By CYNTHIA OWENS
From INSEAD Knowledge (http://knowledge.insead.edu)
Business leaders ignore gender issues at their peril. That's the view of CEO of gender consultancy 20-First Avivah Wittenberg-Cox. In a new book, "Why 해외 온라인카지노 순위 Mean Business," Wittenberg-Cox and her co-author Alison Maitland say organizations that become savvy about "해외 온라인카지노 순위omics" will win in the war for the best talent and leadership and the war for customers.
"해외 온라인카지노 순위omics is the economic opportunity today to businesses and companies around the world by a better understanding of 해외 온라인카지노 순위," Wittenberg-Cox says.
Business leaders have been talking about talent wars for years. These executives complain that they can't find enough qualified people to fill the leadership pipeline even in these tough economic times. Wittenberg-Cox said that's partly because companies aren't fully utilizing half their talent pool. Some 10 or 15 years ago, business leaders thought it was just a matter of time until 해외 온라인카지노 순위 worked their way up through the ranks to become managers. "How much longer can companies say that they're recruiting and promoting only the very best if they're recruiting and promoting 80-90 percent men, in a world where 60 percent of university graduates are 해외 온라인카지노 순위?" she asks.
Wittenberg-Cox rejects the notion that there is a "glass ceiling" holding 해외 온라인카지노 순위 back. She says talented 해외 온라인카지노 순위 are coming into companies on a par with men, but at every management level going up the hierarchy, the number of 해외 온라인카지노 순위 drops off and the number of men rises. Rather than a glass ceiling, she sees "gender asbestos."
In some cases 해외 온라인카지노 순위 aren't getting the promotions and sometimes they're opting out, quitting the corporate world and setting up their own businesses. Business leaders believe they promote based on merit, but there is something wrong with that equation.
"There is something in the world and the culture of organizations today that has a preference for male styles. If we want to get the best of the other half of the talent pool, we're going to have to review what that might be," 해외 온라인카지노 순위 says.
This phenomenon is remarkably similar across countries, cultures and companies. Statistically, the numbers of 해외 온라인카지노 순위 decline on every rung of the leadership ladder.
Businesses, she says, are also missing another important gender opportunity: 해외 온라인카지노 순위 as consumers.
해외 온라인카지노 순위 make 80 percent of purchasing decisions. This doesn't just include groceries, clothes and cosmetics; it includes cars, financial services, housing and electronics. But the authors of "Why 해외 온라인카지노 순위 Mean Business argue" that most companies aren't doing their consumer research, product development, or after sales service to cater to this market.
Wittenberg-Cox tells the story of Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, who found that 해외 온라인카지노 순위 are responsible for two-thirds of car purchases in Japan. He found that 80 percent of those 해외 온라인카지노 순위 would prefer female sales staff in the showrooms, but only 10 percent of Nissan's sales staff were 해외 온라인카지노 순위. Ghosn also found that 50 percent of male car buyers would prefer a female salesperson.
It makes good business sense for Nissan and other companies to increase the number of 해외 온라인카지노 순위 managers and cater to 해외 온라인카지노 순위 buyers.
In their book, 해외 온라인카지노 순위 and Maitland offer some practical tips for business leaders to begin assessing their own companies and making changes.
For years, programs to promote 해외 온라인카지노 순위 were directed at 해외 온라인카지노 순위. There are 해외 온라인카지노 순위's leadership programs, coaching for 해외 온라인카지노 순위 and assertiveness training for 해외 온라인카지노 순위, but so far these haven't resulted in many 해외 온라인카지노 순위 gaining access to the C-suite.
They argue that 해외 온라인카지노 순위 need to become "gender bilingual." Organizations have spent millions of dollars teaching employees to be culturally sensitive and to pay attention to global differences. The authors say that 해외 온라인카지노 순위 need to do the same thing with gender.
Most men aren't aware there's a female language, and Wittenberg-Cox says, it's not their fault. "For the last 50 years, 해외 온라인카지노 순위 have been asking to be treated equally and the same," she says. "I would suggest that's actually the problem we face today: It is that we're not the same."
해외 온라인카지노 순위 are increasingly aware of the differences and now organizations need to seek ways to understand the differences as well as the opportunities, so they can effectively manage mixed teams.
The authors believe it's time for companies to start focusing 해외 온라인카지노 순위 attention on helping the cultures, systems and leadership styles evolve to integrate the female talent coming up.
The economic crisis shouldn't derail the effort. 해외 온라인카지노 순위 says she sees innovative companies using the crisis as a time to reshuffle, rethink and adapt their business models and styles to the future. She adds that those companies will see a big difference in their corporate performance in the next few years.
Ultimately, the shift to 해외 온라인카지노 순위omics has to be driven by business decisions, says Wittenberg-Cox, adding: "It's a strategic business issue."