the business case for gender diversity

From ongoing discussion in the media, it often appears the business case for gender diversity at the top of organizations, and in the pipeline, either isn’t believed or isn’t felt to be relevant (insert name of industry, company or country here). Some fairly recent reports carry irrefutable proof that gender diversity on boards is good for the bottom line. So good, in fact, that there is a very strong business case for UNDERPERFORMANCE if you don’t do it.

Have a look at

• Critical Mass on Corporate Boards by the Wellesley Centers for Women,
• Managing for Diversity and Inclusiveness by Dr. Alison Konrad, Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario
• Innovative Potential – Men and Women in Teams by the London School of Economics Lehman Brothers Centre for Women in Business and
• Women Matter by McKinsey&Company.
• See also see a report from the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Groundbreakers: Using the Strength of Women to Rebuild the World Economy.
• Another very interesting report released in Davos was Measuring the Global Gender Gap. Women worldwide still have a long way to go to reach economic parity….and even to get equal pay for equal work of equal value.

why women mean business

Be sure to order my friend Avivah Wittenberg-Cox’s brilliant new book Why Women Mean Business, and check out the great new website she publishes, www.women-omics.com.

Why Women Mean Business, published in January 2008 to great critical acclaim. and co-written with FT star Alison Maitland, makes all other discussion on the impact of women on the future of business irrelevant. From Sally Helgesen, author of The Female Advantage, The Web of Inclusion, Thriving in 24/7:

“Wow! What the authors are doing is extraordinarily valuable. They draw upon a wealth of information and put it into a global frame. Why Women Mean Business establishes an inarguable, last-word-on-the subject business case for why organisations absolutely must get better at attracting, retaining, inspiring, and promoting talented women. It will be at the top of the reading list I provide for clients!”.

Why Women Mean Business takes the economic arguments for change to the heart of the corporate world. This powerful new book analyses the opportunities available to companies that really understand what motivates women in the workplace and the marketplace. Find out how companies that learn to adapt to women will be better able to respond to the challenge of an ageing workforce and the demands of the next generation of knowledge workers. The authors compare policies and approaches in countries around the world, that offer surprising and envious results.

Why Women Mean Business, Wiley & Sons, January 2008, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Alison Maitland