NEWS AND INSIGHTS UPDATE:
According to The Wall Street Journal, just 15.6% of corporate board seats at Fortune 1000 companies are held by women (up 1% from the prior year). What’s most disheartening about this statistic is that research shows again and again that diversity creates stronger teams and higher outcomes. Melissa Korn of The Wall Street Journal explains:
“Even the smallest step – adding a single woman director– correlates with positive results. New research shows that firms with at least one woman director are significantly less likely to restate quarterly or annual earnings than are companies with an all-male slate of directors—40% less likely, researchers say.”
Why does the presence of just one woman lead to fewer accounting restatements? Korn spoke with study co-author Susan Parker, accounting professor and assistant dean at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, who is quick to point out that the improved results are unlikely to come from some type of general “difference” that women bring to the table. Instead, she suggests, “heterogeneous groups are less susceptible to groupthink.” As a result, she believes that diverse groups allow members to raise objections and ask tough questions.
Parker also explains that companies with diverse boards may already be predisposed to good governance and understand that diversity delivers real benefits that improve corporate governance.
Get the details: One Woman Equals Fewer Accounting Errors via blogs.wsj.com
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Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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