Search results

Many studies have analyzed how gender diversity and local culture condition the cognitive styles of managers and affect decision-making processes in organizations. Gender diversity has been defended from an equality perspective; it has been argued to improve decision-making processes and to have a positive impact on companies’ return on investment. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the differences between the thinking styles of men and women, in Latin America and the USA that support decision-making processes. An argument is given in favor of gender diversity in management teams, because of its positive implications in decision making.

The measurement instrument used was the Neethling Brain Instrument, developed based on recent neuroscience discovery. The sample comprised 1,216 executives from the USA and several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, who have participated in executive training programs.

The results show differences in thinking styles by gender, but no differences were found in thinking styles or decision making between men and women at the same managerial level in either of the two regions. Similarly, results suggest that executives in the USA tend to base their management models on strategic thinking styles that focus on interpersonal relations and involve risk taking, while executives in Latin American countries tend to prefer thinking and management styles focusing on data analysis, execution, planning, and process control.

The results of the present study show that, in all regions, men score higher in rational thinking styles associated with the cortical areas, while women gravitate toward thinking styles where emotional schemes prevail, related to subcortical areas. These results could be useful for organizational leaders in charge of allocating roles and tasks to people, based on their thinking style strengths. The results can also be very valuable for Latin American organizations to design specific training and development programs for men and women accordingly with their individual needs and their managerial roles. They can also support the argument that diverse gender teams will guarantee complete decision-making processes.

Diversos estudios han analizado cómo la diversidad de género y las culturas locales condicionan los estilos cognitivos de los gerentes y afectan los procesos de toma de decisiones en las organizaciones. La diversidad de género se ha defendido desde una perspectiva de equidad y se ha argumentado que mejora los procesos de toma de decisiones e impacta positivamente en el retorno a las inversiones de las empresas. En el presente estudio se analizan las diferencias en los estilos de pensamiento entre hombres y mujeres en América Latina y Estados Unidos que sustentan los procesos de toma de decisiones en cada región y se argumenta en favor de la diversidad de género en los equipos gerenciales por sus implicaciones positivas en la toma de decisiones.

El instrumento de medición utilizado es el Neethling Brain Instrument (NBI) desarrollado con base en descubrimientos recientes en las neurociencias. La muestra está compuesta de 1216 ejecutivos de Estados Unidos y varios países de América Latina y el Caribe, participantes en programas de formación ejecutiva.

Los resultados muestran diferencias en los estilos de pensamientos según el género de los ejecutivos, pero no se encontraron diferencias en los estilos de pensamiento y la toma de decisiones entre hombres y mujeres para los mismos niveles gerenciales en las dos regiones. De igual manera, los resultados sugieren que los ejecutivos de Estados Unidos tienden a basar sus modelos de gestión en estilos de pensamiento estratégicos centrados en las relacionales interpersonales y que involucran toma de riesgos, mientras que los ejecutivos de los países latinoamericanos, suelen preferir los estilos de pensamiento y gestión enfocados en el análisis de datos, la ejecución, la planificación y el control de los procesos.

Los resultados del estudio muestran que en todas las regiones los hombres puntúan más alto en los estilos de pensamiento racionales asociados al ámbito cortical y las mujeres en los estilos de pensamiento donde tienden a prevalecer esquemas emocionales asociados a las áreas subcorticales. Estos resultados serían de utilidad para los líderes de las organizaciones responsables de asignar los roles y las tareas a las personas según sus fortalezas en estilos de pensamiento.

The purpose of this study is to add to the existing research on critical perspectives on diversity management (DM). Specifically, this study examines the narratives of women chief executive officers (CEOs) from different countries of origin to understand how they enact the DM discourse by drawing on their past and present experiences at US multinational corporations (MNCs) located in Mexico.

This study, based on six open-ended interviews with local and expatriate women CEOs who work in MNCs situated in Mexico, used a sensemaking approach to analyze their narratives. The theoretical foundation of the study is based on decolonial feminist theory, which is used to analyze the hierarchical binary between Anglo-Saxon/European woman and the Mexican/Latin American woman with respect to the discourse of DM.

This study found that the dominant discourse used by women CEOs, expats and nationals was a business case for diversity. Female CEOs represent MNCs in favorable terms, compared to those of local companies, despite the nuances in the antagonistic representations in their narratives. This study also found that the women CEOs’ narratives perpetuated a discourse of “otherness” that created a hierarchy between Anglo-Saxons (US/MNCs’ culture) and Latin Americans (Mexican/local companies’ culture).

This study contributes to critical studies on DM by analyzing diverse forms of power involving gender, race/ethnicity and organizational hierarchy. The use of decolonial feminist theory to examine MNCs is a novel approach to understanding women’s identities and the power differences between local/foreign contexts and global/local businesses. This study also discusses the implications of its findings for women in business careers and concludes with a call for more research within the global South (Latin America).

To stimulate research on Latin American businesswomen's career development and help human resource practitioners design culturally‐adapted advancement programs.

A total of 27 interviews with human resources professional from US Fortune 500 companies with business in Latin America undertaken during 2001‐2003 are the basis for reporting on women's advancement programs in Latin America. A survey of literature on culture in Latin American work organizations provides basis for suggestions about cultural adaptation of these programs. Latin American businesswomen's perceptions of their own career development, recorded in interviews with over 100 businesswomen in six Latin American countries in 2002 by participants in the Women Business Leaders in Latin America project, corroborate these suggestions.

Women's initiatives imported from the USA to Latin America are likely to suffer several shortcomings unless modified to accommodate several common cultural attributes of Latin American work organizations.

Provides a guideline for developing gender diversity practices specifically suited to the Latin American context.

Major cross‐national projects on women, culture and leadership in business to date tend to neglect the Latin American region. This research begins to highlight and remedy that lacuna.

The objective of this chapter is to identify the key characteristics of Global Services businesses that will thrive and achieve success in the future. These factors are integrated into three main pillars, which we refer to as the Triple-Win. The first and most obvious pillar is technology as a tool. The second pillar is the design and sustainability of the business model, without which the previous factor would be merely a cost and not an investment. And last but not the least, there is the purpose which gives meaning to the proposal, focusing on the human being and their environment. The DIDPAGA business model sits at the intersection of these three elements.

Through an analysis of 15 Latin American countries, the purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of several institutional variables (economic, regulatory, and cultural), which affect women’s careers towards being members of boards of directors in the region.

Based on primary and secondary information, the authors carry out multivariate analyses to understand the institutional reasons affecting the reduced presence of women on boards of directors in the region.

Their findings reveal differences within the region, the importance of protecting women’s professional careers in the labour market, and the effect of cultural dimensions, such as masculinity and power distance.

The analysis provides an updated cross-section of the institutional and cultural conditions of the 15 countries, considering the limitations to developing data in the region.

Latin America has witnessed important changes in the dynamics of the labour market over recent decades: women’s participation in the labour force is on the increase, and corporate strategy is evolving towards the incorporation of practices and initiatives to manage the diversity of their talents. However, the presence of women in leadership positions is a pending subject. This study, in part, reveals the institutional origin of gender inequality on boards of directors in the region. The analysis provides essential tools for public policy and for companies to help promote female leadership in the region.

Recent debate and research on the scarce participation of women on corporative boards of directors have revealed a growing interest in analysing the causes of such issues despite the progress recorded in terms of gender equity in most societies. Studies on the topic in Latin America are scarce and the aim of this paper is to help to fill part of this gap.

El presente trabajo explora en quince países de América Latina la importancia de distintas variables institucionales (económicas regulatorias y culturales) que afectan a las carreras de las mujeres hacia los consejos de administración en la región.

A partir de información primaria y secundaria, los autores desarrollan diversos análisis multivariantes para entender las razones institucionales que afectan tras la reducida presencia de mujeres en los consejos de la región.

Los resultados de los análisis realizados muestran las diferencias dentro de la región así como la importancia de de analizar las carreras profesionales de las mujeres en el mercado de trabajo y el efecto de las dimensiones culturales como la masculinidad y la distancia al poder.

El análisis muestra un corte transversal de la realidad institutional y cultural de los 15 países lo más actual posible, teniendo en cuenta las limitaciones en el desarrollo de datos en la región.

En América Latina, se han producido cambios importantes en la dinámica del mercado laboral en las últimas décadas: las tasas de participación de mujeres en la fuerza de trabajo están en aumento y las estrategias empresariales van evolucionando hacia la incorporación de prácticas e iniciativas que tienden a gestionar la diversidad de sus talentos. Sin embargo la presencia de mujeres en puestos de liderazgo empresarial es una asignatura pendiente. El presente trabajo muestra en parte el origen institucional de las desigualdades de género en los consejos de administración en la región. Este análisis provee de herramientas esenciales para la política púlica y las empresas en la búsqueda de la promoción del liderazgo femenino en la región.

Recientes debates e investigaciones sobre la escasa incorporación de mujeres en los consejos directivos en las corporaciones, han evidenciado el creciente interés por analizar las causas de estas cuestiones a pesar de los avances registrados en términos de equidad de género en la mayoría de las sociedades. Sin embargo, hay una escasez de estudios en esta área en América Latina. El presente artículo busca llenar en parte ese hueco.

Despite gender parity in the general working population, the higher up one looks in ranks within the firm the fewer women one finds. This under-representation of women in top positions at firms is purportedly even more acute in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). LAC is a large and increasingly important region of the world where women are well-represented in the workforce and are comparatively better educated than men. Documenting if this resource is utilized at full potential is therefore of crucial importance. The purpose of this paper is to document the level and impact of female representation at the executive level in the region, as no systematic study exists on this topic.

The authors collect an original database of publicly listed companies to determine prevailing gender ratios among board members and executives in LAC region. The authors then estimate whether companies with women board members are more likely to appoint women executives. Finally, the authors estimate whether measures of female leadership at the firm are correlated with company performance.

The authors find that women are as under-represented in LAC as in the USA, but much less so in the Caribbean. The authors find that companies with women board members are more likely to appoint women executives in LAC. The authors find that measures of female leadership at the firm are correlated with company performance but only regarding board membership and only when the proportion of women on the board is greater than 30 percent. Again composition effects are important. Overall, the authors conclude that the LAC region exhibits empirical regularities about under-representation of women in leadership positions at the firm that are very similar to those found for high-income countries in Europe and North America.

The authors are the first and so far unique systematic study exists able to document the level and impact of female representation at the executive level in the region.

The purpose of this paper is to address the subject of work attitude drivers within the current scenario considering two influencing factors, culture and generation. Both membership of a particular generation and membership of a particular culture can affect individuals' work attitudes. The study considers these two factors in order to analyse five dimensions that are sources of work attitudes: life project, professional ethics, and attitude towards authority, leadership and commitment to the company.

Drawing upon a sample of almost one thousand people from various Ibero‐American countries, the results show significant differences between generations and cultures, particularly when focusing on the life project.

Among its conclusions, the paper points out that Latin America cannot be viewed as a homogenous whole in terms of individual work attitude. On the contrary, it is characterised by a significant degree of national diversity and managers should take this into account when designing initiatives to improve employee motivation.

The contribution that this paper seeks to make is to include the cross‐cultural perspective in the study of attitudes towards work, which has received less attention in previous studies.

The authors conceptually theorize the obstacles and opportunities that women encounter in family businesses embedded in Latin America, by differentiating between two clusters of countries embedded in this continent.

Using secondary data obtained from various sources, the authors adopted a flexible pattern matching methodology, which involves linking theoretical propositions with actual observed patterns. For each proposition, the authors categorize the comparison with the observed data as either confirming or rivaling the expected patterns in the clusters.

This study’s findings reveal that women have more leadership and employment opportunities in the first cluster (Brazil, Chile, and Mexico) than in the second (Argentina, Colombia, and Peru). The authors propose that these differences are the result of higher tolerance for women in political leadership positions and of the presence of larger and more internationally expanding corporations in the first cluster. We also find differences between two groups of women: female family members and female nonfamily members, with the former being granted much more opportunities than the latter.

This research increases the understanding of potential avenues for managers and policymakers in Latin America to foster gender diversity as a means to remain competitive in a global market. While actions at the state level may be more long-term oriented, others, such as those taken by small and medium-sized family businesses may have more immediate effects in minimizing gender biases and encouraging a greater participation of females in business.

By differentiating between two clusters of countries in Latin America, and by making careful consideration of whether females have family ties, the authors provide a more realistic and contextualized theoretical map that depicts the situation of women in Latin American family businesses. This contextualization is one of the first that attempts to examine how multiple institutional logics impact women in family businesses in an underexplored region of the world while differentiating between female family members and female nonfamily members. These findings inform policymakers and family business owners in Latin America on the peculiar challenges that women encounter in their context, while calling for more measures promote the active presence of females in Latin American family businesses.