Global Summit of Women 2003
 Marrakech, Morocco

CORPORATE BEST PRACTICES: CREATING A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR WOMEN
Sung Joo Kim, President, Sung-Joo International, Inc.
 

My company, Sung-Joo International Ltd., was established in 1991 with the core business being fashion distribution including operations involving world famous brands and retailers such as Gucci, Sonia Rykiel, Yves Saint Laurent, MCM and Marks & Spencer.

Because South Korea is such a heavily Confucian influenced society with discrimination against women still a prevalent characteristic, there were many challenges to becoming one of the best known retailers in Korea and its female CEO.  In encountering the challenges, I realized that the value lay not in simply overcoming the challenges but turning the tables and creating winning situations that would bring about permanent change and better opportunities for women in South Korea. 

Characteristics perceived to be weaknesses in women are now becoming strengths.  Particularly in a manufacturing based industrial society like South Korea, women’s susceptibility to emotional sensitivity in relationships and when facing tough challenges have been noted as key weaknesses.  However, these venerable quantities of women are apparently giving women our competitive edge in the knowledge based and driven economy of the twenty-first century.  The reason is very clear—the internet based service sector, which is the most rapidly growing and changing of industries and having a profound impact on societies, is requiring a completely different labor force. The internet based service sector typically consists of e-commerce activities, ranging from on-line shopping malls to all types of IT related and data based management services.  These businesses do not require big manufacturing facilities or factories, nor heavy muscled laborers nor complicated commercial activities.  The new labor force must have the keen ability and sensitivity to discern and anticipate the needs of consumers with ever increasing knowledge and demands.  Consequently, the new labor force must have high levels of IQ (intelligence quotient) combined with EQ (emotional quotient).  Women, with our intuition, sensitivity, emotional quality and creativity, fit the bill perfectly. 

Notwithstanding the multitude of challenges imposed by the traditional way of doing business in a male-dominated environment, namely the old boys’ school network, commercial deals during heavy drinking sessions or the golf course, and resorting to established and accepted methods of corruption, the path that I forged for my company was to a build a business responsive to the only important counterpart—the customer.  Early and innovative adaptation of a customer sensitive computer infrastructure incorporating a quick response system and an accurate buying system, and providing better welfare and training for employees were the challenges that I pursued for my company.  Instead of resorting to bribes and compromising with corrupt business practices, my company chose to invest resources for better customer services, IT infrastructure installation and training and welfare for my employees.  The endeavors I undertook to develop my business ultimately translated into benefits beyond the parameters of my company.  My company’s achievements set new standards of excellence and business practices to be emulated by other South Korean businesses, particularly in the retail and manufacturing sectors.  They also helped bolster confidence in Korean working women and build their expectations and hopes beyond limited aspirations. 

For me, corporate social responsibilities are not simply a matter of giving way money to others, but require business leaders like myself to undertake endeavors that have transforming impact on women beyond the parameters of my company alone.  Undertaking such an endeavor is the best investment for the future of our companies.  Why?  The reason is that the major economic power of the twenty-first century will be women, not men.  We control more than 80% of the world’s total consumer market.  Any corporation wanting to retain a leading edge will inevitably have to recognize clearly what women want.

What do women really want?  Given our historic tendencies for caring and nurturing our families, women typically put the community first before any self-interests.  Therefore, we are more likely to appreciate and give our loyalty to corporations devoting a substantial part of their resources and earnings to benefit communities, and women and their children.  Corporations would be wise to appreciate this. 

“Gaining Trust and Loyalty” will be the most valuable asset to pursue for purposes of business marketing practices.  While “trust and loyalty” will prove to be the most difficult goals to attain, they will nevertheless prove to be the most potent branding power to put a business’ services and goods ahead of any other competitors.

Thank you for your kind attention and may God bless all of you.

Mary Jo Jacobi
Vice President of External Affairs, Shell International

Introduction

Excellencies, Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to be here representing the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, and delighted that we were able to sponsor the first-ever Ministerial event as part of the Global Summit of Women.

Royal Dutch Shell is the 7^th largest company in the World.  Shell has a commitment to diversity and inclusion in the broadest sense.  This is a key element of our commitment to contribute to sustainable development, and it is a written standard to which ALL parts of our Group must subscribe

It also represents an element of our Statement of General Business Principles, integral to Respect for People. 

Diversity is a business issue

It is a problem that diversity sometimes is seen as a peripheral issue to the running of the business.  Real change only comes when diversity and inclusiveness are integrated into the heart of the business and recognised as a factor essential to business success.

Shell is committed to increasing the number of women in senior positions, not because it is a ‘women’s issue’ but because it is a business issue – one which affects the bottom line.  We cannot ignore half the world’s population, half of most countries’ work forces, and many of our 25 million retails customers each day.

Lack of diversity makes businesses less effective, less competitive and ultimately less successful than they could be. 

Importance of diversity in attracting staff

The Royal Dutch/Shell Group works in 145 countries employing some 120,000 people. For our businesses to succeed, we need to ensure that all of the talent within our Group are fully utilised – that the whole range of perspectives, personalities and people are applied to the running of our global business.  Diversity for us, you see, is not a gender issue, but recognises all the differences among our workforce.  We also have a goal of improving the international representation among our staff around the world, as well as ensuring that our Country Chairs are local nationals.

We’re seeing signs of success already:  for example, more Malaysians work for Shell outside their home country than there are expats working for Shell in Malaysia. 

Importance of diversity in improving service to customers

A diverse workforce can help ensure that we connect with our customers and strengthen our ties to them.   If we look like our customers and think like them, it helps us to understand them and to anticipate their changing needs and demands – and stay ahead of our competition in this respect. 

Diversity improves stakeholder perception

The same dynamic applies to our stakeholders.  We are more likely to be trusted if we employ people across the range of different communities in which we work, people who are sensitive to local ways.  This will make us more able to understand those communities.

It is particularly important for an energy company to be seen to be challenging the stereotype of being dominated by white males with engineering degrees. 

What Shell has done to put diversity at the heart of the business

Shell has established a formal Diversity and Inclusiveness Standard that applies across the Group.  It sets out six expectations which each Business with the Group must deliver:  Shell companies should:

-         Establish a systemic approach to managing diversity

-         Actively support the attraction and retention of diverse talent

-         Promote a workplace free from harassment and discrimination

-         Establish annual diversity plans and measure performance against them

-         Include diversity performance in performance appraisal

-         Provide ways for employees to report behaviour contrary to the standard 

Our business teams are measured against the standard every year, and that can affect their pay.

Shell is setting diversity targets similarly to how we set our financial or our ground-breaking Health, Safety and Environment targets.  This sends a clear message that Diversity and Inclusiveness is not a ‘soft issue’ or an add-on extra, but one that is as integral to our business as financial performance.

The targets provide a clear driver for change throughout our organisation, and our success or failure is reported in the Shell Report each year.

As I mentioned earlier, we’re enjoying some success – the number of women in senior jobs in Shell has doubled since 1997, and more than 10% of our most Senior Executive Group – the top 75 people in Shell - is women.

Diversity is clearly and domonstrably on the agenda at the highest level in the business, with a real focus on bringing about cultural change.  It’s not enough just to have women within the workforce; we must make them feel part of the broad tapestry of Shell – make them feel valued and included as vital to our success. 

Our policies and processes are strongly reinforced by a growing number of role models in the Group:

-     Judy Boynton – Finance Director joins the Committee of Managing Directors tomorrow – the first female Executive Director on Shell’s Board and a first among the oil supermajors.

-     Lynn Elsenhanns, our Country Chair and Head of Oil Products in the US, one of our biggest businesses = 30% of all of Shell

-     Linda Cook, having run the Gas and Power business, now running Shell’s Canadian operations, another first. Linda has her own Board of Directors and S.E. listing

-    Karen de Segundo, Head of Shell Renewables business, based in the Netherlands

-     And I am the first female professional communicator to serve as Chief Reputation Officer.

We aim for successful senior women in Shell to become the norm not the exception, with ambitious goals - to have at least 20% of our managers be women.

Country Chairs, our leaders in each of the 145 countries where we operate, are the public face of Shell; some 78% of them are local to the country that they chair. 

Conclusion

Shell’s keys to good practice are to

-         Integrate the issue into the business

-         Set out formal expectations

-         Measure the performance

-         Embed cultural change

-         Celebrate women’s success 

Women are playing an increasing role in business – that will grow as more businesses realise they can’t succeed without us

And, of course, I must close with a word about the importance of networking.  Let me tell you a story.

Over the last two days, I’ve become reacquainted with several women, Irene Natividad, Ambassador Margaret Tutwiler, Assistant Secretary of State Pat Harrison, with whom I hadn’t spoken to in 10 or more years, and it was like I had rediscovered my family and like we had only spoken a few weeks ago rather than years ago.

That’s the nature and power of women’s friendships – they are never lost!

Thank you again for having Shell participate, and enjoy the rest of the Summit.

Amina Benkhadra
Director-General ONAREP-BRPM

Ø   Une faible participation dans la vie

 Ø  Une plus grande précarité 

§    Taux de chômage des femmes :  24,7 % (18 % pour les hommes).

 I  –  Etat  des  lieux

Ø    Inégalité  dans  l’entreprenariat

§    Femmes entrepreneurs

                       =   0,5 % de la population active

                            occupée .

 §    En France    =  27 % des chefs d’entreprise sont des femmes

I  –  Etat  des  lieux

Ø    Soubassements légaux et réglementaires 

•      Le principe d’égalité constitue la pierre angulaire du droit;

•      Selon l’article 12 de la constitution de 1996, «  tous les citoyens peuvent accéder, dans les mêmes conditions, aux fonctions et aux emplois publics  ».   

I  –  Etat  des  lieux

Ø    Soubassements légaux et réglementaires 

•      L’article 1 du statut général de la fonction publique, promulgué par dahir du 24 Février 1958 dispose que

–   "Tout marocain a droit d’accéder dans des conditions d’égalité aux emplois publics ..."

•      Et plus loin, que

–   “Aucune distinction n’est faite entre les deux sexes pour   l’application du présent statut".

I  –  Etat  des  lieux

Ø     Soubassements légaux et réglementaires 

•      Le respect de ces dispositions est assuré par la justice administrative qui exerce effectivement son rôle.

•      L’égalité des droits est inscrite dans les textes depuis près d’un demi siècle.

•      Dans le détail des règlements, on constate que des inégalités entre agents de sexe masculin et féminin sont inscrites, face à des situations spécifiques.

I  –  Etat  des  lieux

Ø    Soubassements légaux et réglementaires 

•      Au Bureau de Recherches et de Participations minières j’ai dû, après ma prise de fonction, modifier certaines dispositions internes pour mettre à égalité les agents masculins et féminins, chefs de famille.

•      La femme se voit légalement accorder certaines facilités, qui existent dans la plupart des législations

I  –  Etat  des  lieux

Ø    Soubassements légaux et réglementaires 

•      Le droit au recrutement est égalitaire selon le  statut général de la fonction publique.

•      Le recrutement se fait sur la base des diplômes, avec organisation de concours ou d’examens de capacité (article 22) qui garantissent l’égalité totale entre les deux sexes.

I  –  Etat  des  lieux

Ø    Soubassements légaux et réglementaires 

•      En conclusion:

•      des niches d’inégalité réglementaire existent;

•      Notre mise à niveau est possible.  

II –  Place  de  la  femme  dans  la  fonction
       publique au  Maroc

Ø  Faible participation :

§    Femmes = 31, 5 % de l’effectif en 2002 ( 1,5 % en 1956).

Ø  Jeunesse des femmes fonctionnaires :

§    51% âgées de moins de 40 ans (44,5 % chez les hommes).

Ø  Recrutement massif des femmes à la fin des années 70 :

§    35% de l’effectif des femmes ont moins de 10 ans.

§    42% ont plus de 20 ans.

II –  Place  de  la  femme  dans  la  fonction publique au  Maroc 

II –  Place  de  la  femme  dans  la  fonction publique au  Maroc

III – Les entraves

Ø   Entraves  psychologiques,  sociales,     culturelles. 

Ø   Rigidité, autoritarisme  des  structures  de      l’administration. 

Ø    Mentalités.

IV -   Réformes / Actions

•       Il faut avoir pleinement conscience qu’une dynamique a été impulsée grâce aux Volontés Royales.

•       Celle de feu, Sa Majesté Hassan II, que Dieu garde Son âme, qui, pour la première fois dans notre histoire contemporaine, a nommé plusieurs femmes dans des postes de Directeur d’administration centrale, puis, dès 1994, à confié 4 postes ministériels à des femmes, donnant ainsi, à l’ensemble des citoyens et notamment aux partis politiques et au monde de l’entreprise un signal très fort quant à l’importance de celles ci dans le développement. 

IV -   Réformes / Actions

•       Poursuivant selon la même orientation, Sa Majesté le Roi Mohammed VI, que Dieu Le glorifie, a nommé plusieurs femmes dans des postes relevant des plus hautes instances de l’Etat et dans des fonctions de Direction Générale d’importants établissements publics;

•       Il a également, et pour une large part, contribué à l’arrivée de 35 femmes dans notre parlement, ce qui constitue une avancée notoire pour celles-ci. 

IV  -  Réformes / Actions

Ø  Réformes générales  :  Des progrès : 

§      Plan national d’intégration de la femme (vers une réforme de la Moudawana);

§      Accroissement du nombre de femmes haut

     responsables : 

o   35   femmes députés  (chambre  des  députés);

o     2   femmes conseillers (chambre  des  conseillers);

o     2   ambassadrices;

o     1  conseillère  auprès  de  SA  MAJESTE  LE  ROI.

IV  -  Réformes / Actions

Ø  Réformes du secteur public ( Une meilleure gouvernance ) : 

§      Marches publics (une plus grande transparence);

§      Démonopolisation  des  secteurs  publics;

§      Séparation  entre  fonctions  commerciales  et fonctions  régaliennes;

§      Contractualisation (multiplication des contrats – programmes);

§      Audit des comptes des établissements publics.

IV  -  Réformes / Actions

Ø  Réformes du secteur public 

§    Cours  régionales  des  comptes;

§    Renforcement du rôle des Inspections Générales des Ministères;

§    Projet de  réexamen du système de rémunération de  la  fonction  publique.

V – Actions à entreprendre

Ø  Réforme   du   code  de  statut  personnel;

Ø  Révision  des  procédures  de  promotion;

Ø  Plus d’action de formation en  faveur  des femmes;

Ø  Encourager le mouvement associatif et le partenariat;

Ø  Meilleure   gouvernance   au   sein   de l’administration.

CONCLUSION

•      Nous sommes loin, dans le secteur public marocain, d’avoir atteint une situation satisfaisante au regard des normes  aujourd’hui reconnues, en ce qui concerne la place des femmes.

•      Néanmoins, une dynamique de développement et d’émergence  est en marche.

•      Des femmes occupent aujourd’hui des postes de la plus haute importance dans l’appareil politique, dans l’administration, dans la recherche.

•      Vers un élargissement  de la participation et de la responsabilisation des femmes dans la sphère publique.

CONCLUSION

•      Pour atteindre l’égalité des chances dans le secteur public, un long chemin reste à parcourir, mais les voies sont ouvertes.

•      Imposer une totale égalité de présence et de représentation des femmes et des hommes qui servent l’Etat.

CONCLUSION

•       Je témoigne de ce que, sous le très haut exemple de SA  MAJESTE LE ROI, que DIEU LE GLORIFIE, et sous son impulsion, la situation et la position des femmes dans le secteur public marocain s’améliore depuis quelques années de manière significative, sans retour en arrière possible.

•       L’égalisation des chances du féminin et du masculin:

–    Un facteur clé de  l’assainissement  de la gestion des affaires publiques.

–    L’une des conditions de notre développement durable.

CONCLUSION

•      A  toutes et à tous, je propose d’adopter, à l’égard de l’évolution  de la situation des femmes dans le secteur public marocain, une attitude  d’optimisme mesuré et résolument actif.

•      A vous toutes et à vous tous, j’adresse de sincères remerciements pour la qualité de l’attention qui ma été accordée.