Women are leading the corporate way
In what may be seen as an interesting barometer for the health of an economy, the respected International Business Report (IBR) recently released figures which showed the growing and strong economies of the world had very high numbers of female chief executive officers (CEOs) compared to those which are currently struggling.
Thailand ranked especially high with IBR suggesting an amazing 49 percent of CEOs in the country are female, giving it the number one ranking in the world. In fact, only China, with 51 percent of females occupying senior management positions, but not necessarily at CEO level, is the only country with a higher overall percentage of women in these positions.
That figure compares with a global average of just 24 percent of women in senior management roles. That figure has grown quite substantially in just the last two years. In 2011 IBR estimated 20 percent of women globally held senior management occupations. That number has now expanded by a significant 20 percent.
Japan, with its long-running stagnant economy ranks very poorly, with just seven percent of senior management positions held by females.
Britain, with a 2012 GDP at virtually zero, has a mere 19 percent of women in top management occupations and the United States, where the economy grew a tiny 2.2 percent last year, has just 20 percent of women in leading management ranks.
Thailand also ranks very highly when it comes to senior managerial positions with females making up a solid 36 percent of the total.
In fact, across the Southeast Asian region women hold an impressive 32 percent of senior management roles, behind those in the Baltic states (at 40 percent), but ahead of countries like Russia, Brazil, and India.
Naturally enough, there are certain sectors where women are poorly represented. These include the construction and mining sectors where women make up an average of just 19 percent of senior management. In the global healthcare sector this figure jumps to a powerful 45 percent.
It seems that across the globe wherever economies are gaining in strength or have been performing well by comparison with the rest of the world, the higher the number of females who are either CEOs, on the boards of major companies, or hold down senior managerial positions the better the GDP of that economy has performed.
The IBR perhaps suggests part of the reason for what is a very clear and definite global trend is that women tend to bring a sense of balance to the decision-making processes. In general, they tend to be good managers who are capable of making a company run as smoothly as possible.
