A study of the promotion to partner process in a professional services firm: How women are disadvantaged

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the link below. Copyright @ 2008 British Academy of Management.Increasing numbers of women are attracted to careers in the professional services. However, when their progress is considered to partner positions, it is found that they are not advancing to the levels anticipated. When the literature in relation to the partnership promotion process is explored, we find explanatory models are rare, and rarer yet is work that considers the impact of sex bias on the process. The article adds to the limited work available by presenting findings from a behavioural process perspective through an empirical study with male and female management consultants in a professional services firm which indicates that the promotion to partner process is indeed sex biased. Two areas of disadvantage for women are identified: the presence of a self-managed career advancement process necessitating a proactive approach to demonstrating individual contribution; and the need to ‘fit’ a prevailing model of success within the firm which is a masculine model and is more problematic for women. The article calls for a differentiated treatment of the glass ceiling phenomenon, capable of capturing disadvantage accruing from societally based factors and sector-based factors. The implications of the findings for future research and professional service firms are discussed

Standard Chartered Bank: Women on Corporate Boards in India 2010

This first Standard Chartered Bank: Women on Corporate Boards in India 2010 report looks at the representation of women on the boards of India's leading companies on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE-100) . It ranks the companies in terms of the gender diversity of their boards, with those with the highest percentage of women on their boards appearing at the top. The report also examines the general topic of gender diversity on the boards of the BSE-100 by presenting the findings of interviews with 18 female directors of BSE-100 companies

Revealing Intersectional Dynamics in Organizations: Introducing ‘Intersectional Identity Work’

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Little consensus exists regarding conducting intersectional studies. We introduce ‘intersectional identity work’ as an approach for examining individuals’ experiences at the nexus of multiple identities. Incorporating identity work as a theoretical and analytical framework, we use journals and interviews to examine identity-heightening episodes that trigger meaning-making of intersecting senior, gender and ethnic identities among British Asian and black women and men. Our analysis reveals how intersecting identities are leveraged in encounters with subordinates, superiors and clients. Intersectional locations provide resources and cues for claiming or restricting privileged and disadvantaged status in asymmetric power positions. Intersectional identity work expands and restricts identification at juxtaposed locations. It offers a prospect for elucidating intersectional dynamics present in a range of identity configurations and addresses critiques that individual-level intersectional analyses at intersections are mere narrative. We encourage further research that examines other socially salient identities using our approach to develop theory on how multiple identities play out in everyday experience.This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (grant number ES/F020570/1)

Leading diversity in the boardroom: board evaluation project 2017

This is the final version of the report.Listed companies are obligated to conduct annual internal evaluations and triennial external board evaluations. The board evaluation industry is concentrated in a small number of organisations conducting the majority of FTSE 350 companies’ evaluations. Recognising the evaluator community has rare and privileged access to Chairs, their boards, and witnessing the impact of boardroom composition, we conducted interviews with 11 experienced board evaluators, operating independently or within firms that offer wider sets of services, to ascertain their views on gender diversity in the boardroom. Board evaluation can be crudely divided into those focused on more procedural reviews and those engaging with behavioural elements. Our interviews revealed that, through more behaviourally focused reviews, board evaluators demonstrate a deep understanding of the impact they see of group composition on boardroom behaviour, culture and effectiveness. These evaluators were extremely clear about the considerable benefits of a critical mass of diversity in the boardroom (often defined as three ‘diverse’ individuals). They evidence this through the dynamics of debate and decision-making. Evaluators can advise Chairs on how to optimise the benefits of a diverse board, providing challenge and support, particularly in the areas of feedback, induction and developing a diverse pipeline of talent, in the pursuit of highly effective team performance. On the understanding that behavioural reviews are more likely to comprehensively address issues of diversity, we suggest that the Financial Reporting Council recommend that board evaluation disclosure in the Annual Report includes information on whether a behavioural or a procedural external evaluation was undertaken, in addition to a summary of actions taken since the evaluation. We also recommend that the board evaluation industry adopts minimum standards for reviews, in the form of a Code of Conduct, kitemark or other method, by mutual agreement. The minimum standards should address the areas raised in this report, i.e. on diversity and dynamics, culture and behaviour, on feedback, induction and the talent pipeline. Our findings are unique in terms of behavioural insight into the dynamics of the boardroom and should encourage more Chairs to strive for, and more investors to insist on, maximising the benefits of a critical mass of boardroom diversity

Women on Boards: Progress following the 2012 Corporate Governance Code

This report monitors and recounts progress to date against the Financial Reporting Council's 2012 amendment to the Corporate Governance Code, considering inclusion of diversity reporting within annual reports. From this and from measuring the reality of the statistics on women in leadership and board positions across the top FTSE 350 companies, the report comments on the extent to which gender diversity is becoming an integral part of corporate strategy

The Female FTSE Board Report 2015

This year we have seen significant progress on FTSE 100 boards. All-male boards have totally disappeared with Glencore, the last, appointing a woman to its board. The percentage of women on FTSE 100 boards is 23.5%, almost exactly where we predicted in last year's report. This puts us on track to hit the 25% target by the end of 2015. The percentage of women in executive directorships on FTSE 100 boards is at an all time high of 8.6% with 24 women holding such roles

Does woman + a network = career progression?

Question: I am an ambitious and talented junior manager who has recently been hired by FAB plc, a large multinational company. I am also a woman and, as part of my induction pack, have received an invitation to join FABFemmes - the in-company women's network. I don't think my gender has been an obstacle to my success thus far and so I don't really feel the need to join. But on the other hand I don't want to turn my back on something that might offer me a useful source of contacts to help me advance up the career ladder. What would be the best thing to do? - Ms Ambitious, UK

AAOIFI Reporting Standards: Measuring Compliance

Islamic banking and finance has grown rapidly in recent decades. Islamic banks offer a range of products that comply with Shari'a law, many of which differ from traditional Western financial products. In addition modern Islamic banks are large entities listed on stock exchanges around the world, and as such are required to provide annual financial statements which accord not only with the relevant regulatory authorities, but also demonstrate the entities' compliance with Islamic principles. In consequence, the development of Islamic accounting standards to guide Islamic financial reporting has become an important issue. A practical response exists in the form of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Organizations (AAOIFI), established in Bahrain in 1991. To date, the AAOIFI has published a substantial body of accounting and governance standards, but little empirical research has thus far been conducted into compliance with these standards by Islamic reporting entities. This study provides an initial step in addressing the empirical gap. An index approach following that used to study compliance and disclosure of Western reporting entities is used to test compliance with the accounting and governance standards published by the AAOIFI. A benchmark index comprised of items identified in the literature as most significant for Islamic accounting is identified through a study of the literature. The English language Annual Reports from a sample of Islamic banks licensed and domiciled in Bahrain provide the data to measure compliance over a three year period

Refining the Concept of Political Will: A Gender Perspective

While politics are known to be prevalent at managerial levels, there is currently little insight into what drives managers to engage in organizational politics and whether there are gender differences in this respect. In the current study we explore the concept of political will by using a qualitative approach based on 14 semi-structured interviews with managers (five men and nine women) in a global semiconductor company. We identify key dimensions of managerial political will consisting of three attitudinal ambivalences: functional, ethical and emotional. We also examine gender differences along these dimensions and discuss managers' political will in the context of a masculine organizational setting. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of the findings and further research directions. © 2012 British Academy of Management