Women leadership: next revolution in the corporate world

By on December 28, 2011

The world is talking about gender parity and eliminating the gender gap. Gender diversity is now much emphasized in corporate scenario and the top business organizations are making efforts to promote women in every sphere of activities. IBM, the technology giant has recently launched leadership programs for women. The leadership programs for potential women employees have been launched in the areas of technology and sales. These are the areas which are dominated by males in most organizations. The objective is to create an accelerated leadership pipeline to complement the company’s succession program for women in general management that was launched in 2009. Mr. Sripada, IBM’s Vice President and HR Head in India says, “A diverse workforce is a business imperative. It means greater innovation and creativity at the workplace and better understanding of the marketplace.”

A recent study conducted by the researchers at Catalyst and Harvard Business School also confirms that the women leadership is the next corporate revolution. The study tracked the philanthropic activities of Fortune 500 companies for 10 years from 1997 to 2007 and it was found that the companies where top positions are mostly occupied by women contribute more charitable funds. The study also reflected that the women are better decision makers when it comes to corporate social responsibility. Women not only make better decisions related to CSR but also contribute more and are more committed to it. Today the survival of companies depends significantly on CSR and women are better at this; so it definitely reflects the future corporate scenario.

McKinsey, the international management consulting firm also proposed in one of its recent studies that gender diversity is not a social concern; rather it can be used to create competitive advantage to face the global challenges. Women portray different leadership styles as compared to males and this can very well be utilized to create a competitive advantage in the marketplace. So the next corporate revolution is emerging at a fast pace and the corporations having made succession plans accordingly will win the race.

References:

  • IBM to Increase Leadership Pool of Women Professionals by 20% in Tech & 15% in Sales Dept. The Economic Times dated November 10, 2011.
  • IBM Launches Leadership Programs for Women. The Economic Times dated November 10, 2011.
  • More Women Leaders, Better Corporate Social Responsibility. The Economic Times dated November 22, 2011.
  • Women Matter 2: Female Leadership, A Competitive Edge for the Future. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from: http://www.mckinsey.de/downloads/publikation/women_matter/Women_Matter_2_brochure.pdf

Discuss