Per Östlund

An avalanche of nominations

2010-03-24T03:21:00.000-07:00

Nominations of women to executive boards in large Swedish corporations indicate that 37% of candidates are female, up from a mere 13,5% in 2003. I guess that the threat of legislation has served its purpose and even if I still think that the law is justified, maybe the change will gain momentum driven by good examples like Husqvarna, Beijer Electronics and Hakon Invest.

Congratulations corporate Sweden! I guess men in board positions will have to be prepared to work harder from now on.

Change of heart - Congratulations!

2010-03-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

The political majority (Conservative/liberal) in Sweden has completed a 180 degree turn and is now openly talking about passing a law on affirmative action as regards female representation on Executive Boards if the current trend of only appointing men is not broken.

When faced with these consequences, it seems that we, finally, are beginning to see a change of heart as regards this years nominations.

It is great news for Sweden and undoubtedly for companies like Skanska, Saab (defense), Electrolux, Swedbank, Nordea, Atlas Copco.

Congratulations Investor and TV4, with women like Carola Lemne and Stina Honkamaa on your boards, you are the real winners!

What are you afraid of, Peggy Bruzelius?

2010-02-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

In Swedish weekly business magazine Veckans Affärer, boardroom veteran Ms. Peggy Bruzelius states that the day Sweden passes a law of affirmative action (kvotering) to increase representation of women in major enterprises she will leave all her positions in Swedish boards. She already claims to have let offers from Norway down for the same reason.

Her rationale is that such a law would be an insult to her and the rest of the competent women in company boards.

My reasoning would be that there are not an awful lot of women out there to insult..

Peggy Bruzelius also made use of the opportunity to threaten/promise to leave Sweden altogether should the opposition (headed by the social democratic party) should win the election in September 2010.

http://www.va.se/nyheter/2010/02/10/den-sista-16-taggaren/

Time for Variance Wednesday?

2009-10-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

Maybe the conclusions I have drawn after researching my inner and outer circles are in fact wrong!

According to research done by Brian Solis, utilizing Googles Ad Planner tool, the Social Web is in fact rather dominated by women and as far as the professional networking I was referring to (LinkedIn) the result is actually a draw (50-50).
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2009/who-rules-the-social-web/

So maybe Professional Social Media Networking for Women is actually on the rise? Well, I am still as strong an advocate for affirmative action (sw. kvotering) as regards female representation in company boards as ever before, but maybe we should all utilize our Social Networks to broaden the recruitment base and competence available by actively inviting and engaging people that can add variance, leading to a more dynamic, including and innovative business environment.

Maybe part of the explanation is that most Social Networks, for natural reasons, are still more homogenous than heterogenous, i.e. peers inviting peers (same gender, same age, same business school..)? Twitter's #followfriday is already an institution, but maybe it is time to call on "Variance Wednesday" for Social Media, i.e. a day when you activele seek to invite people of different gender, background, colour, political view etc etc, I think that this would be enriching and could lead to some very prosperous re-combinations, both on social/personal but also very much on business level.

So what do you say, is it time for Variance Wednesday yet?

Social Media for Women?

2009-03-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

A fact that I expect to be fairly undisputable is that women are underrepresented in Executive and on Board level.

Even though this has been a hot topic, at least since I started business school in the mid-80's. I would like to argue that the development has been painfully slow, particulary in the last few years. Still 2009, in Sweden, less than one out of five board members is a woman.

Instead of looking for increased competitiveness through variance, the old boys networks have essentially continued to recruit from the old boys networks.

My frustration over the lack of equality, variance and, most importantly, that business and society is missing most of the potential contribution from the smart, over-achieving women I have met over the years, has now gotten to a point I never thought I would reach. I am now FOR Affirmative Action (Sv. kvotering) to company boards, simply because it might be a way to finally prime some kind of long over-due shift in this area. Norway has already passed such a law.

A common argument for no change is that there are not enough competent women around - but how likely is that?

One company argued "we would like to see more women on our board, but we go strictly go for the most competent individuals, notwithstanding the sex, - that is why 90% of our board members are men" - but how likely is that?

In order to prove that argument wrong, Swedish Media Queen Anna Bråkenhielm recently pulled together a list of almost 600 female execs, sent it to nomination committees and published it in her magazine Passion for Business.

Today, the Swedish government through ministers Nyamko Sabuni and Maud Olofsson sent a letter to the chairmen in the nominating committees in all companies noted on the stock exchange.

Minister Sabuni argues that the problems lies in the fact that the nominating committees have too narrow networks (the old boys again).

I would like to reverse her comment and add another variable/explanation.

My observation is that women are less prone to participate in networking of the male style, lunches with no specific business goal, football games and - of increasing importance, Social Networking like LinkedIn. When I talked to Anna Bråkenhielm about the subject she admitted to having a LI profile and a small number of contacts but, just as a majority of my female friends and associates, she is not actually using the tool, since updating and networking is competing for time with business and family. Furthermore, ministers Sabuni and Olofsson do not have LI profiles at all. Here I find it appropriate to add that I first learned of Senator Obamas existence as he posted some news on his campaign and asked for comments on LinkedIn..

But even if women tend to prioritize other things in life (perhaps work and family) rather that just networking around, recent research shows that women active in Social Networks actually are doing a better job than men (i.e. able to interact with more people simultaneously) - why am I not surprised! http://xeeurl.com/A0602

Is increased Social Media networking for women a way to speed up the process so that businesses can get the boost in competence and variance that would be the result of increased female board representation? If the answer is yes, what would make women spend more time networking?