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Possible Presence of Cohesiveness amongst Women in Top Management Positions: Evidence from S&P BSE 100 Companies


Affiliations
1 Assistant Professor, SSSVS Government PG College, Chunar, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh 231304, India
2 Assistant Professor Arya Mahila PG College, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 221010, India
 

The present study analyses the effect of gender diversity on boards and in the top management on firm performance of Indian companies. The study extends to analyse the possible presence of ‘cohesiveness’ between female directors and female managers in the organisation and evaluates the moderating effect of the presence of women CEO or CFO in the company on firm performance. The present study has been performed on BSE 100 companies for a period of 13 years. As a proxy for firm performance, two financial indicators viz. ROA and ROCE have been used. Gender diversity on board has been measured by Blau’s index and as proportion of women directors on board. Presence or absence of women CEO or CFO has been measured with a dummy variable. Various other variables that have been proved by previous researches to have an effect on firm performance viz. firm age, firm size, leverage, CEO duality, etc. have been used as control variables. The results of panel data regression analysis reveals that gender diversity on board has a positive and significant effect on firm performance. Presence of women executives in the top management positions of the firm does not have a significant effect on the financial performance of the firm. Concomitant presence of women executives in the company insignificantly but positively moderates the effect of gender diversity on firm performance. This implies that an inprovement in representation of women managers in upper echleons of management may bring about significant cohesion and support amongst women leaders which may lead to better firm performance.

Keywords

Gender diversity, top management, CEO, CFO, firm performance
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  • Possible Presence of Cohesiveness amongst Women in Top Management Positions: Evidence from S&P BSE 100 Companies

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Authors

Manjula Shukla
Assistant Professor, SSSVS Government PG College, Chunar, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh 231304, India
Piyush Pandey
Assistant Professor Arya Mahila PG College, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 221010, India

Abstract


The present study analyses the effect of gender diversity on boards and in the top management on firm performance of Indian companies. The study extends to analyse the possible presence of ‘cohesiveness’ between female directors and female managers in the organisation and evaluates the moderating effect of the presence of women CEO or CFO in the company on firm performance. The present study has been performed on BSE 100 companies for a period of 13 years. As a proxy for firm performance, two financial indicators viz. ROA and ROCE have been used. Gender diversity on board has been measured by Blau’s index and as proportion of women directors on board. Presence or absence of women CEO or CFO has been measured with a dummy variable. Various other variables that have been proved by previous researches to have an effect on firm performance viz. firm age, firm size, leverage, CEO duality, etc. have been used as control variables. The results of panel data regression analysis reveals that gender diversity on board has a positive and significant effect on firm performance. Presence of women executives in the top management positions of the firm does not have a significant effect on the financial performance of the firm. Concomitant presence of women executives in the company insignificantly but positively moderates the effect of gender diversity on firm performance. This implies that an inprovement in representation of women managers in upper echleons of management may bring about significant cohesion and support amongst women leaders which may lead to better firm performance.

Keywords


Gender diversity, top management, CEO, CFO, firm performance

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.23862/kiit-parikalpana%2F2022%2Fv18%2Fi2%2F216393