In the article of Value of Diversity by Lagerburg, she analyzed all the companies listed in the US S&P 500, India CNX 200, and UK FTSE 350. The analysis indicates that majority of companies (94%) have executive and non executive female board members. While this is an encouraging number, the following number pinches my heart. Only 35 out of the S&P 500 have female in the executive board, which is a heartbroken 7% of all. 45 out of 200 in the India CNX and 47 out of 350 in the FTSE 350.
Click below to watch the video:
https://www.grantthornton.global/en/below is the excerpt of the post she wrote on https://www.grantthornton.global/en/
Diversity and business growth prospects
Ground-breaking research reveals strong link between diversity in decision-making and business growth prospects.
Companies with diverse executive boards outperform peers run by all-male boards according to a new study which covers listed companies in India, the UK and US. Our research estimates the opportunity cost for companies with male-only executive boards (in terms of lower returns on assets) at a staggering US$655 billion in 2014.
Women in business: the value of diversity scrutinises the financial performance of companies listed on the S&P 500, CNX 200 and FTSE 350. Some progress has been made by women at a non-executive level, but our report focuses on whether diverse executive teams – the people involved in day-to-day business operations – outperform male-only peers.
Analysis of the return on assets ratio (also known as return on investment) showed that, on average, companies with at least one female executive board member outperformed those with male-only boards in each of the three markets analysed.
In the US, S&P 500 companies with diverse boards outperformed rivals by 1.91%. In the UK FTSE 350 the gap was 0.53% and for the Indian CNX 200, 0.85%. This translates into an opportunity cost of US$567bn, US$74bn and US$14bn in each of the three markets respectively – or around 3% of GDP in the UK and US.
Here’s a copy of the full report
