The purpose of this research is to investigate why there are so few women on South African company boards. Since the first democratic elections in South Africa, diversity has been in the focal point to correct the discrimination and inequalities of the past; however the gender diversity has not been very successful on company boards. Exploratory or qualitative research methodology was employed based on semistructured interviews with a non-probability sample of 13 respondents. All respondents were women who served on company board as directors. They were from various sectors of the economy and served in various capacities on the boards. This study found that the market and the shareholder profiles have diversified considerably, however the company boards have not changed significantly. The gender gap maybe narrowing on company boards however the levels of discrimination and inequalities are still very high. Gender stereotypes continue to inform many decisions in business, including those of board appointments. The study also found that for transformation to occur successfully, leadership had to play a major role. Government has implemented sound regulatory systems that encourage diversity and it is now up to the leadership in companies to take the responsibility and give women opportunities to participate in business through boards. Government, through policies and regulations, continue to play a crucial role in facilitating transformation however the pace of change remains sluggish. Leadership has a critical role to play because the purpose of the policies and regulations is not only to get companies to achieve compliance, but to create equal opportunities for all South Africans. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

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In the autumn of 2022, the EU decided to introduce a quota for female board members in listed companies. This study examines how the age and gender of board members and chairpersons in the board of directors affect the future financial performance of companies. The investigation is carried out on listed companies on Nasdaq OMX-Stockholm during the period from December 31, 2017, to December 31, 2019. Drawing on previous research and the theories of Agency Theory and Social Identity Theory, the study aims to answer what impact does diversity within the board have on the company’s financial performance respect to gender and age. The method used in this study is multiple linear regression analysis. Through this method, the study can provide answers to which variables affect the financial performance and to what extent they do so. In addition to multiple linear regression, the collinearity of the variables will also be tested to reduce the risk of multicollinearity.   The results show a board with a female chairperson have a positive impact on financial performance. The result also shows that the average age of board members has a positive impact on financial performance. This study can be an important part of the foundation that policymakers use to make decisions about quotas in listed companies. / Under hösten 2022 beslutade EU att införa en kvot för kvinnliga styrelseledamöter i börsnoterade bolag. Denna studie undersöker hur ålder och kön hos styrelseledamöter och ordförande i bolagsstyrelsen påverkar företagens framtida finansiella prestation. Undersökningen utförs på företag på noterade på Nasdaq OMX-Stockholm under tidsperioden 31 december 2017 till 31 december 2019. Med hjälp av tidigare forskning och teorierna Agentteorin och Sociala identitetsteorin syftar studien till att besvara vilken inverkan som mångfalden inom styrelsen har på företagets finansiella prestation med hänsyn till kön och ålder. Metoden som används i denna studie är multipel linjär regressionsanalys. Genom denna metod kan studien ge svar på vilka variabler som påverkar finansiella prestation och i vilken grad de påverkar. Utöver multipel linjär regression kommer även variablernas kollinearitet att testas för att minska risken för multikollinearitet. Resultatet visar att en styrelse med en kvinnlig ordförande kommer påverka finansiella prestationen positivt.    Resultatet visar även att medelåldern bland styrelseledamöterna har en positiv påverkan på finansiella prestation. Denna studie kan vara en viktig del av det underlag som politiker använder för att ta beslut om kvoteringar i börsnoterade bolag.

Syfte: För tio år sedan lade EU-kommissionen fram ett förslag om direktiv gällande jämställdhet i börsnoterade företags bolagsstyrelser. 2020 återuppväcktes frågan och är idag högst aktuell. Följer man aktuell utveckling förväntas Sverige inte ha helt jämställda styrelser förens 2033, åtta år efter EU-kommissionens mål som är 2025. Jämställdhet förväntas påverka många delar av en organisation. Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka om könsfördelningen i styrelsens sammansättning påverkar företagets lönsamhet.   Metod: I studien används en kvantitativ metod där studieobjektet är 65 bolag noterade på Small- och Mid Cap listan på Stockholmsbörsen. Data har samlats in med hjälp av Retriever Business och företagens årsredovisningar. En multipel regressionsanalys har genomförts för att besvara de framställda hypoteserna där RE och Tobin’s Q har använts som mått på lönsamhet.   Resultat & slutsats: Resultatet av den multipla regressionsanalysen tyder på att det inte finns något samband mellan jämställdhet i styrelsen och företagets lönsamhet. Detta gäller för bolag noterade på Small- och Mid Cap listan på Stockholmsbörsen. Resultatet indikerar att det inte spelar någon roll sett till lönsamhet hur könsfördelningen ser ut i styrelsens sammansättning.   Teoretiskt- och praktiskt bidrag: Vårt bidrag till forskningen är ett försök att täppa till den kunskapslucka som finns kring sambandet mellan företagets lönsamhet och jämställdhet i styrelsen utifrån ett svenskt perspektiv. Vårt bidrag till näringslivet är att lönsamhet inte bör vara en faktor som påverkar beslut om jämställdhet i styrelsens uppsättning.   Förslag på framtida forskning: Studien är begränsad till företag listade på Small- och Mid Cap på Stockholmsbörsen under en 5-årsperiod. Dessutom innefattar studien endast ett antal kontrollvariabler. Framtida forskning bör undersöka ett större urval under en längre tidsperiod. Dessutom kan fler kontrollvariabler tas med för att minska risken för felaktiga slutsatser kring ett samband. / Purpose: Ten years ago, the European Commission presented a proposal for a directive on gender equality in the company boards of listed companies. In 2020, the issue was revived and is today highly topical. If companies follow current developments, Sweden is not expected to have fully equal boards until 2033, eight years after the European Commission's target of 2025. Gender equality is expected to affect many parts of a firm. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the gender distribution in the composition of the board affects the company's financial performance.   Method: The study uses a quantitative method where the study object is 65 companies listed on the Small- and Mid Cap list on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Data has been collected using Retriever Business and companies’ annual reports. A multiple regression analysis has been performed to answer the hypotheses presented where ROE and Tobin's Q have been used as a measure of profitability.   Result & conclusions: The results of the multiple regression analysis indicate that there is no association between gender equality on the board and financial performance measured in profitability. This applies to companies listed on the Small- and Mid Cap list on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The result indicates that it does not matter in terms of profitability what the gender distribution looks like in the composition of the board. Contribution: Our contribution to the research is an attempt to close the knowledge gap that exists around the connection between financial performance and gender equality in the board from a Swedish perspective. Our contribution to the business community is that profitability should not be a factor that influences decisions on gender equality in the board of directors.   Suggestions for future research: The study is limited to small- and medium sized companies on the Stockholm Stock Exchange for a 5-year period. In addition, the study includes only a few numbers of control variables. Future research should examine a larger sample over a longer period. In addition, more control variables can be included to reduce the risk of erroneous conclusions about a relationship.

As gender equality policies have gained more space in recent decades, the importance of gender-balanced corporate boards has also been widely debated. Large listed companies in Sweden have seen improvement in gender diversity in their boards in recent years, but the need for continued work towards gender equality remains a fact. There are various reasons to male-dominated boards, including norms, biases, and education, among others. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the statistical relationships between eight explanatory variables, and the dependent variable of the proportion of women on corporate boards. The approach for the analysis is through a panel data study, utilizing data from ten Swedish companies from the years 2015 to 2022, with support from principles of economics. The panel data using a random effect model, showed results where five out of eight explanatory variables were statistically significant. The variables market value, revenue, salary, and industry indicators L and M demonstrated a significant influence on the proportion of women on corporate boards. On the other hand, the variables ESG score and industry indicators C and G were found to be nonsignificant and therefore not suitable for inclusion in our model. However, the significant variables had small estimators, indicating a relatively small impact on the dependent variable. This may be explained by the number of observations in our analysis, which could have been increased and with a longer time span. / I takt med att jämställdhetspolitiken har fått mer utrymme de senaste decennierna har ävenvikten av jämställda bolagsstyrelser blivit omdiskuterad. Stora börsnoterade företag i Sverigehar under de senaste åren fått en bättre statistik kring könsfördelning i styrelser, men attfortsatt arbete krävs för jämställdhet är ett faktum. Det finns en rad olika anledningar tillmansdominerade styrelser. Normer, fördomar och utbildning bland annat. Syftet med dennauppsats är att titta på statistiska samband mellan åtta förklaringsvariabler ochberoendevariabeln andel kvinnor i bolagsstyrelser. Tillvägagångssättet för analysen ärpaneldata som tas från tio stycken svenska företags data mellan åren 2015-2022, med stöd avnationalekonomisk teori. Paneldatan där random effect model använts visade på ett resultat där fem av åttaförklaringsvariabler var signifikanta. Variablerna marknadsvärde, intäkter, lön,branschindikatorerna L och M visade en betydande påverkan på andel kvinnor ibolagsstyrelser. Däremot visade sig variablerna ESG-betyg, branschindikatorna C och G varaicke-signifikanta, och därmed inte vara passade i vår modell. Dock hade de signifikantavariablerna små estimatorer, det vill säga en relativt liten påverkan på beroendevariabeln.Detta kan vara på grund av antalet observationer som gjorts, som alltså skulle kunnat vara fleroch under en längre tidsperiod.

How authors and scholars have approached leadership studies – in terms of their thinking, defining and studying – has changed remarkably over time. According to literature, this is predominantly due to greater optimism about the field and greater methodological diversity being employed to better understand complex, embedded phenomena. As a result, there has been a significant rise in the use of qualitative research approaches to the study of leadership. Numerous definitions, classifications, explanations and theories about leadership, exist in the contemporary literature. However, despite the vast array of literature, the challenge of failing leadership persists. Challenges, such as the speed of technological advancements, social, and economic change are ever-present, while the impact of COVID-19 is, as yet, uncertain. Despite these challenges, can companies compete successfully in the marketplaces they operate in while also remaining ethical and engaged with the challenges of the broader business and social environment? To answer this question, this study has undertaken qualitative research on the bouquet of trait, situational and value-based leadership theory, in order to re-assess both established and developing theories. The predominant aim is to describe, explain and analyse available literature in an attempt to ascertain academic guidance on how it might be possible to enable leaders and society to mitigate leadership challenges by proposing a conceptual framework that could support leadership theory and, in so doing, take an academic stance in providing better answers or guidance to the failures currently being experienced. Several authors have noted that leadership makes a difference with resulting impacts on many which implies that to make the world a better place, leadership has two contradictory elements; good and bad. These elements are reflected in today’s connected world where the media, either showers praise on leaders or writes articles deriding their incompetence and abuse of their roles at all levels The proposed conceptual framework of this study endeavours to enable society and leaders, practically and at an individual level, to evaluate leadership issues and link leadership frameworks to their everyday lives and, in so doing, aid in mitigating the challenges being faced. / Business Management / D.B.L.