Women in Leadership Positions: How German Companies Can Overcome the Double Burden
Creative Management Thinking
Final Assignment
Women in leadership positions - How German companies can overcome the double burden
IMBA 2013 Section A1 Group F
Ievgen Forostovets
Sushant Kumar
Jon-Dagan Mallace
Denny Morawiak
Andrea Salati
Antonella Squadrito
All members of our group contributed equally to this report.
September 15th 2012
This paper seeks to suggest strategies that companies should adopt to retain female talent, especially for top management positions. Our recommendations are simple in nature, but their simplicity masks considerable hurdles to overcome in achieving gender equality in the C-suite. Hurdles defined by a long held narrative of how work is to be done, that in its present form requires from the two sexes, an identical approach to how it is carried out. This flawed situation constrains the potential to be gained from gender equality by underappreciating the natural strengths inherent in the two sexes, and the benefit in the interplay between them. This is happening at a time when the socio-demographic requirements in the German context increasingly require, and are desirous of the inclusion of women in the top management echelon.
This issue is increasingly relevant to Germany, which is beginning to suffer the effects of an ageing society and declining birth rates. According to DeStatis, the official government agency for statistics, the composition of the German population has changed. Whereas in 1990, only 20% were older than 60, in 2010 this number increased to 26%. Furthermore, the birthrate declined from 2.51 children per woman from its highest point, post-WW2, in 1968, to 1.39 children per woman in 2010. This demographic effect is all the more interesting in light of the increasing university graduation rates of women in comparison to men. Already at 54% (Eurostat 2011), this achievement growth in favor of women should provoke in German companies, who need to maintain a competitive workforce in an era of
Final Assignment
Women in leadership positions - How German companies can overcome the double burden
IMBA 2013 Section A1 Group F
Ievgen Forostovets
Sushant Kumar
Jon-Dagan Mallace
Denny Morawiak
Andrea Salati
Antonella Squadrito
All members of our group contributed equally to this report.
September 15th 2012
This paper seeks to suggest strategies that companies should adopt to retain female talent, especially for top management positions. Our recommendations are simple in nature, but their simplicity masks considerable hurdles to overcome in achieving gender equality in the C-suite. Hurdles defined by a long held narrative of how work is to be done, that in its present form requires from the two sexes, an identical approach to how it is carried out. This flawed situation constrains the potential to be gained from gender equality by underappreciating the natural strengths inherent in the two sexes, and the benefit in the interplay between them. This is happening at a time when the socio-demographic requirements in the German context increasingly require, and are desirous of the inclusion of women in the top management echelon.
This issue is increasingly relevant to Germany, which is beginning to suffer the effects of an ageing society and declining birth rates. According to DeStatis, the official government agency for statistics, the composition of the German population has changed. Whereas in 1990, only 20% were older than 60, in 2010 this number increased to 26%. Furthermore, the birthrate declined from 2.51 children per woman from its highest point, post-WW2, in 1968, to 1.39 children per woman in 2010. This demographic effect is all the more interesting in light of the increasing university graduation rates of women in comparison to men. Already at 54% (Eurostat 2011), this achievement growth in favor of women should provoke in German companies, who need to maintain a competitive workforce in an era of
Bibliography: Adler, Roy. “Women in the Executive Suite Correlate to High Profits.” Pepperdine University. 2001 Andren, Birgitta Desvaux, Georges. and Sandrine Devillard. “Women Matter 2010 – Women at the top of corporations: Making it happen”, McKinsey and Company. 2010 Desvaux, Georges * Making the business case for investing in women.” Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. 2011 Pötzsch, Olga Wrohlich, Katharina et al. “Elterngeld-Monitor.” Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend. 2012