Executive Level Gender Diversity, Fran Keeth Profile, Professional and Educational Background, Case Questions.

1. INSTRUCTOR: MA’AM MARIA SEHAR
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
CASE 5.1.
HR Planning For Executive-Level Gender Diversity

2. 
MBA 5TH SEMESTER
Presentation:
Speaker:-
ANAM NASIR (054)

3. INTRODUCTION
 Critically evaluate the situation of gender
diversity and its implications to the
multinational organizations.

4. KEY CONCEPTS:

5. DIVERSITY PERSPECTIVES
WOMEN IN THE MAINSTREAM. WOMEN TN THE WORKPLACE.
Women are not inferior to
men.
Work first, family second.
Job is not “temporary”
or “extra income”.
Organizations have also
adjusted their outlook.
Discrimination and sexual
harassment are illegal.
Temporary or part-time or
low responsibility jobs.
First priority: taking care
of their families
Unmarried women: quit
for marriage
Married women: quit due
to pregnancy
Women with children:
family over job

6. GENDER DIVERSITY AT GLOBAL LEVEL

7. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MNC’S.
HR PLANNING:
 Identify business units that are less gender diverse.
 Develop a hiring strategy that increases gender diversity
in these units without reducing and ignoring merit.
 Create an engaged culture that enables men and women
to form trusting relationships and motivates them to
perform at a high level.
 Set inclusiveness goals, and hold managers accountable
for diversity.

8. FRAN KEETH PROFILE

9. IT IS ESPECIALLY HARD FOR WOMEN TO GET TO THE TOP IN A
FIRM THAT IS IN A MASCULINE LINE OF BUSINESS, BUT FRAN
KEETH IS A MAJOR EXCEPTION.
 Fran Keeth holds both global and regional positions with Shell.
GLOBAL
REGION
AL
Executive
vice
President
Chemicals
President
& CEO of
Shell
Chemical
LP
POSITION
S
The US arm of Shell
Chemicals Ltd, based in
London.

10. BACKGROUND
Academic
Bachelor’s degree in
Accounting.
Then went for an MBA & a
Law degree, all from the
University of Houston in
Texas.

11. BACKGROUND
PROFESSIONAL
Started her career in Houston in 1970,
at Shell Oil Company, a subsidiary of a
Royal Dutch/Shell.
Where she work as a secretary while
studying at a same time.
She hold many different positions in
Shell Oil Company
She worked in the Finance & Tax
department with increasing
responsibility.
In 1991, she became a general manager
of Product Finance.

12. CONTINUED..,
 After twenty-two years with the company, in 1992, she
was sent to London as deputy controller, area
coordinator for the East Australasia regions, and oil
products finance manager.
 In 1996, she left Shell to join Mobil Corporation as their
worldwide Controller and Principal Accounting Officer.

13. AFTER ONE YEAR
 Returned to Shell in 1997, assuming the position of;
1. Executive Vice President,
2. Finance and Business Systems
for Shell Chemicals LP.
 In 2001, this position led her to the position of;
1.president &,
2. CEO
 And in 2005, finally to Executive vice president of Royal Dutch chemicals with global
accountability.
 She retained her regional position as President Shell Chemical, LP as well.
 After over 37 years of distinguished service Fran Keeth retired from Royal Dutch Shell,
where she led Shell’s global chemical business. Fran stays active in business affairs through
her membership on the Boards of Directors of Verizon Communications, Inc. and Arrow
Electronics, Inc.

14. ANSWERS FOR CASE ANALYSIS
 Question no 1:-
Why would you say an MNC in its HR planning should be
interested in gaining a better representation of women
employees across its various employees levels, including
the top leadership ranks?

15. ANSWER:
We pulled together many reasons;
 More women = better problem-solving
 Better financial performance
 Developing Themselves
 Building Relationships.
 They inspire and motivate other
 Female leaders are trusted
 Stretch Goals
 Millennial women are more educated than men
 Communication.
 Collaboration

16. BETTER FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
 Women Managers are praised for:
 ► Soft Skills
 ► Caring
 ► Understanding
 ► Good teamwork
 ► Good communication skills
 ► Patience
 ► Style of Management
 ► Unique skills

17. Question no 2:-
 What are particular obstacles that women might face in
gaining higher positions of responsibility in their
organizations? Would you consider some industries and
specialties less conducive to increased women leadership?

18. FACTORS THAT PREVENT WOMEN FROM RISING THROUGH THE
CORPORATES:
 Poor HR planning.
 Family responsibilities.
 Paid less than men.
 Sex Discrimination.
 Sign of racism.
 Job segregation.
 Organization Politics.
 Sexual Harassment.
 Equal employment
opportunity.
 Gender stereotypes.
 Law.
 Traditional way of job
design.
 No talent pool set.
 Glass ceiling.

19. PARTICULAR OBSTACLES:
 What holds women back?
 Is it an issue of competence? Qualifications? KSAs?
 – Rather unlikely: Higher percentage of women vs men hold a
university degree and women consistently outperform men in
terms of academic achievement.
 • Intelligence?
 – Equal in women and men
 • Brain differences?
 – Some indeed exist, but unlikely to be the reason…

20.  Personality differences?
– Again unlikely: Extraversion, conscientiousness and openness to
experience (which consistently predict leadership emergence) same
between women and men. Women show higher levels of
agreeableness and neuroticism, but weak connections of these two
dimensions with leadership.
 Emotional intelligence and empathy?
– Higher in women

21.  Family responsibilities?
More likely: Women’s domestic responsibilities exceed men’s.
Childcare: Interesting research finding ->employed mothers in
2000 spent as much time interacting with their children as mothers
without a job in 1975! But they still think they spend too little time.
 Taking breaks from employment?
37% of professional women voluntarily dropped out of
employment at some point in their lives vs 24% of men. Women
take time out for “family time”, men take time out to change careers =>
serious implications: lost income, impeded career growth, depreciation
of skills, difficulty in reestablishing one’s career.

22. Family responsibilities?
– Taking leaves of absence and sick days.
– Seeking flexible jobs and part-time jobs.
Discrimination?
– Promotion bias 2:1 in favor of men at all levels,
Even in female-dominated fields women don’t have the
advantage! Token women generally suffer slow promotion in
male-dominated careers but token men advance quickly in
female dominated careers.

23. GLASS CEILING?
 Glass ceiling is an unacknowledged discriminatory barrier that
prevents minority (women in this case) from rising to position of
power or responsibility within an organization.
 The term glass ceiling is most often applied in the business
situation in which women feels that men are very much involved
in the usage of power and women find it difficult to or rather
impossible to reach to that level or break the glass ceiling.

24. REASONS WHY FEMINISTS FEEL THAT GLASS CEILING
EXISTS:
 Male dominated management, which made all the decisions for
the company.
 Lack of proper anti discrimination law and government action on
discrimination.
 Men's attitude towards problems faced by women.
 Preference of men over women of same educational qualification
and caliber.
 Sexual harassment was seen as another major hindrance in the
women's career.

25. Question No 3:-
What would you recommend for Fran Keeth to
assist her in HR planning to achieve greater women
representation among top management?

26. Discussion.