Katty Kay and Claire Shipman argued in their book Womenonomics that “There's a sound business reason why Norway now mandates that corporate boards be 40 percent female. And why Hermes, the only French company to outperform expectations during the recession, also has, you guessed it, a management structure dominated by women.”
“Iceland's spectacular meltdown was caused by a banking and business culture that was reckless and overwhelmingly male,” explained Ruth Sunderland, business editor of The Observer. She wrote about the forty-something generation of women now running the country. “They are committed to reinvent business and society by injecting values of openness, fairness and social responsibility.” A lesson many U. S. companies could learn from.
According to Kay and Shipman, “New research says a healthy dose of estrogen may be the key not only to our fiscal recovery, but also to economic strength worldwide.”
“Women-owned businesses are a driving force in the national economy, generating $2 trillion in sales and employing 13 million people,” said Linda Denny, WBENC (Women Business Enterprise National Council) President and CEO. “10.1 million companies in the U.S. are women-owned firms.”
“Nevertheless, we believe that as this recession abates, women not only will represent one of the largest market opportunities in our lifetimes, but also will be an important force in spurring a recovery and generating new prosperity,” said Michael Silverstein and Kate Sayre.²
Read Part 1: The United States: What Companies Have Done Wrong and How They Can Fix Them
Look for Part 3: Empowering Women for Economic Growth
