As theory is one of the primarily foci of this review, the theoretical perspectives
applied in conjunction with upper echelons theory were first examined. The results of
this analysis are reported in Exhibit 9. Most of the studies (52 articles) used upper
echelons as their main theoretical perspective. Upper echelons theory was most often
combined with social psychological theories (more than 20 percent of the studies),
most common among which are group process and effectiveness theories. The second
theoretical perspective commonly used together with upper echelon is strategy process
(7 studies) and the third most commonly used are firm internationalization theories (5
studies). Surprisingly, agency theory was applied only in three of the selected studies.
The other category includes among others entrepreneurship (3 studies), change (3),
signaling (2), firm growth (1), resource based view (1) and social network theories (1).
Hence, a variety of theoretical perspectives has been applied together with upper
echelons theory to explain the antecedents and consequences of top management team
diversity. Clearly, the call by Hambrick and Mason (1984) to blend upper echelons
with sociology and psychology theories at later stages of its development has been
addressed. The criticism of the organizational demography approach (Lawrence,
1997; Priem, Lyon & Dess, 1999) and the following attempts to research the “black
box” of upper echelon theory have lead to wider application of group psychology
theories. Yet, further combination of perspectives at different theoretical levels can be
recommended.