fortune 1000 companies, diversity initiatives have a "direct impact" on their company's bottom line and help their organizations "keep a competitive edge." The survey, released by the Society for Human Resource Management and Fortune Magazine, found that 79 percent of respondents felt their company's diversity initiatives improved corporate culture, while 77 percent said it improves recruitment of new employees. A majority (91 percent) of human resources (HR) professionals said the diversity initiatives help their organizations stay competitive, while 79 percent said that diversity improved employee morale.

"Many HR professionals at top U.S. companies say the number of African-American, Hispanic, female and older employees in their work force has increased over the past five years," said Debra Cohen, SHRM's vice president of knowledge development. "These top companies are taking advantage of the clear benefits of diversity programs and a diverse work force as a competitive edge. Most diversity programs started in the early 1990s and are still growing rapidly."

LEE COWAN, local sales manager for WQXR, a radio station owned and operated by The New York Times

In January, Ms. Cowan was promoted to local sales manager from account manager, at least in part because of her participation in the LEAP program, which was recommended to her by the general sales manager and the president of WQXR. "The objective of LEAP is to train New York Times employees like myself to be the best they can be and get them ready for future managerial positions within the company," Ms. Cowan said. "Promoting from within is a great thing for any company, and this is one thing that The New York Times is very committed to. LEAP has given me experience and training at the same time, and given me the chance to get to know the company at different levels and interact with employees around the country, all of which lets me show what I can do. It gives me a clear path to move ahead."

RON COARD, assistant vice president of commercial real estate for Sovereign Bank

Ron Coard had worked as a bank manager for eight years on the retail side of the banking business when he was asked by Sovereign Bank's human resources department if he might like to join the commercial side of the bank in October of 2000. Making the transition from retail to commercial banking is rare, and Mr. Coard jumped at the chance. "To be given the opportunity to move into commercial banking is still astounding to me," observed Mr. Coard. "The opportunity really speaks of the commitment of Sovereign to its employees. Diversity is not just window dressing here. They are walking the talk. They are taking areas of the bank that are traditionally not very diverse and finding ways to make them more diverse."

Sovereign took the unusual step of moving an employee from one area of expertise in the bank to a completely different area because it had made a commitment to promote from within, and to invest in its talent. "I'm not an H.R. person and can't speak on the overall vision of the bank," said Mr. Coard, "but it is clear that morale and fairness are two important issues here. The bank is part of an overall community of people, and that community is not homogenous. The whole notion of diversity to me is trying to get the workplace to reflect the overall community by being as heterogeneous as possible, and by doing so, encourage a diversity of ideas.

"Everyone brings a different set of life experiences to the table, and the more diverse you can make the workplace, the more opinions you can get. When a diversity initiative is done in concert with training, as was done for me, it works out well for everyone -- both the employee and the company. It takes creativity to find the right place for talented people, and in this case, the bank was creative enough to move me from retail to commercial, which is a big jump. The best companies have to be broad-minded enough to see skills and potential skills they already have in their work force."

The percentage of women holding seats on the boards of directors at America's largest companies has risen steadily since 1995. Of Fortune 500 companies surveyed, 54 companies have 25 percent or more female directors, up from 11 percent in 1995. At the same time, only 54 of the same size companies lacked female board directors, down from 96 companies with no female board members before 1995.

In a November census of corporate officers and top earners, women represented 15.7 percent of corporate officers in America's 500 largest companies, up from 12.5 percent in 2000 and 8.7 percent in 1995.

The survey was conducted by Catalyst, a nonprofit research and advisory organization working to advance women in business and the professions. The study concludes that 2,140 out of 13,673 corporate officers in the survey are women; up from 1,622 in 2000. "Smart companies know that women are good for the bottom line," said Ilene Lang, president of Catalyst. Our data show that, on average, companies with the highest percentage of women in top management financially outperform -- by about 35 percent -- those with the lowest percentage. Catalyst data also show that companies are finally catching on. In 2002, women held 15.7 percent of corporate officer positions, up from 8.7 in 1995 when Catalyst first began counting.

According to the 1990 and the 2000 censuses, Asian-Americans are still the fastest growing ethnic segment in the United States, with almost a 20 percent growth rate over Hispanics, the next fastest growing group. The Asian-American market continues to grow and will reach an estimated 35 million, or 10 percent of the total U.S. population by 2050.

"Over the past 10 years, every state in the U.S. has seen a growth in its Asian population of at least 33 percent, with the fastest growth of Asians found in Florida, Georgia and Virginia," said Wanla Cheng, president of the Asia Link Consulting Group of the Asia Link Consulting Group, a marketing research and consulting firm which advises American companies on how to market more effectively to Asians. More than 50 percent of the Asian population is currently residing in the states of California, New York, New Jersey and Hawaii.

According to statistics released by the Multicultural Marketing Resources, Inc., Asian-Americans are also the highest household income holders in the United States, with an average income of $70,221, which is 14.7 percent higher than that of non-Hispanic whites. For the last two decades, Asian-Americans have also been the group with the most disposable income and greatest purchasing power, and are more likely than any other group to be in the $75,000 or above annual income range. Asian-Americans also have the highest level of education and the largest number of business owners as recorded in the 1990 Census and 2000 Census reports.

By 2007, the combined buying power of African-Americans, Asians and American Indians will total more than $1.4 trillion. This is more than 40 percent greater than the total buying power for 2002, and triple the 1990 level of $453 billion.

This special advertising feature is sponsored by participating advertisers. It was written and reported by Jason Forsythe and did not involve the reporting or editing staff of The Boston Globe. © 2004 The Boston Globe