More women in responsible managerial positions: an economic imperative

WHU for Diversity – First Gender Balance Day at WHU

On February 10-11, 2012, WHU hosted a first Gender Balance Day event at which students, graduates and young professionals could discuss gender equality in the business world with academic and commercial experts. The discussion covered a wide variety of issues: in addition to social justice and the need for quotas, more general topics such as the importance of diversity and the development of talent in the workforce were also considered. The Gender Balance Day was sponsored by In Praxi – WHU Alumni Association.
Among the speakers were Dr. Beate Degen, founding partner of management consultancy AufsichtUndRat, and Jutta von Falkenhausen, legal practitioner and CEO of FidAR (an organization that encourages the appointment of women to supervisory boards), as well as Melody Harris-Jensbach, Chief Product & Design Officer at Esprit.

In her opening speech, Assistant Professor Dr. Christina Günther (specializing in Microeconomics and Industrial Economics at WHU) addressed the question of whether companies always appoint, develop and retain the most talented people available to deal with the global challenges in today’s marketplace. In her presentation, Dr. Günther suggested that corporate creativity and innovation are the keys to business growth. For innovation, businesses need exceptionally talented people – and yet the gender gap is still apparent, which means that half of the human race is still not proportionally represented in specialist and management positions. “This situation is costing us competitive advantage, precisely because studies are showing that mixed management teams are more successful in action,” emphasized Dr. Günther. She went on to show that firms headed by women generate higher returns and make bigger profits than companies with management committees staffed exclusively by men. In global terms, it is clear that the most economically successful countries in the world are those where the gender gap is smallest.

Alongside the scientific analysis and discussion of practical examples, the event focused primarily on the question of how careers can be developed in view of this gender inequality. In workshops designed for various groups of students, graduates and businesspeople, delegates exchanged views and experiences and discussed strategies for planning their own careers.

In her talk, Jutta von Falkenhausen described the imbalance that still means scarcely any women sit on management boards or supervisory boards. Despite suitable expressions of intent by companies over the past few years, nothing has really changed. “And yet when we look to Scandinavian countries, it is clear that recruitment quotas are the only solution that has actually made a difference,” stated Jutta von Falkenhausen. “Even so, quotas are not supposed to promote unqualified women – their true purpose is to make highly qualified women more visible, not least so that young women have a wider range of role models to emulate.”

In her lecture, Melody Harris-Jensbach explored the stereotypes of male and female management styles. “As a woman sitting on a management board, I contribute emotional intelligence and am sensitive to the pulse and sensibilities of the workforce. This helps me motivate teams and focus them on a single, shared objective.” This does not mean, however, that she is not also adept at applying rational intelligence and authority: “I have found few men at senior management level capable of making tougher decisions than I am,” stressed Melody Harris-Jensbach. In her view, only executives who can feel as well as think can be really successful, regardless of their gender.

In her talk, Dr. Beate Degen underscored the importance of diversity as a factor in gender balance. “The idea is to integrate different perspectives and viewpoints, an aim that is not confined to the gender debate.” According to Dr. Degen, studies show that managers tend to appoint the recruits who most resemble them. “This does not take full advantage of the brain pool as a whole, or exploit the full potential required for innovatory thinking,” concluded Dr. Degen.

The consensus was that any change will require a profound cultural transformation driven by a combination of political, social and commercial will. In the course of the conference, it became clear that there is plenty of support for further discussions of gender balance issues at future “WHU for Diversity” events, in the hope of contributing to major change in this area.