Peter Loescher, the chief executive office of Siemens recently made the comment that they were "too white and male" and that "The management board are all white males. Our top 600 managers are predominantly white German males. We are too one-dimensional" (Financial Times, June 24, 2008, page 1). In the article, Mr. Loescher went on to state that, "the priority for his second year in charge would be to improve the 'global diversity' of managers and warned that Germany's competitiveness could be threatened if it failed to do so." Are large, global companies finally waking up to the need and benefits of diversity? I certainly hope so.
In another recently published article titled, "Europe needs boardroom diversity to stay competitive" (Financial Times, July 28, 2008, page 1), author Richard Milne writes, "A report from the former UK Equal Opportunities Commission in 2006 found only 11 per cent of FTSE 100 directors were female and that it could take 40 years to get to a balanced situation."
There are many studies that have demonstrated the positive benefits of increasing the diversity of workforces and boards of management / directors. Catalyst, an independent research and advisory company conducted a survey of USA companies from 2001-2004 and found that companies with the highest representation of women board directors attained significantly higher financial performance than those with the lowest representation:
• 53% higher Return on Equity
• 42% higher Return on Sales
• 66% higher Return on Invested Capital
See full Article.
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