The Role of Women in Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

The Role of Women in Organizations - Essay ExampleIn 1980s businesswomen became a almighty force in the European and US economy. The transition to post-industrial society boosted structural changes in the economy and rapid development in the services sector. Women were opening a multitude of service enterprises, which grew and gained public recognition. Society had to admit that small business was made for women. A study, conducted by Coates in Britain, showed that, while women represented a third of all overall respondent managers, they nevertheless lone(prenominal) represented 4.3% of executive positions against 9.9% of men. By far the largest single group overall was middle managers (47%), even here only 25 of the women studied had attained this level. The vast majority of women were thus junior managers (Coates, 1997).Women atomic number 18 now more than 1% of the Fortune 500 CEOs, yet investigate shows that companies with the highest percentage of women at the top financial ly outperform those with the lowest number of women at the top. Companies run by women are as financially sound and credi iirthy as the typical firm in the U.S. economy and are more likely to remain in business than the average US firm. In 1987 two million female-owned businesses had $25bn in sales. One year later, five million female-owned businesses had $83bn in sales.Around the world, women-owned firms comprise between one-quarter and one-third of the businesses in the formal economy and are likely to play an even greater role in informal sectors. In Japan, the number of women managers is still small (around 300,000), but it has more than doubled over the past 10 years.In Australia, the proportion of women working in their own business is also growing. Women working in their own business in Australia numbered 216,300 in 1983-84 and 272,400 in 1989-90, an increase of approximately 26 per cent (Milojevic).Why does it happen that companies with women occupying senior positions perf orm better than those with male leaders One of the reasons may be that womens leadership style, based on openness, trust, sociability, interest in people, caring, ongoing education, compassion and collaboration. Women are more likely to succeed because of their natural qualities and because they admit they need encourage and surround themselves with good people they are cautions, strategic risk takers, whose