‘Lack of recognition’ blocks women’s path to UK boardrooms
Taking time off to have children is not the main factor preventing women from reaching the boardroom, according to research conducted for the 30% Club, an organisation backed by chairmen of 70 FTSE and other large businesses. The research found that the main barrier is corporate decision makers failing to recognise that senior female executives are ready to be promoted. The study, conducted by YSC and KPMG, involved a survey of 4,600 staff from more than 100 companies in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250. Overall, 38 percent of men surveyed had received more than five promotions, against 29 percent of women. This confirms an earlier finding, disclosed in December, that a man who starts his career with a FTSE 100 company is four-and-a-half times more likely to reach the executive committee than his female counterpart. “The top decision makers are still really looking for people in their own image,” Rachel Short, a YSC director, said. “They are not examining a woman’s experience with the same lens as a man’s experience.” (Financial Times)*
Women leading family-owned firms increases profitability, says study
A new study has suggested that female chief executives “significantly improve” the profitability of family-owned companies, particularly when there is a large number of women on the board. The paper, called ‘Gender Interactions Within the Family Firm’, explores the transitions from male to female chief executives of family-owned companies in Italy over the period 2000-2010, finding that overall a female-oriented board, together with a female CEO, could improve profitability by 6.5-7.6%. It also reports that when women executives operate within a female-dominated environment, they are more likely to work better and therefore increase profitability, especially in smaller firms. According to the research, a “female-friendly corporate culture” means that women are more likely to team up and co-operate to promote a more efficient use of resources, which also boosts profitability. (Blue and Green Tomorrow)
Environment
Japanese company named as biggest online retailer of ivory and whale meat
According to conservationists, Rakuten, the Japanese e-commerce company which owns Play.com and Kobo, is the world’s biggest online retailer of elephant ivory and whale meat. In a new report, the UK-basedEnvironmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the Humane Society International (HSI) call on Japan’s biggest online retailer to stop selling the items. According to the groups, Rakuten’s website carries more than 28,000 advertisements for elephant ivory and 1,200 for whale products. Many of the whale products originate from species that have been protected since 1986 under the moratorium on commercial whaling established by theInternational Whaling Commission, according to the Blood E-Commerce report. Clare Perry, head of EIA’s cetaceans campaign, said sales of whale meat and ivory cast doubt on Rakuten’s commitment to sustainability, which it promotes on its website. The firm’s claim that it wished to protect the environment “can only be cynical lip service as long as it banks the profits of products derived from threatened or endangered species,” she said. (The Guardian)
Policy & Research
WRAP-led feasibility studies unveiled to tackle food waste through social innovation
A coalition of food waste charities, waste prevention organisations and academia across Europe, led by UK non-profit WRAP, have launched feasibility studies into tackling food waste through social innovation. As part of the European food waste reduction project FUSIONS (Food Use for Social Innovation by Optimising Waste Prevention Strategies), which runs until July 2016, the feasibility studies look at ideas from using the internet to connect those with surplus food to those who need it, through to arranging community-based food preservation events. In a statement, WRAP said: “Social innovation has huge potential to complement existing research, technological and communications activities, and using it to tackle food waste is a specific challenge set by the European Commission for FUSIONS. The feasibility studies are a great delivery tool which will deliver real-world findings that are easily diffused.” (Edie)
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