Women in top management - Essay Example

?Women in Top Management Introduction This essay mainly seeks to investigate why increasing women’s participation in top management teams can be beneficial to an organisation. This essay is based on the premise that it is important to conduct such as study in order to establish the unique advantage that women can bring to the management of organisations, and the study is equally aimed at identifying untapped opportunities that organisations could gain from by increasing women’s participation in their top management teams. The essay will apply the use of secondary research, which means that it will solely rely on secondary data in order to meet the set objective. In order to attain the objective stipulated above, this study will begin with a literature review that aims at discussing the feminist theory, women’s position in the society, and the positive contribution women can make towards an organisation if their level of participation is increased. In the third sub-section, the essay presents case examples that demonstrate how increasing women’s participation in top management teams can be beneficial for organisations. In the conclusion, the essay will provide a recommendation to the managers in regards to the benefits of increasing women’s participation. Theoretical background This section will discuss the theory related to discussion of how increasing women’s participation in top management team can be beneficial for organisations. Feminist theory According to Hooks (2000), feminism is described as, ‘the theoretical study of women’s oppression and the strategically and political ways that all of us, building on the theoretical and historical knowledge, can work to end this oppression.’ Cudd and Andreasen (2005) further stated that feminism is the marshaled movement that enhances the equivalence between men and women in the social, economic, and political domain. Feminists stand on the common argument that men have held a high level of power in the private and public domain, and to retain this power, men with gender bias create boundaries and obstructions to females, which then makes it difficult for females to own this strength. (Kolmar and Bartkowski, 2013). It should be noted that this essay is based on the feminist theory, since the study is related to increasing women’s participation in the top management teams of organisations and the likely impact this can have on the performance of the organisation. Women’s position in the society The position of women in the society has been an issue of debate more so in the 21st century where numerous efforts have been made to redefine this position as well as the role of women in the society. According to McKee (2006), these efforts have been aimed at giving women a more vibrant role and a significant position in the society rather than the ones confined by the earlier traditions or cultural beliefs and attitudes. For example, in the biblical times, writings indicate that women were confined to lower ranks than men in the society were, and they were expected to be submissive to demands and wishes of men. The Biblical writings even hint to the fact that that women owe their origin to the male gender (the story of God using Adam’s rib to create Eve). From the earlier cultural beliefs that are not only exhibited in the Christian faith but also in the Islamic faith as well as other cultures, women were naturally excluded from certain roles and positions within the society mainly because of gender bias. Brush et al. (2010) argued that in the modern world and more in particular the years before, the new millennium, gender segregation was mostly exhibited in the working environment and in the political environment whereby the participation of women was limited to minor roles. However, Brush et al. (2010) noted that in the 21st century there have been tremendous improvements in women trying to gain equal status as men in the work environment and in the political arena. For example, the present Chief Executive Officer of Yahoo, Inc is a woman (Marissa Meyer) and the Germany’s Head of government is a woman (Angela Merkel). These examples prove the revolutionary change that has occurred within the society, which to a greater extent has given women equal standing in the society. However, it is important to note that such a significant changes have only been experienced in Western countries whereas in other countries women’s participation is still limited. Special attributes of women that make them good managers According to Daft (2008), in recent times, more women have been appointed to senior positions in big firms and this has been contributed to the increased number of women with higher academic qualifications, for example, presently majority of MBA holders in the United States are women. Moreover, there are certain qualities that women have, which give women a sustainable advantage over men. For example, Fagan et al. (2012) stated that women have a keen eye on opportunities that are available within the market. She attributed this to the fact that women are not easily distracted and normally focused on the final prize. Fagan et al. (2012) added that the list of the 50 most powerful women in America is composed of women who have re-invented America’s enterprises. Another attribute that give women sustainable advantage over men is the fact that women have strong skills in networking, in the sense that during the first initial stages of networking, women readily provide assistance to each other and the fact that they are good communicator means they can easily make follow-ups and build strong networks (Brush et al. 2010). Thirdly, women have an advantage over men because of the fact they are able to naturally cultivate relationships that are purposeful, genuine, and meaningful. Brush et al. (2010) added that women tend to react quickly to available opportunities and their attention to details makes them more convenient for handling crucial jobs, which means they can consolidate, organize, and strengthen business outcomes. Lastly, because of the natural paternal instincts women tend to be better leaders who are sensitive to the plight of their employees, meaning that they can listen to the opinion of the employees and therefore, ensure staffs are well motivated leading to the organisational success (Brush et al. 2010). A case study on the impact of women participation in the top management teams on the performance of the organisation According to the writings by Powell (2010), two reputable global research organisations that include the McKinsey & Company, and the Catalyst research organisations have conducted substantive studies that prove indeed that gender balance has a direct relation with the performance of an organisation. Thou both research companies employed different research methodologies, the results they obtained showed similarity in the sense that having more women in leadership is correlated with stronger financial returns. In particular, the Catalyst research study showed that companies within the Fortune 500, which had three or more women on the Board of Directors had a more impressive financial performance (53%) than those company that had fewer women representation on the board. The graph below represents the findings that were obtained by the research carried out by the Catalyst research. Figure 1: The relationship between return on equity within an organisation and women’s representation on the board Sources: http://www.20-first.com/9-0-better-bottom-line.html Another panel data investigation conducted by Dezso and Ross (2012), which aimed at establishing whether women representation in top management improved firms’ financial performance, established a positive correlation between the two variables. The panel data investigation, analyzed data that had been collected for a period of 15 years across 1,500 top management teams. Based on the findings that were obtained, Dezso and Ross (2012) argued that the representation of women in top management teams accord the management teams with informational and benefits associated with social diversity. Secondly, it enriched the behavior of different level managers within the organisation and even acted as a source of motivation for women in the middle management positions, who were inspired to work hard with the hope of moving up the ladder. Another key finding of this study is that women participation in top management teams leads to an improved performance but only to the extent that the organisational strategy is focused on innovation. In this case managerial task performance is greatly influenced by the information and social diversity benefits as well as behavior of women in management (Dezso and Ross, 2012). Conclusion This study has described the historical position of women within the society and even how the position as well as the role of women has changed with time. It has been noted that presently, women have greater role and even hold key positions in business organisations and even in the political arena, which was once a preserve for men. The increased participation of women in roles that were previously dominated by men is attributed to the fact that women have increasingly gained more qualification thereby making them equally qualified as their male counterparts. Secondly, there has been wide spread effective campaigns that are aimed at ensuring women enjoy equal access to employment opportunities. This study has established that women participation in top management teams can be beneficial to the organisation since women have certain skills that make them better managers than men. Thirdly, the increased participation of women in top management teams, accord organisations, informational and social diversity benefits as well as positive behavioral change that can positively improve the performance of organisations. Based on the findings that have been obtained in this study, it is recommended that managers should ensure that their organisations have social diversity and that female employees have an increased participation in top management teams in order to experience the positive effects of improved performance. References Brush, C. Bruin, A. Gatewood, E. and Henry, C. 2010. Women Entrepreneurs and the Global Environment for Growth: A Research Perspective. Camberley: UK Edward Elgar Publishing Cudd, A. and Andreasen, R. 2005. Feminist Theory: A Philosophical Anthology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell Daft, R. 2008. The New Era of Management. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning EMEA Dezso, C. and Ross, D. 2012. Does Female Representation in Top Management Improve Firm Performance? A Panel Data Investigation. Strategic Management Journal 33 (9) 1072-1089 Fagan, C. Menendez, M and Anson, S. 2012. Women on Corporate Boards and in Top Management: European Trends and Policy. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan Hooks, B. 2000. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (2nd edition). New York, US: South End Press Kolmar, W. and Bartkowski, F. 2013. Feminist Theory: A Reader. NewYork, US: McGraw-Hill McKee, J. 2006. 21 Ways Women in Management Shoot Themselves in the Foot. Tucson, US: Wheatmark, Inc. Powell, G. 2010. Women and Men in Management. Thousan Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Read More