CLARS: Strategies for Women on Boards

Description

To watch this past event, click play on the video below:

It makes little business sense not to have greater female representation in positions of power. Studies over many years indicate that companies benefit in several ways by having a gender diverse board. A diverse board may signal flexibility, creative thought, and open-mindedness, among other benefits, including the potential to reduce groupthink.

Many countries in Europe were quick to act on such information and mandated female representation on corporate boards many years ago. In the United States, progress has been historically left to companies. Although some companies have embraced gender diversity, the numbers are not close to parity.

To attempt to address this issue, there are various efforts underway in the U.S. to increase gender diversity on boards, including legislation in California, a recent SEC-approved comply or explain rule for companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, and efforts by institutional investors such as State Street and BlackRock, recognizing the value diversity brings to corporate decision-making. Although some of these efforts are being contested in the courts, many companies have begun to comply with these initiatives.

Yet, it is not enough to have a seat at the table if one’s voice is not heard.

Professor Schipani will discuss her recent research which proposes that the seven universal forms of influence proposed by social psychologist Robert Cialdini—authority, reciprocity, consensus, social proof, liking, scarcity, and unity— may provide helpful strategies for women to amplify their voices and impact policy. The research project provides an example in the highly successful efforts of the late Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg (“RBG”), who, at the beginning of her legal career, effectively utilized many of these strategies in arguing one of the earliest successful sex discrimination cases, Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, at a time when women’s legal rights and roles in society were quite limited. RBG’s advocacy in this and other cases opened the gates toward reducing gender discrimination. The universal forms of influence are relevant to anyone who wants to change the beliefs and behaviours of others. They may prove to be effective in giving voice to those whose voices have historically been muted in corporate governance.

Speakers

Cindy A. Schipani, Merwin H. Waterman Collegiate Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Business Law, University of Michigan

Professor Cindy Schipani is the Merwin H. Waterman Collegiate Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Business Law at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.  She received her J.D. from the University of Chicago School of Law.  She has held visiting appointments at law and business schools throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia.  Professor Schipani currently teaches business law topics, including corporate governance, legal aspects of entrepreneurship, law of business organizations, and cross-cultural negotiations, in graduate and undergraduate programs at the Ross School of Business.

Professor Schipani's primary research interests are in corporate governance, with a focus on the relationship among directors, officers, shareholders and other stakeholders and pathways for women to obtain positions of organizational leadership. Her research includes consideration of specific issues confronting women in corporate governance, analysis of the corporate fiduciary duties of care and loyalty and the role of independent directors, including a number of empirical studies.

Professor Schipani has published over 40 journal articles and a book and has received numerous awards for her scholarship including the Career Achievement Award from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, the Senior Faculty Research Award from the Ross School of Business, and the Outstanding Mentor Award from the University of Michigan.  She is frequently invited to present her research nationally and internationally.  She has served as an expert witness in several cases involving issues of corporate governance and is often quoted in the press.

Commentator: Deidre Wilmott, Non-Executive Director, Australia Post

Deidre Wilmott has held a range of non-executive and executive roles over a long career in law and public policy.

She is a non-executive director and chair of the People & Sustainability Committee at Australia Post and a director and chair of the Scholarships Committee at Chief Executive Women. Other Boards include the Perth USAsia Centre, Rock Art Australia, Melbourne School of Government Advisory Board and Kearney ANZ Advisory Group..

Previously she was CEO of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Western Australia, a senior executive at Fortescue Metals Group Ltd and Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and chief of staff to the WA Premier. She has also been Chair of Council at St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls and a Founding CEO at CEO's for Gender Equity in WA.

Deidre worked as a lawyer in Perth and London after studying law at the University of Western Australia and holds a Master of Laws from The University of Melbourne. In 2011, she completed the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD in France.

Moderator: Professor Jennifer Hill, Bob Baxt AO Chair, Monash Law & Director of CLARS

Professor Jennifer Hill is the inaugural Bob Baxt AO Professor of Corporate and Commercial Law at Monash University Faculty of Law and is the Director of the Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies (CLARS).

Jennifer is an internationally recognised legal scholar in the field of comparative corporate law and governance. She is the Chair of the Research Committee of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) and Director of the Corporate Purpose programme under ECGI’s Responsible Capitalism initiative. She is also Director and Vice-Chair of the Global Corporate Governance Colloquia (GCGC) and a Research Fellow of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Finance and EU Law (EUSFiL) at the University of Genoa, Italy. She has held visiting teaching and research positions at several leading international institutions, including the University of Cambridge; Cornell University; Duke University; NYU; University of Virginia, University of Texas, and Vanderbilt.