The value add of gender diversity in the financial services industry has been overlooked. From providing capital for businesses to financing mortgages, it goes without question that financial institutions play a most critical role in the function of the economy. Our study poses a potential solution for managing the immense responsibility of these entities. The financial crisis of 2008 awakened the public to the high levels of risk that banks endure in the practice of their business. Banks often rely on a liquidity cushion in order to mitigate the risk of financial distress. Liquidity consists of the cash and other liquid assets that banks retain for times of unexpected demands for cash. Financial institutions often vary in their levels of liquidity due to different risk tolerances and appetites for return. This thesis contributes to existing literature by looking into the role that gender diverse boards play in managing liquidity risk and its transparent effect on bank performance. Through an analysis of seventy-four global, regional, small, mid and large cap commercial banks, we concluded that increased gender diversity results in increased liquidity and decreased risk to bank assets. In the process, we also test the effect of increased liquidity on bank performance, as it would likely be a concern for shareholders

Purpose: The study aims to investigate whether female representation on corporate boards impacts company financial and non-financial performance. Existing studies show conflicting results regarding the impact that female representation on the boards of directors may have on financial and non-financial performance, namely social and environmental performance. Studies suggest that critical mass may influence the impact that a woman on the board may have on company performance. Existing studies have observed behavioural changes in female directors when there are three or more women on the board compared to when there are less than three women on the board. The study will explore the effects of critical mass on the impact of board female representation on firm performance. Furthermore, studies posit that singlecountry studies contribute to conflicting results due to the influence of country-level factors. Country-level factors (including cultural norms, gender parity in terms of educational attainment, economic employment and opportunity) may influence the level of impact that female representation on the boards of directors have on company performance. Thus, this study explores whether country-level factors influence the impact of board female representation on company performance. Design: Using a linear mixed regression, an analysis of female representation (as measured by the percentage of women on the board and critical mass) of the top 100 listed companies from Australia, Japan and South Africa between financial and nonfinancial performance during 2016 to 2018 is performed. Both accounting and market measures are used to determine a holistic measure of financial performance. Nonfinancial performance is measured using a social and environmental performance score. To determine the influence of country level factors, interaction terms are used to compare the level of impact that female representation on the boards of directors have on company performance between Australia, Japan and South Africa. In addition, an analysis of the mean female representation by country is conducted to understand the existing level of female representation per country. Findings: The descriptive statistics show that female representation was highest in Australia with an average of 29% over the three-year period; South Africa was at 22% and Japan at only 7%, demonstrating that each country in the study has varying levels of female representation on the boards of directors. The regression results show that female representation on boards of directors, as measured by the percentage of women on the board, is shown to have a positive and significant relationship with accounting performance, market performance and social performance. Critical mass of female representation on corporate boards is shown to positively and significantly influence financial performance but has little impact on non-financial performance. Conversely, country-level factors do not significantly influence the level of impact of female representation on performance measures. However, the descriptive statistics suggest that country-level factors are shown to influence the number of women on the boards of directors. Originality and Value: This study is relevant to shareholders and stakeholders when considering board composition and the value of gender diversity on corporate boards for both financial and non-financial performance. In addition, this study aids the understanding of the current status of female representation on boards of directors. The study adds to the existing body of research by exploring the influence of critical mass and country-level factors on the impact of board gender diversity on company performance. Lastly, the study is relevant to regulators and policy-makers as it highlights factors which contribute to increased female representation on corporate boards.

This article investigates the complex interrelation between ethnic and gender diversity, process and performance among groups of business students. The article is based on an empirical survey of business students working on a complex assignment in groups of two to five in a small Swedish university. The results indicate that gender diversity leads to positive group outcomes, while ethnic diversity appears to create negative group outcomes. Intervening process variables, such as group communication, conflict and effectiveness in problem solving, were not found to be influenced by diversity, or to influence group outcomes. While the non-influence of intervening variables can probably be explained by methodological difficulties, the negative outcome for ethnic diversity indicates a need to help students better manage ethnic diversity in order to reap its benefits.

In 2011, advisors to the British government recommended against introducing a quota for women to corporate boards in the UK. The advisors instead set an aim for the UK’s 100 largest companies. They recommended company leaders take action to increase female representation on boards from just over 12 per cent in 2011, to a minimum of 25 per cent by 2015. The threat of government intervention remains. The EU Council is currently discussing the European Commission’s proposal for a minimum of 40 per cent of each sex amongst non-executive directors by 2020 across all EU member states. Using material from ten weeks of fieldwork in the City of London, I examine how a loose network of business leaders, lobbyists, journalists and researchers are shaping ideas about gender and business. This network intends to show that a quota is not needed to increase the numbers of women in business leadership. I relate my discussion to ideas of markets and marketing, and to ideas of gender differences and gender equality. I first analyse the ideas set out in the business case for gender diversity and in the term gender balance. I then explore how London’s business leaders enhance personal, employer and corporate brands by publicly demonstrating their commitment to gender balance. Through this commitment, leaders also prove themselves members of the collaboration that unites against a quota. I focus particularly on how senior businesswomen are expected to be role models for other women. I show how role models urge other women to ensure they remain recognisably feminine.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between female representation on boards of British FTSE 100 companies and their corporate performance. The theoretical section sets the foundation for the initial hypotheses that there is a positive relationship between the percentage of women on corporate boards and a firm's profitability, measured as ROE and ROIC. The methodological part establishes an analytical framework to test these hypotheses utilizing the so-called 'quartile approach'. The FTSE 100 companies are categorized into quartiles in accordance with their respective percentage of female directors and subsequently, the average values of ROE and ROIC are calculated for each quartile and compared between each other. The research in the practical part of the thesis shows that profitability varies significantly when comparing the least and most gender diverse FTSE 100 boards. The aim of the thesis was reached by proving the positive correlation between the percentage of female board members and profitability, validated by sensitivity and statistical analyses.

There is much debate amongst academics regarding the contribution of women on corporate boards, particularly, the effect on financial performance. There has been a stride post democracy to ensure equality in South Africa. Although there has been progress, the percentage of women on corporate boards is still microscopic. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of board gender diversity on financial performance of publicly listed companies. Similar studies have been conducted in other countries with equivocal results implying that results are country-specific. Quantitative research methodology was employed, where financial ratios ROE, ROA and Tobin's Q, of companies with gender diverse boards were compared to those of companies whose boards are not considered gender diverse. Gender diverse boards are defined in this study as boards with 25 percent or more female representation on boards. Differences in financial performance of companies with gender diverse boards across industries were also examined. ROE and ROA mean scores were higher for the gender diverse group, whereas, mean scores of the market-based ratio Tobin‟s Q were higher in the group whose boards were not gender diverse. Market-based results are subjective and influenced by investors and analysts perceptions. Tobin‟s Q was higher in industries with lower percentages of women on boards; however, these results were not statistically significant. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The present thesis examines the relationship between innovation and gender diversity in the workforce, through the lens of new firms in the Stockholm Tech start-up ecosystem. Taking a point of departure in a knowledge-based understanding of innovation and firm dynamics, the study explores the relationship between gender and innovation at the firm level. First, the theoretical framework is built on relevant literature and empirical research in a multidisciplinary fashion. Then, a qualitative inquiry is designed with the aim of contributing to the growing research corpus in the intersection of gender diversity and firm capacity to innovate. Employing a qualitative interviewing method, data was collected among founders and founding team members of entry-level tech start-ups in Stockholm. The objective was to document how founders and entrepreneurs, in general, approach gender diversity when building their start-up teams. The analysis reveals that gender diversity, albeit acknowledged as an input to innovative performance, is not prioritized over other human capital aspects, such as talent. This is in line with the bulk of literature that studies the diversity in knowledge base and firm performance, hence highlighting the cognitive aspects of innovation process. The thesis findings are of considerable benefit both for broadening the extant approach to innovation process and for understanding gender diversity dynamics in the workforce.

In recent years, the definition of cybersecurity professional has been diluted to include more individuals, particularly women, to be included. Depending on the definition used, women currently comprise between 11% and 25% of the cybersecurity workforce. While multiple studies have indicated the benefits to diverse teams, research in the cybersecurity area is lacking.This research proposes a framework that uses a modified escape-the-room gamified scenario to measure the effectiveness of cybersecurity teams in technical problem-solving. The framework presents two routes, incident response and penetration testing, the participants can choose. In a preliminary study, this framework is used to show the combination of gender diversity and prior cybersecurity experience and/or cybersecurity knowledge, particularly in women, are found to be significant in reducing the time taken to solve cybersecurity tasks in the incident response, and penetration testing domains.In conclusion, opportunities for extending this research into a large-scale study are discussed, along with other applications of cybersecurity escape-rooms.

No / FP7

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2016-07-15T17:00:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Karina da Silveira Gaspar_.pdf: 1397809 bytes, checksum: e951133892fb230dbb6fb83f83f03c2d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-15T17:00:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Karina da Silveira Gaspar_.pdf: 1397809 bytes, checksum: e951133892fb230dbb6fb83f83f03c2d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-31 / Nenhuma / Este trabalho tem como principal objetivo analisar as condições que viabilizam às mulheres, que compõem a instituição financeira estudada, ocuparem cargos de alta liderança. A investigação foi realizada por meio de pesquisa qualitativa exploratória, através de 21 entrevistas feitas com homens e mulheres em cargos de liderança executiva e intermediária de um sistema de crédito cooperativo brasileiro, composto por 109 empresas. Após feitas as entrevistas, as mesmas foram analisadas com o uso do software NVivo11, além disso, foram feitas reuniões com a profissional responsável pelo tema diversidade na organização, bem como a análise documental, através de averiguação de relatórios. Os resultados da investigação demonstraram que atributos como credibilidade, empoderamento, gestão de pessoas, iniciativa e proatividade, performance, relacionamento e tomada de decisão, são indispensáveis às mulheres que desejam chegar a cargos de alta liderança, mas que essas ainda precisam vencer muitas barreiras impostas tanto na sociedade, como também na organização estudada, pois ainda encontramos situações de preconceito contra a mulher, além do um ambiente estrutura de trabalho não favorecerem a atração e permanência das mulheres em altos cargos de gestão. Os resultados também demonstraram que, devido a ser uma organização cooperativa, sua cultura favorece a inclusão das mulheres, já que traz em sua essência a questão da igualdade, mas alerta que o poder muito disseminado, também característico desse tipo de instituição, pode muitas vezes distorcer a base da cultura organizacional, através da aplicação de viés pessoal do líder. Observou-se que são praticadas ações de desenvolvimento pela organização e que essas são oferecidas de forma igualitária entre homens e mulheres, contudo, devido à necessidade de integração do gênero feminino aos postos de alta liderança, faz-se necessário a criação de medidas mais direcionadas, o que se acredita que o presente trabalho irá colaborar. Por fim, concluiu-se que as perspectivas de futuro para as mulheres que anseiam ocuparem cargos de liderança executiva são muito positivas, já que a organização demonstra o claro desejo de incluir as mulheres nos cargos estratégicos, contudo, é necessário que as mulheres tenham mais atitude, autoconfiança, perseverança e adequada qualificação profissional. / This research has the main objective analyze the conditions that enable women, who make up the studied financial institution, to achieve the top leadership positions. The research was conducted by an exploratory qualitative research through interviews with 21 men and women in executive and middle leadership positions of a Brazilian credit union system, composed of 109 companies. After making the interviews, these are analyzed with the use of NVivo11 software, in addition, meetings were held with the professional responsible for the theme of diversity in the organization, and document analysis through reports of investigation were made. Research results have shown that attributes such as reliability, empowerment, people management, initiative and proactivity, performance, relationships, decision-making, are essential to women who want to get to high leadership positions, but they still need to overcome many barriers imposed both in society and also in the studied organization, because we still find situations of prejudice against women, in addition to a working structure environment does not favor the attraction and retention of women in senior management positions. The results also showed that due to a cooperative organization, its culture promotes the inclusion of women, since it brings in its essence the question of equality, but warns that the very scattered power also characteristic of this type of institution, which can often sometimes distort the basis of organizational culture, through the application of personal leader bias. It was observed that are development actions undertaken by the organization, but that these are offered equitably between men and women, however, due to the need to integrate female to top leadership positions, it is necessary to create actions more directed, which it is believed that this work will contribute. Finally, it was concluded that the future prospects for women who crave occupy executive leadership positions are very positive, as the organization demonstrates a clear desire to include women in strategic positions, however, it is necessary that women have more attitude, confidence, perseverance and appropriate professional qualifications.