Hiring More Women Good For Business: University of Surrey

A new study argues that small and medium enterprises in emerging markets can address grand challenges by leveraging strategic agility and gender diversity, with the latter significantly augmenting the effect of strategic agility on value creation, SciTechDaily reported.

Photo Insert: Having a gender-diverse senior management team is associated with increased value and innovation that aligns with the United Nation’s Grand Challenges.

Research conducted by the University of Surrey reveals that senior management teams comprising individuals from diverse gender backgrounds play a crucial role in fostering responsible and collaborative innovation.

A study of small and medium-sized firms from emerging markets (ESMEs) found that having a gender-diverse senior management team is associated with increased value and innovation that aligns with the United Nation’s Grand Challenges.

This conclusion was based on an analysis of 228 survey responses from ESMEs in the United Arab Emirates.

Prof. Taz Rajwani, co-author of the study and Head of the Department of Strategy and International Business at the University of Surrey, said: “We found that firms that valued gender diversity by employing women in some of their most senior roles were more able to respond to the ever-changing economic environment and made valuable contributions to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This is yet more evidence that having women as part of a company’s senior management team is not only morally the right thing to do, but it is good for business and wider communities.”

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