Portion of lecture from Intercultural Management taught at Griffith University that addresses the Gender debate by looking at women in international business

1. Griffith Business School
Women in International Business – The
Gender Debate

2. Griffith Business School
Women in International Business
Women comprised 45.7% of the Australian Labour Force in 2009
Australian Women in Leadership Roles (2008):
 Top 200 Aus firms (ASX200)
» Board Chairs - 2.0%
» CEOs - 2.0%
» Board Directors - 8.3% (over half have none)
» Executive Managers - 10.7%
These percentages are lower than Canada, New Zealand, South
Africa, the UK & and the US
 University Vice Chancellors - 21.1%
 Federal Government Ministers - 21.4%
 Managerial and Professional Positions (across the general
business community) - 45.5%
Source: EOWA (2008) Australian Census of Woman
in Leadership, EOWA, http://www.eowa.gov.au

3. Griffith Business School
Are women good for business?
 85% of consumer purchases are made or influenced by women,
yet women only make up 3% of advertising agency directors
(source: “Women Matter” McKinsey Report 2007)
WHAT DO BUSINESS LEADERS SAY?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw0vaRiWIp0

4. Griffith Business School
International Strategies – how they utilise women
Global
Strategy
Transnational
International
Multi-
Domestic
Need for
Global
Integration
Need for Local Market Responsiveness
Low
High
Low High
Text, 153

5. Griffith Business School
Are Women a competitive advantage?
 Was Carly Fiorina, Hewlett Packard’s Chief Executive Officer also
HP’s COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE? http://wwsg.com/carly-fiorina
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
 2 ASSUMPTIONS of the Role of women in management:
1) women are (almost) like men
2) no, they are different
Discuss focus of EACH

6. Griffith Business School
2 Approaches to Women in Management
1) The EQUITY PERSPECTIVE - women are identical (to men), and
therefore equally capable (DIFFERENT=INFERIOR)
» QUESTION: how can women get into top echelons of
management?
» PRIMARY CHANGE STRATEGIES:
 affirmative action programs
 equal rights legislation
 structural changes (no tokenism)
 training in neglected skills
What is the goal of the EQUITY APPROACH?

7. Griffith Business School
2 Approaches to Women in Management
2) The Complementary Contribution - assumes difference, not
similarity
» women and men differ and therefore are capable of making
different but valuable contributions to the organisation
» different patterns and style (yet equivalent)
» PRIMARY CHANGE STRATEGIES:
 ID the unique contribution of women & men mgrs
 encourage and reward
 create synergy between men and women
 create enabling conditions (empowerment)
What is the goal of the COMPLEMENTARY APPROACH?

8. Griffith Business School
Diversity – advantages and disadvantages
Diverse teams are potentially very effective or very ineffective –
it depends on the team leadership
 Generation of more and better ideas
 Prevention of groupthink
 Social conformity and pressures on individual members of a group
to conform and reach consensus
 Lack of cohesion resulting in the unit’s inability to take action, be
productive, and create a work environment conducive to efficiency
and effectiveness
 Potential problems are rooted in:
» People’s attitudes
» Preconceived stereotypes
» Inaccurate biases
» Inaccurate communication

9. Griffith Business School
Women Managers and International Assignments
 40% of U.S. managers are women
 Only 14% of expatriates are women
 More recent 2009 research across MNCs (including non-US)
suggested that 20% of MNC expats were now women
» but the surveys historical average was 16%
Why the gap
between male and
female expats?
Sources: Tung: (1998); Caligiuri & Cascio (2000);
Brookfield Global Relocation Services (2009) Global relocation trends: 2009
Survey Report, brookfieldgrs.com

10. Griffith Business School
Selection Considerations
 Technical competence – more important than for men?
 Self-efficacy & confidence
 The right personality:
» openness & flexibility
» social & communication skills
What else?
see John Gray. 2002. Mars and Venus in the
workplace. Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney.