Issue No. LXXX, December 17, 2010

 

THIS ISSUE’S HIGHLIGHTS:

I.      THE UK's AND ITALY'S STRATEGIES FOR MORE WOMEN DIRECTORS
II.     GLOBAL SUMMIT OF WOMEN 2011: CEO PROFILE
III.    LEGACIES OF WOMEN FORUM PARIS
IV.   GLOBAL DIVERSITY: CROSS-INDUSTRY MENTORING

 


 ITALY
Current Percentage Women on Boards: 6.8%
Proposed by 2014: 30%


 
UK
Current Percentage Women on Boards: 12%.5
Proposed by 2015: 30%






Serpil Timuray, CEO, Vodafone Turkey



LEGACIES OF WOMEN—PARIS
PRESENTERS

 

Martine Abbou
Founder, Wimadame.com

 

 

Sandra LeGrand
CEO, CANAL CE

Michele Menant
Head of Strategy, Le Poste

 


















 

 

 

 

 



 

 


I.   THE UK'S AND ITALY'S STRATEGIES FOR MORE WOMEN DIRECTORS

There is clearly momentum building in Europe for increasing women’s access to corporate board seats using legislative mandates.  A recent report from Corporate Women Directors International on Accelerating Board Diversity lists Norway, Spain, Iceland, France and Netherlands (pending Senate approval) for having adopted quotas requiring a certain percentage of board seats to be allocated for women in publicly-listed companies.  Add quotas also in place for government-owned companies in Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and Ireland, and one can see that this is a strategy Europe is rapidly adopting.  The latest addition is Italy, whose lower house approved a 30% quota for women on corporate boards – “le quote rose” or “pink quota”—on December 1st.  Italy’s percentage of women directors is currently at 6.8%, one of the lowest in Europe.  Whether the legislation passes in the upper house of the Italian Parliament, where opposition is already building, remains to be seen (Source:  www.ilsole24ore.com, 12/10/10)

The U.K., however, is taking a private sector approach  Despite advocacy and research on women directors by Cranfield School of Management and vocal support from MP and former Minister for Women Harriet Harman, the percentage of U.K.’s women directors has stagnated at around 12.5%.  A group of companies that include HSBC, J.Sainsbury, and Lloyd’s Banking Group, among others, have made a commitment to increase the percentage of women directors to about 30% by 2015.  This initiative was spearheaded by Helena Morrissey, CEO of Newton, an asset management company owned by the Bank of New York Mellon. 

Without using quotas, company chairmen are planning to spread the word about the need for board diversity among their senior executives.  The initiative is called the 30% Club, and there is a sense that this time around, there is enough momentum to make it successful in its mission.  Prime Minister David Cameron identified gender equality as a priority when he took office and specifically mentioned women on boards as a target.  The UK’s corporate governance commission also made a statement recently about the need for more diverse boards.  “This initiative is a third way between doing nothing and introducing a quota,” states Ms. Morrissey (Source:  New York Times, 12/11/10.  To access a copy of the CWDI Report on ‘Accelerating Board Diversity” and to find percentages of women directors in 51 countries, go to www.globewomen.org, click to Corporate Women Directors International)

II.        GLOBAL SUMMIT OF WOMEN 2011: CEO PROFILE

A regular feature of the 20-year-old Global Summit of Women is its special CEO Forum, which features women in charge of major corporate entities exchanging opinions regarding business issues.  For the 2011 Summit hosted by Turkey from May 5-7th in Istanbul, one of the CEOs participating is the current head of Vodafone Turkey, Serpil Timuray. Credited with turning around an ailing company, Ms. Timuray has served as CEO since January 2009 and has made it the fastest growing market in the Vodafone group of companies.  She brought to this leadership role extensive executive management experience with special expertise in marketing.

Before coming to Vodafone, she was General Manager and CEO of Danone Turkey from 2002-2008, where she also served as a member of the worldwide DanoneWay Committee for Corporate Social Responsibility. During her tenure, she oversaw the successful acquisition and integration of Nestle Turkey into Danone. Ms. Timuray started her career in the Marketing Department of Procter & Gamble in 1991, where she assumed increasing levels of responsibilities. She is currently a member of the International Investors Association of Turkey (YASED) and TUSIAD, the Turkish Industry and Business Association. She was awarded as the “Most Successful Businesswoman of the Food & Beverage Sector” in 2003. 

CEOs, managing directors and other executives, along with senior government officials, from different parts of the world will be joining Ms. Timuray in three days of exchanges (May 5-7th) focused solely on advancing women's economic status worldwide at the 2011 Global Summit of Women to be held in Istanbul at the Grand Cevahir.  In the course of the next few months, some of the 80+ presenters will continue to be featured in future GlobeWomen enewsletters.  About 1,000 participants are expected to attend this global forum that will now be entering its 21st year of providing an economic forum for women leaders.  Discounted "early bird" registration fees are now available until January 21st, 2011.  (For more information on the 2011 Global Summit of Women, log on to www.globewomen.org)


III.    LEGACIES OF WOMEN FORUM PARIS

Three leading French Bsinesswomen were showcased on December 15th at Advancia Negocia, a business school linked with the Paris Chamber of Commerce, in a “Legacies of Women Forum”.  A project of the Global Summit of Women, this forum taps the experience and expertise of women who have achieved in the world of entrepreneurship and corporate leadership to provide students and other audiences with advice and insights drawn from the panelists.

Sandra LeGrand left an 11-year career to launch CANAL CE, a company that provides business and entertainment services for companies and business organizations.  The start-up has grown to have 5,000 member companies, 120 employees and 50 million Euros in annual turnover.  Lately, she has received much attention for a book she wrote chronicling how she managed to develop a new company while raising her family – “Un peu, beaucoup, et passionnement.”  Another entrepreneur joined Ms. LeGrand at Legacies – Martine Abbou, who developed a highly successful trade magazine, Le Journal de l’Automobile, and has now shifted to forming www.wimadame.com, which provides online resources to women.  Joining Ms. Abbou and Ms. LeGrand was Michele Menant, the head of strategy and business development for La Poste, where she was instrumental in launching a retail bank.  An investment banker, she had prior executive roles at Calyon, Merrill Lynch and BNP Paribas.

When asked what they did to deal with business crises, Ms. LeGrand pointed out the need to exude energy and optimism to clients, funders and employees.  Ms. Abbou countered with the need to be flexible and adaptable to changes in the marketplace especially given technologies that have altered access to clients.  Above all, Ms. Menant cited the courage to shift direction when necessary.  All three reiterated to believe in one’s self as a basic necessity for success.  When asked what challenges lay ahead, Ms. Abbou had an interesting response – Europe, which she described as an aging economy, needs creation of new businesses for it to be revived through entrepreneurship.

The next Legacies of Women Forum will be hosted by the Instituto de Empresas or IE, as it is better known, in Madrid on February 11th. Prior Legacies Forums have been held in Austria, Mexico, Japan, South Africa, Germany, China and Atlanta, Georgia in the U.S.  (To see which female executives participated in past Legacies, log on www.globewomen.com)

IV.     GLOBAL DIVERSITY: CROSS-INDUSTRY MENTORING 

 Many companies have recently adopted cross-industry mentoring for high potential corporate employees. Internal mentoring has really taken off in recent years providing huge benefits to high achievers among corporate employees and senior management. However, companies have also realized that external mentoring can help to broaden the mentees’ knowledge and experience and can ignite innovation.  It also extends their networks beyond those within their company.

Three presenters from Spain will provide a case study of how this concept was successfully implemented in three companies – Oracle, Coca Cola and American Express – as part of the 2011 Colloquium on Global Diversity:  Creating a Level Playing Field For Women, which will be hosted by the World Bank in Washington, D.C. on March 3-4th.  This annual roundtable brings senior diversity and human resource executives to hear of different initiatives that address workplace equity for women globally.  For more information, contact summit@globewomen.com.