Department of Business Administration
T
itle: Leadership and Gender in Volvo Business Services
Author: IMRAN MUHAMMAD CHAUDHARY
15 Credits
Master Thesis
In Business Administration
Abstract:
Date: Feb: 2008
Title: Leadership and Gender in Volvo Business Services
Level: Final assignment for Master’s degree of Business Administration Department of Business Administration
University of Gävle S-801 76 Gävle Sweden Telephone: +46(0) 26 64 85 00 Facsimiles: +46(0) 26 64 86 86 Website: http://www.hig.se
Author: IMRAN MUHAMMAD CHAUDHARY
E-mail: imran_714@hotmail.com, chaudhary.imran@gmail.com
Supervisor: Maria Fregidou-Malama, Ph.D Assistant Professor E-mail: mma@hig.se
Date: Feb: 2008
Aim: This research paper on the subject of Leadership and Gender perspective attempts to conduct a focused amount of research to answer the question about the leadership and Gender perspective. It specifically looks at the current definitions of leadership and Gender and to historical background information relating to common theories that relate to leadership and Gender perspective also traditional leadership and gender theories as well as modern day theories and attempts to identify why and if
there are differences between male and female leaders?
Method: This study was conducted by using a variety of current books and periodical articles on the topic of leadership and Gender perspective, a qualitative research method is used. Primary data was obtained in the form of two interviews with one male and one female manager.
Result: There are certain basic qualities or characteristics that most people (male, female) associate with leadership. Some of these include self-reliant, independent, assertive, risk taker, dominant, ambitious, and self-sufficient. Most people would agree that male or female whom posses these attributes are often labelled as “leaders.” It means there is no difference between male and female leaders.
Leadership is not gender-specific, but there seem to be many attributes that are found in both male and female that is differentiating gender.
Suggestions for future research:
This paper focuses on this sensitive subject area that suggestion for a future study, it good to repeat this study in the form of case study. The survey of subordinates can be used for this study and it could be interesting to see the differences and similarities between the male and female leaders from gender perspective.
Contribution of the thesis:
I have come to the realization that there are still differences between male and female leaders. This paper served to highlight some of the more recent events and attitudes surrounding the topic of leadership and gender in Volvo Business services, (salary difference, woman prefer to work in office and male prefer to travelling) it does not comprise the final conclusion on this topic. This paper serves inform the reader that there has been much progress in terms of gender perspective.
Keywords: Leadership and Gender, Gender perspective, Differences between Male and Female leadership style, Discrimination, Volvo Business Services
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all I would like to thank to God for everything. He has done in my life and especially in this study.
I would like to thank to all people who have helped me in this study, especially Alexandra who helped me out to get interviews in Volvo, Mr. Akmal Hyder and Mr. Imdad Hussein who also helped me in this study. I would like to thank to Maria Malama, as my mentor for her guidance in my study. I am really thankful for the attentions she gave, the time she spent in this study, and especially her patience in supervising me in study and research. I would like to thank Volvo Business Services’ managers Mr. Andres Friman and Lisa Lindelöf.
SUMMARY:
The purpose of gender studies is to facilitate advanced thinking and reflection about gender and thereby, about social relation, society, and organizations and working life in general. Such thinking may be discussed in terms of counteracting under-sensitivity about the meaning and significances of gender in various contexts.
Leadership in organization with gender perspective is on the top of any
organization agenda. However, for many businesses and leadership are just a word and not a concept of what and how to actually implement it in business.
In this view, all social practices are structured in relation to gender. This includes the social practice of organizing businesses, schools, governments, and the like, and including
leadership positions in the design of these organizations. Because social practices replicate the reproductive division of people into male and female, they are said to be "gendered." Thus, gender becomes a property of institutions and the human and historical processes that create them. It becomes a characteristic of not individual people but collectives. To think of
gender—and leadership—in this way is a considerable advance. Doing so provides an
explanation for the difficulties women traditionally have experienced ascending to leadership positions and performing leader roles with comfort and ease.
Gender differences are not usually described in terms of cultures. It can be revealing to do so. If we recognize that within each society there is a men’s culture which differs from a women’s culture, this helps to explain why it is so difficult to change traditional gender roles. Women are not considered suitable for jobs traditionally filled by men, not because they are technically unable to perform these jobs, but because women do not carry the symbols, do not correspond to the hero images, do not participate in the rituals or foster the values dominant in the men’s culture; and vice versa. Feelings and fears about behaviors by the opposite sex are of the same order of intensity as the reactions of people exposed to foreign cultures. A gender perspective implies analyzing the importance, meaning and consequences of what is culturally defined as male or masculine as well as female or feminine ways of thinking (knowing), feeling, valuing and acting. A gender perspective also implies an analysis of the organizational practices that maintain the division of labor between the sexes. The vertical division of labor according to sex can be
intimately related to conceptions of the masculine/feminine, that ascribe to phenomena a gendered meaning that is contingent upon the cultural beliefs of what are typical or natural orientations and behaviors of men and women.
Gender symbolism will be of special interest to the organization researcher, that is the tendency that jobs (or functions) are associated with a certain understanding of gender or have a certain gender aura around them, and that, in general, the (de)valuation of feminine work gives women a lower status and a poorer pay than men. For example, ideas and norms for leadership may express a strong masculine undertone which makes leadership appear to be more natural or easy for men than for women to engage in.
According to interviews and secondary data (Volvo brochures) Volvo Business Services is a female dominated company and on the all top management seats are hold by women.
CONTENTS:
Abstract
1ACKNOWLEDGMENT_____________________________________________________3 SUMMARY_______________________________________________________________ 4 Chapter 1 1. INTRODUCTION_______________________________________________________ 8 1.1 Background 8 1.2 Problem Formulation 11 1.3 Research Questions 11
1.4 Aim and Limitations 11
1.5 Disposition 11
Chapter 2 2. METHODOLOGY_____________________________________________________ 13 Classification of research data 14
2.1Primary and Secondary data 15
2.2Quantitative Data & Qualitative Data 15
2.3 Direct data & indirect data 16
2.4 Descriptive research & Causal research 17
2.5 Research Design Used in this study 17
Chapter 3 3.
THEORY___________________________________________________
18 3.1 Definition of Leadership from gender perspective 183.2 Organization theory 19
3.3 American concept 19
3.4 Masculinity and Femininity concept 20
3.4.1 Gender differences in Japan 20
3.5 Organizational and corporate Cultures 21
3.5.1Segregation 22
3.5.2 Transformational behaviors 23
3.6 Web Approach 24
3.6.1 Male and Female leadership style 24
3.6.2 Medical differences 26
3.6.3 Male and Female’s same leadership style 27
3.7 WHY SO FEW WOMEN LEADERS? 28
Theoretical frame work Table: Differences between Male and Female Leadership 32
Chapter 4 4.
EMPIRICAL DATA________________________________ ___ _
33 Interview with Mr. Anders Friman 33Interview with Ms. Lisa Lindelöf 38
Chapter 5 5.
ANALYSIS________________________________________________
42 Chapter 6 6.1 Conclusions 466.2 Recommendation 48
6.3Reflection and Future Research Suggestions 49
REFERENCES_____________________________________________
50Chapter 1
1. Introduction
A flexible work force, untrammeled by conservative ideas about ‘men’s work and ‘women’s work’, that is what is natural and appropriate for men or women respectively to do, may be used more effectively. Therefore there are good reasons for management to address organizational cultures, structures and practices in terms of gender. To prevent almost half of the labor force from being fully utilized in terms of their qualifications and talents may be said to be a prime example of irrationality. And although rationality in organizational settings – as in human life in general – is more often preached than practiced too obvious deviations from what appears to be profitable should have a fair chance of triggering changes, or at least attempts at change. (Alvesson & Due Billing, 1997, p1, 2).
1.1 Background
Gender and leadership is a subject that is concerned with main question: (1) what are the elements of male/female differences in who assumes leadership positions and in leadership behaviour?
Social scientists distinguish between "gender" and "sex." Sex refers to the basic, biologically given physiological differences between males and females. Gender refers to a culture's social construction of differences between the sexes. These include the different traits, roles, behaviours, attitudes, and aptitudes males and females are expected to display. Gender displays reinforce claims of membership in a sex. Expressions such as "gendered practices," "gendered language," and "gendered jobs" are used to emphasize the tenet that gender involves a process of social construction, and to make gender a more central explanation of organizational behaviour phenomena such as leadership.
The term "leaders" refers to persons holding formal positions of leadership in complex organizations in industry, government, education, politics, the arts, sciences, and professions. Historically, gender precluded most females from becoming leaders in such organizations; as a result, the assumption that males were better suited than females for leadership roles was, until recently, rarely questioned. Since the early 1970s, the foundation of that assumption has been shaken by the large number of women who, according to Bass and Stogdill's Handbook of
Leadership, have (1) been elected prime minister (in Britain, Canada, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Norway, Sri Lanka, etc.) and to other high government offices; (2) been elevated to managerial positions in business organizations; and (3) earned master of business administration (MBA) degrees. In addition, the assumption those leaders are to be men have come under scrutiny by a growing body of scholarly writing on the subject of gender and leadership.
The other body of literature—more academic in its content and research—provided the rationale for eliminating barriers (such as discriminatory policies) to women's progress in organizations and management. It is argued that differences between women's and men's ability to carry out responsible jobs are minimal, once women attain the appropriate job qualifications. Women, thus, deserved equal opportunity in early childhood as well as higher education, and equal access to all types of job training and development. Women would then be able to compete with men for leadership positions and other jobs (Gender and Leadership-why so few women Leaders.html). Leadership in Volvo from gender perspective
Volvo group is one of the familiar groups in Europe and outside Europe. How does this group run the strategy about Leadership and Gender issue especially the one in Sweden.
Gender is seen as a key element of diversity. As part of diversity activities, Volvo pursue a gender balance, which enables them to make the most of the competence of all employees, and to increase creativity and customer benefit. Approximately one in five Volvo Cars employees is a woman. Measuring the percentage of women in leading positions is one of several ways of determining if diversity programmes are successful. Another is the Employee Attitude Survey, in which Volvo measure employees’ perceptions of how they are treated in the workplace, and of the respect they receive from their superiors and colleagues.
Volvo Cars has a model for classifying managerial and other leading positions on different levels (leadership levels 1 to 6). In total, these groups comprise about 2,000 employees. Most members on the executive management team are included in level 2 while the CEO is level 1. The average percentage of women in all these groups (levels 1-6) is used to measure the indicator for percentage of women in leading positions. The figures refer to Volvo Car Corporation at the global level.
Although the indicator only portrays the increase of women in these leadership levels, it is noteworthy that we carefully monitor other women in management positions not included in the leadership level system in order to have a succession basis for the future.
Trend in 2005
79% of all employees are men and 21% women. In order to increase gender equality and better utilise the competence of female employees, one of Volvo goals is that by 2008, 25% of managers will be women. The proportion of female managers has increased from 12% in 2002 to 17% in 2005. The positive change is expected and continued improvement is needed to reach the targets for 2008. During 2005 every unit has produced action plans with unit specific targets and annual follow-up. (www.volvo.com)
Volvo believe diversity is a catalyst for innovation and a source of international competitiveness and profitability. By incorporating in Volvo high performance teams, the talents and ideas of a workforce of diverse nationalities, ages, gender, ethnic backgrounds, races, cultures, knowledge, experiences, etc. Volvo are seeking to expand their knowledge base, skills and understanding in order to become more responsive to customer needs and to strengthen their market position. Volvo Group Attitude Survey
A survey of employees’ attitudes is conducted annually; the results get high attention from management as well as in the local working groups. In 2005, the results of the Volvo Group Attitude Survey showed an increase in the
“Employee Satisfaction Index” from 77% in 2003, to 81% in 2004 and to 83% in 2005. Answer rate was 2003 84%, 2004 88% and 2005 91% of 82,000 employees
(http://www.volvo.com/group/global/en-gb/volvo+group/ourvalues/culture/vas.htm).
Leadership is not only for satisfying the Customers but also how to make the staff loves their workplace so they are always in the mood to give good performances. Thus, through this study, the internal service and employee satisfaction is studied with the case of Volvo Business Services Göteborg in terms of figuring out the effectiveness of leadership in a gender perspective.
1.2Problem Formulation
Leadership in organizations in a gender perspective is on the top of any organizations agenda. However, for many businesses and leadership this is a word and not a concept of what and how to actually implement it in business.
from a gender perspective?
1.3Research Questions
What are the male/female differences in leadership and how it’s in Volvo Business Services? 1.4 Aim and Limitation
The study focuses on the Leadership from a gender perspective. In this study I deal with the Volvo Business Services Göteborg in Sweden. I interviewed with two leaders one male and one female. The aim of this work is to analyse the Leadership and Gender in Volvo Business Services and how leadership act from a gender perspective.
1.5Disposition
This writing is divided into six chapters excluding the appendix and references. The first chapter is the introductory as a guide for the reader about what the studies all about including the problem and questions. Then chapter there will explain the process of collecting data both primary and secondary. The process will reveal from where, who, and how those information was obtained and classified. Thus data later on will help to conduct a deeper research about the Volvo Business Services.
Then, data collection show which theory or study fields should be applied as the methods of solving the main problem. The chapter three is the theoretical part that consists of the theories and methods that are used as the basic of doing this research. The research’s result is structured in chapter four as the empirical part of this report. In chapter five theoretical and empirical parts are combine of the analysis.
How the Volvo practice leadership from the gender perspective. Chapter six is the conclusion and future recommendations about the Volvo. Questions, interviews are put together in appendix and all sources completing of this study in the end.
Theoretical Framework (Chapter 3) Empirical Study (Chapter 4) Internet research
Interviews Books and
Literature reviews
Internet
Conclusion (Chapter 6)
Empirical Analysis by using the Theoretical frame work (Chapter 5)
Methodology (Chapter 2) Introduction (Chapter 1)
Source: Own construction:
Chapter 2
2. Methodology
When doing a research it should be important to make Research design. This design will be helpful about the framework and steps to do the research. In general research can be classified into three types; exploratory research, descriptive research, and casual research (http://www.quickmba.com/markeitng/research/).
From those three, the exploratory research will be applied as the guidelines to do further researches in this study. This type of research has the objective of formulating problems more precisely, clarifying concepts, gathering explanations, gaining insight, eliminating impractical ideas, and forming hypotheses (http://www.quickmba.com/markeitng/research/).
The implementation of exploratory research can be performed by using literature reviews, surveying certain people about their experiences, focus groups, and case studies.
In this chapter different research approaches are discussed. This chapter is based on the book Marketing Research Malhotra K. Naresh (1996).
In order to conduct research, there is a wide variety in how to do the actual research. First data needs to be collected. Research data can be obtained through secondary and primary data. To obtain primary data, one can use a direct or indirect qualitative approach or a descriptive or causal quantitative approach. In figure 2.1 below this is pointed out more systematically:
Research data Primary data Qualitative data Quantitative data Indirect Descriptive Causal Direct Secondary data Source: Malhotra, 1996, p. 40
2.1Primary and Secondary data
The theory, written stuff, and published copies are not always applicable on going situations. With the passage of time researcher find out new issues and include in the theories sections to complete existing theory. Secondary data is distinguished from the primary data and how they cooperate to create a harmony.
Secondary data are the data that already exist as the result of pervious work. They are published for other purposes rather than the present study (Kinear, T.C & Taylor, J.R., 1996, P.856). Secondary data are usually functioned as the guidance before collecting primary data since they provide the basic knowledge and information about the company. On the other hand, primary data is directly used for the research’s goal and it should supplement secondary data.
Secondary Data Primary Data Purpose: Multi-purposes For quick study
Cost Low High
Process Fast and easier Hard and time consuming
Sources Reports, article, literatures Interviews, surveys, practice
In this investigation the secondary data are collected from the company’s websites, brochures, business articles/journals, and text books.
2.2Quantitative Data & Qualitative Data
Quantitative data is obtained by doing research on a large scale. The collection of the data is structured, which makes it possible to analyse the results with statistical methods. Quantitative data results are used at the end of a research process to recommend a specific course of action. Quantitative data can be divided into descriptive and causal data.
more extended information and understanding of underlying reasons and motivations. The collection of the data is unstructured and the methods used to analyse the results are non-statistical. The purpose of qualitative research is to develop initial understanding.
Qualitative data can be divided into direct or indirect data. 2.3 Direct data & indirect data
Direct qualitative research means that the respondents know the purpose of the researcher or it becomes clear through the questions asked. Some major tools for a direct research are focus groups and depth interviews.
Focus groups are small groups of respondents who get interviewed from a trained moderator in an unstructured and natural manner.
Depth interviews are interviews of a single respondent by a highly skilled interviewer to uncover motivations, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings on a topic. This is an unstructured, direct and personal way of conducting an interview.
Indirect qualitative research means that the true purpose of the researcher is not known by the respondent. In order to conduct this research, the researcher will use the following projective techniques:
.
Association techniques: with this technique the respondent is confronted with a stimulus andasked to respond with the first thing that comes into his/her mind, for example a word.
.
Completion techniques: with this technique the respondent is asked to complete an incomplete stimulus situation, for example an incomplete sentence..
Expressive techniques: with this technique the respondent is confronted with a verbal or visual situation and asked to relate the feelings or attitudes of other people to the situation, for example a role-play.2.4 Descriptive research & Causal research
Descriptive research is the description of something, usually market characteristics or function, for example the size of the market or target group profiles. This research is characterised by clearly defined information; descriptive research is planned, structured and typically based on large representative samples.
Some methods of descriptive research are:
.
Surveys: with this research method respondents are asked a variety of questions regarding their behaviour, intentions, attitudes, awareness, motivations, demographic and lifestyle characteristics. Some methods of surveys are telephone interviews, personal interviews, and interviews through mail/E-mail..
Observations: This method involves the recording of behavioural patterns of people, objects, and events in a systematic manner to obtain information about the phenomenon of interest. Some methods used by observation are personal observation, mechanical observations, audit, content analysis, and trace analysis..
Causal research: is a research method used to obtain evidence regarding cause-and-effect (causal) relationships. Causal design is similar with descriptive research in the sense that it is characterised by a planned and structured design. The major method used for this research is Experimentation: This is the process of manipulating one or more independent variables and measuring their effect on one or more dependent variables.2.5 Research Design Used in this study
The methodology of this study is based on the literature review, secondary research and direct qualitative research. The literature review is conducted from the books and the internet and company’s brochures. This literature review of the leadership and gender theory is collected to establish the introduction of leadership and gender in the organization.
The secondary data are collected to support the theory of literature reviews and the primary data are collected by face to face interviews in Volvo Business Services. It has been developed to
provide understanding of how the Volvo Business Services leaders build the relations with employees and how they behave with subordinates.
Chapter 3 3. Theory
Why consider organizations in terms of gender? There are many good reasons for taking an interest in each of these areas and also for combining the two. Organizations are central economic institutions that take care of the production of goods and services and of a major part of the control and care of the citizens. Most of us are in daily contact with (Formal) organizations, taking part in organizational activities every day, working in them or relating to them as clients or customers. Organizations are workplaces, public as well as private, sites for childcare and education, institutions taking care of social services and health, and for most people organizations fill up maybe one third of their lives. (Alvesson & Due Billing, 1997, p5).
3.1 Definition of Leadership from gender perspective
The other main question of concern to writers in the area of gender and leadership is whether "leadership position" is implicitly a genders concept. To answer this question, first one has to understand how organizations, including their leadership positions, are one place where gender is produced. In her article "Gendering Organizational Theory," Joan Acker argues that gender is part of the logic used in organizations to determine what practices will be adopted. Organizations profess themselves to be gender-neutral, for example, with their practice of filling an abstract job with a person who possesses the requisite qualifications. But when the "job description" for a leadership position includes 12-hour days, business meetings and social events on weekends, and little time for non-job-related obligations, many women (and, increasingly, men) cannot qualify because of their family responsibilities. The ostensibly gender-neutral job, then, is not. It and the organization in which it exists are part of the gendered substructure of society. They assume and thereby replicate conventional gender roles: man working full-time for a lifetime in a job outside the home; woman working in the home to take care of him, the family, and any spill over from his job.
In this view, all social practices are structured in relation to gender. This includes the social practice of organizing businesses, schools, governments, and the like, and including leadership
positions in the design of these organizations. Because social practices replicate the reproductive division of people into male and female, they are said to be "gendered." Thus, gender becomes a property of institutions and the human and historical processes that create them. It becomes a characteristic of not individual people but collectivises. To think of gender—and leadership—in this way is a considerable advance. Doing so provides an explanation for the difficulties women traditionally have experienced ascending to leadership positions and performing leader roles with comfort and ease. (http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia).
3.2 Organization theory – here broadly defined – has traditionally and up to the 1980s neglected gender aspects; employees have been viewed either from a supposedly gender neutral (male) perspective or from a point of view that considers only the male part of the employees as interesting: Hearn and Parkin wrote, 1983; Mills wrote, 1988 (Alvesson, Due Billing, 1997). The massive literature on organizational culture workplace, hardly address gender, women, men, masculinity or femininity e.g. Hosking and Morley wrote, 1991; Legge wrote, 1995( Alvesson, Due Billing, 1997).
Masculine dominance in academic as well as organizational life has had an important influence on the kinds of questions raised and the answers subsequently produced in management and organizations studies: J. Martin wrote, 1994 (Alvesson, Due Billing, 1997 ).
3.3 American concept
The traditional American concept of leadership may be described as ‘a pastiche based upon a masculine ego-ideal glorifying the competitive, combative, controlling, creative, aggressive, self-reliant individualist’: Lipman-Blumen wrote, 1992: 185 (Alvesson, Due Billing, 1997).
A gender perspective implies analyzing the importance, meaning and consequences of what is culturally defined as male or masculine as well as female or feminine ways of thinking (knowing), feeling, valuing and acting. A gender perspective also implies an analysis of the organizational practices that maintain the division of labor between the sexes. The vertical division of labor according to sex can be intimately related to conceptions of the masculine/feminine, that ascribe to phenomena a gendered meaning that is contingent upon the cultural beliefs of what are typical or natural orientations and behaviors of men and women. Gender symbolism will be of special interest to the organization researcher, that is the tendency that jobs (or functions) are associated with a certain understanding of gender or have a certain gender aura around them, and that, in general, the (de)valuation of feminine work gives women a
lower status and a poorer pay than men. For example, ideas and norms for leadership may express a strong masculine undertone which makes leadership appear to be more natural or easy for men than for women to engage in Lipman- Blumen wrote 1992; Schein wrote, 1973, (Alvesson, Due Billing, 1997).
3.4 Masculinity and Femininity concept
The concepts of masculinity and femininity cannot be understood in isolation. According to Kimmel wrote 1994:126(Alvesson, Due Billing, 1997) masculinity is viewed as the antithesis of femininity: This notion of anti-femininity lies at the heart of contemporary and historical conceptions of manhood, so that masculinity is defined more by what one is not rather than what one is; In a similar view Hollway wrote,1996:28 (Alvesson, Due Billing, 1997) argues that the idea of ‘woman’ has been produced ‘as the negative of the masculine.’
3.4.1 Gender differences in Japan
In Japan, traditionally hold nearly all positions of responsibility. Woman generally serve as office clerks and administrative assistants until their mid-to late twenties, when they are expected to marry and stay at home tending to family needs. Although this is still largely true today, progress is being made in expanding the role of women in Japan’s business community. Although women own nearly a quarter of all business in Japan, many of these are very small and do not carry a great deal of economic clout. Although greater gender equality prevails in Australia, Canada, Germany and USA women in these countries still tend to earn less money then men in similar positions.
Some authors believe that the concept of masculinity ‘may be thought of as representing the discourses and practices which indicate that someone is a man, a member of a category’ Collinson and Hearn wrote 1994:6 (Alvesson, Due Billing, 1997 p) and that it means ‘individual signs and institutional indications that this is a male’:Hearn wrote 1993:151(Alvesson, Due Billing, 1997). A problem with this understanding is that masculinity is associated with males, and femininity with females, defined according to biological criteria. Also men rejecting traditional masculinist orientations are defined in terms of ‘ other forms of masculine identity, such as that of ‘the new man’, the male feminist or the various forms of homosexual male identity’: Bradley wrote, 1993:22, (Alvesson, Due Billing, 1997 p83).
The literature, culture, and socialization processes relating to leadership and management theories in corporate America are predominantly male-oriented: Helgesen wrote 1990, Konek and Kitch
wrote 1994 (Moore, Buttner, 1997p100) found that more than 85% of the women they surveyed viewed the American workplace as male-oriented. Citing their sample and other surveys, they show that a majority of women believe that they should be prepared to “compete on the same terms as men” and appear “as much like men as possible” Konek & Kitch wrote, 1994( Moore, Buttner, 1997p100)
3.4.2 Leadership Styles
Current literature on leadership: Kouzes & Posner wrote 1987; Sashkin & Burke wrote 1990 (Moore, Buttner, 1997) builds on discussions of the transactional and transformational leadership styles. The transactional leader focuses on short-term goals and stability, offering rewards for performance. The transformational leader articulates a vision of the firm that can be shared by peers and subordinates empowers and encourages subordinates, models effective behavior, shows respect for individual differences among subordinates, and prefers effectiveness over efficiency. For the transformational leader, quality is more important than speed and outcomes are more important than following a specific process to achieve them: Bass wrote, 1985, 1990, ( Moore, Buttner, 1997p100).
Gender differences are not usually described in terms of cultures. It can be revealing to do so. If we recognize that within each society there is a men’s culture which differs from a women’s culture, this helps to explain why it is so difficult to change traditional gender roles. Women are not considered suitable for jobs traditionally filled by men, not because they are technically unable to perform these jobs, but because women do not carry the symbols, do not correspond to the hero images, do not participate in the rituals or foster the values dominant in the men’s culture; and vice versa. Feelings and fears about behaviors by the opposite sex are of the same order of intensity as the reactions of people exposed to foreign cultures.
3.5 Organizational and corporate Cultures
Organizational or corporate cultures have been a fashionable topic since the early 1980s. At that time, the management literature began to popularize the claim that the ‘excellence’ of an organization is contained in the common ways by which its members have learned to think, feel and act. ‘Corporate culture’ is a soft, holistic concept with, however, presumed hard consequences. Organization and corporate cultures’ the psychological assets of an organization, which can be used to predict what will happen to its financial assets in five years’
time’(Grönroos, C. Wiley, 2000).
Hofstede established five dimensions of culture; these five dimensions exist in every country’s culture, Power distance, Individualism and collectivism, Masculinity-Femininity, Uncertainty avoidance, and long and short term oriented. (Hofstede, 2005, P 34, 35, 45, 75,118, 164).
Gender issues may, however, also be worth focusing on from quite a different point of departure: the business –managerial one. From a management perspective, there are reasons to be concerned about the ineffectiveness in terms of utilization of human resources contingent upon contemporary gender pattern. Counteracting sex discrimination and conservative gender patterns would make possible a more rational way of recruiting, keeping, placing, training and promoting labor. Utilizing diversity- e.g. by employing and giving voice to men as well as women in terms of viewpoints and experiences – may also facilitate organizational learning and creativity. (Alvesson & Due Billing, 1997, p1).
3.5.1 Segregation
Today’s labor market is often characterized as being highly segregated, horizontally and vertically. Women and men work in different sectors and job areas and men occupy 85 to 90 per cent of the positions at the top levels of working life. The concept of segregation implies that the division of labor is not based on ‘natural’ skills or on the ‘free will’ of individuals but hat it needs explanation, especially because the segregation also results in inequalities, mainly that women are concentrated with in low pay areas, whereas men’s jobs are better paid and offer better promotion prospects. The division of labor into ‘female’ and ‘male’ work areas is broadly considered to be a vital element in the subordination of women. (Alvesson & Due Billing, 1997, p54).
In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to any number of highly touted business and economic revolutions. Reports range from the real and perceived impacts of new technologies to competition in the global market place to the hammer blows of corporate change, usually cloaked in the slightly less threatening terms of relocation, reallocation, merger, divestiture, downsizing, rightsizing, de-recruiting, and the like. Numerous reporters have noted that small business has been the fastest growing segment in the American economy. The fact that women-owned business made up the fastest growing entrepreneurial segment was noticed less often. Between 1975 and 1990, women started businesses at more than twice the rate of men: Murphy wrote 1992,(Moore, Buttner, 1997p13). Women now own more than 7.7 million firms. They employ
35% more people in the United States than the Fortune 500 companies do worldwide (National Foundation for Women Business Owners [NFWBO], and Dun & Bradstreet Information Services, 1995, p. 4). By the year 2000, nearly half of all American businesses may be owned by women (Ando, 1990; U.S.Congress, House of Representatives, 1988). (Moore, Buttner, 1997p13).
Leadership plays a key role in the survival and success of entrepreneurial ventures. The focus in small firms is on the entrepreneur, who is called on to build an organizational culture: Schein wrote 1983 (Moore, Buttner, 1997) develop a strategic vision Westley & Mintz wrote 1988 (Moore, Buttner, 1997) and discover and take advantage of opportunities and resources in the firm’s environment, Chandler & Hanks wrote 1994, (Moore, Buttner, 1997). There is a scarcity of research on how female entrepreneurs approach this leadership role: Brush, wrote 1992 (Moore, Buttner, 1997).
In the past, male-oriented leadership models were used to study women as leaders or managers: Konek & Kitch wrote 1994; Powell wrote 1993 (Moore, Buttner, 1997). Today, researchers are introducing new models, specifically the interactive (Rosener, wrote 1990) and web approaches: Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule wrote 1986; Helgesen wrote 1999, (Moore, Buttner, 1997p99).
3.5.2 Transformational behaviors: Recent research has promoted the transformational leader as the more successful model for leadership :Kouzes & Posner wrote 1987, Saskin and Burke wrote 1990 (Moore, Buttner, 1997) further develop and expand on the role of vision as used by persons (1960) to focus transformational leadership on supporting the central functions and core competencies of the business. Inherent in this model is the need for leaders to act as role models, motivating and empowering followers to become leaders: Kelly wrote 1991; Kouzes & Posner, wrote 1987; Powell wrote 1993(Moore, Buttner, 1997). Recent studies also suggest that female leaders more than males tend to utilize transformational behaviors: Bycio, Hachett, Allen wrote 1995; Bass, Avolio, & Atwater wrote 1996; Druskat wrote 1994 (Moore, Buttner, 1997p100).
3.6 Web Approach: Helgesen wrote 1990, 1995 (Moore, Buttner, 1997) describes a female leadership style termed the web approach. In her 1990 study, she found differences in how women executives operated compared to a group of male executives observed by Mintzberg wrote 1973(Moore, Buttner, 1997.) Her findings indicated that women leaders tended to place
greater value on their relationships, with emphasis on cultivation and nurturance. Women move toward an integration of personal and professional dimensions of their lives, as contrasted with the compartmentalization found by Mintzberg. Eschewing the traditional perquisites (A payment or profit received in addition to a regular wage or salary) and privileges, which separate leaders from others in their organizations, female leaders also construct a tie to each individual :Yammarino, Dubinsky, Comer, & Jolson, wrote 1997(Moore, Buttner, 1997p100).
According to Rosener wrote, 1990 (Moore, Buttner,1997), women often did not have the same access to formal power and, therefore, had to rely on personal power and influence, teamwork, and a nontraditional style of leadership to get work accomplished. She termed this style “interactive.” Women using this style were characterized as encouraging participation, sharing power and information, enhancing others’ self-worth, and getting others excited about their work. Appelbaum and Shapiro wrote 1993 (Moore, Buttner, 1997) elaborated on the interactive leadership style by adding that it includes a cooperative stance, horizontal and egalitarian structure, intuitive and subjective decision making, low emphasis on control, and an empathetic culture. Shipper wrote 1994 (Moore, Buttner, 1997) found that the women he studied used interactive skills more frequently than did men.
3.6.1 Male and Female leadership style
Past research suggests that men and women employ different approaches to leadership. Eagley and Johnson wrote 1990 (Moore, Buttner, 1997), in a meta-analysis of the leadership literature, found that women behaved more democratically and men more autocratically in leadership situations. Coppolina and Seath wrote 1987 and Korabik wrote 1981, 1982, 1990 (Moore, Buttner, 1997) found that women placed greater emphasis on maintaining effective working relationships at work. Women may approach leadership differently because of socialization :Hennig & Jardim wrote 1977 (Moore, Buttner, 1997).
According to Chodorow wrote 1974, 1978 (Moore, Buttner, 1997), women value cooperation and being females and males to moral dilemmas, found that the females exhibited a concern for achieving outcomes that addressed the concerns of all parties involved, which Gilligan termed “and ethic of care”. Other research findings are consistent with Gilligan’s thesis that women’s sense of responsibility influence their values and leadership style (Desjardins wrote 1989; Fagenson wrote,1984, 1993; Families and work Institute, 1995 ( Moore, Buttner,1997p100, 101).
The changes have been global. The percentage of employed women is increasing in most countries. The pattern holds across cultures, whether in economically developed or undeveloped countries. The number of women in management or holding executive positions, however, remains negligible almost everywhere: Adler, wrote 1993; Brenner et al. wrote, 1989, (Moore, Buttner, 1997). Adler reports that evidence suggests that the under representation, underutilization, and skewed distribution of female managers worldwide is neither coincidental nor random but rather a function of systemic cultural sanctions, educational barriers, legal restrictions, and corporate practices, Adler wrote 1993, pp. 291, 295, (Moore, Buttner, 1997). For women doing all the “right stuff”-getting a similar education, maintaining similar levels of family power, working in similar industries, not moving in and out of the workforce, and not removing their names from consideration for transfer- does not result in equal pay for equal work: Stroh, Brett, & Reilly, wrote 1992, (Moore, Buttner, 1997).
Though females' early socialisation and other obstacles may impede them from becoming leaders, those who do ascend do not behave significantly differently from men in the same kinds of positions. Some studies have been able to discern differences in leadership style and managerial behaviour, but most have not.
Studies have examined male/female differences in three main types of managerial behaviour. The first is task accomplishment style, which is how much the leader initiates, organizes, and defines work activities and processes. The second is interpersonal style, which is how much the leader builds morale, relationships, satisfaction, and commitment in the organization. The third is decision-making style, which is how much the leader encourages a participative, democratic approach as opposed to an autocratic approach.
Some studies find differences between males' and females' task accomplishment styles and interpersonal styles. Males tended to be more task-oriented; females tended to be more relationship-oriented. These differences, however, have been observed only in men and women subjects of laboratory experiments, that is, people asked to speculate how they would behave if they were leaders. Differences disappear in studies where actual managers are compared: most conclude that women do not behave differently from men in the same or similar kind of leadership position. Moreover, experienced women managers show no differences in leadership abilities from experienced male managers. These women, in fact, are likely to more closely resemble their male counterparts in drive, skills, temperament, and competitiveness, than the
average woman in the population.
Some difference has been found in males' and females' decision making styles. According to Gary N. Powell's comprehensive study, Women and Men in Management, (http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia) women tend to employ a more democratic, participative style while men tend to take a more autocratic, directive approach. This difference has appeared in both laboratory studies and observations of real leaders. Some scholars thus argue that women's tendency to negotiate, mediate, facilitate, and communicate is the more effective leadership style than men's emphasis on power and control; and because this "feminine" style reduces hierarchy, satisfies subordinates, and achieves results, it should be the norm to which men are compared. There is some evidence that this is occurring: most mainstream writers now urge managers to adopt a caring, cooperative, collaborative, nurturing, connective, servant leadership style.
3.6.2 Medical differences
During the late 1990s medical science found a physical basis for some of these basic differences in leadership qualities. As asserted by Dorion Sagan in "Gender Specifics: Why Women Aren't Men," the structure of the female brain affords women several biological and cognitive advantages. This was thought to be in large part due to the connector between the two sides of the brain being larger in women than in men, resulting in a better ability on the female's part to integrate left brain/right brain activities. Women were thought better able to follow several trains of thought at the same time, while men appeared better able to focus on single topics. (http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia).
3.6.3 Male and Female’s same leadership style
The extensive research on women and leadership can be divided into two groups. One is the no-difference camp. Here it is commonly concluded that ‘in general, comparative research indicates that there are few difference in the leadership style of female and male designated leaders: Bartol and Martin, cited in Eagly and Johnson wrote , 1990 (Alvesson & Due Billing, 1997). The other is the gender stereotypical camp. Here, some crucial differences are believed to exist. Feminine leadership is characterized by cooperativeness, collaboration between managers and subordinates and problem solving based on intuition and empathy: e.g. Helgesen wrote 1990; Loden wrote
1986 (Alvesson & Due Billing, 1997). The first camp is typically academic, heavily measurement-oriented and thus adhering to the variable perspective. The second is more strongly made up of practitioner oriented authors, often journalists or consultants, typically relying on qualitative work and often of an anecdotal character. Some are more academic and derive ideas about women’s way of managing from readings of literature on the psychology of women: e.g. Fletcher wrote 1994; Grant wrote 1988 ((Alvesson & Due Billing, 1997).
Bayes wrote 1987(Alvesson & Due Billing, 1997) has studied female and male managers in public administration. While some women exhibited a management style which was open and participatory, other women favoured control on their management style. Men, too, varied in their management style in the degree of openness and participation they showed. The only area where some male and female respondents agreed that women were different from men was in the area of their dedication to work. Women were perceived to work harder, to take their work more seriously, or even too seriously, and to be less concerned with monetary rewards than with recognition when a good job was done.
Bayes concluded that women in public bureaucracies do not manage by using different leadership style, nor is any different leadership style reflected in the attitudes they express regarding organizational structure. Kovalainen wrote 1990 also found no significant differences in a study of male and female Finnish bank managers. (Alvesson & Due Billing, 1997, p143).
The article from Ramsey and Letherby deals with the problems that can arise for non-mothers in an academic environment. They have chosen an empirical approach of the issue.
First they give a short review of the current state of research. They mention the fact that in the last years the focus of research was on the problems that mothers had by combining their motherhood and their job. But the problems that non-mothers have in a gendered university were treated step motherly. Before they start with their results, they give the important definition of what they understand as a gendered university:
The notion of a gendered university culture covers all the taken-for granted,
unquestioned attitudes, behaviour, values and basic assumptions about the nature and role of the institution and the role of women within it. (Ramsey: 26)
Out of that arose some problems for female academics. They were forced to play both roles. On the one hand the efficient, detached and objective professional and on the other hand the kind and sympathetic woman. The situation for them gets even worse because mothers in an academic
milieu do not use their children as an excuse if they miss deadlines or if they not attend meetings. Non-mothers do not have the burden to take care of children and families. That is why the impression can break out that non-mothers have a lot of disposal time. Fighting this conclusion is one aim of the article. (Ramsey, Karen/ Gayle Letherby Vol. 13 No. 1 2006, p. 25- 43,).
3.7 Why so few women leaders?
Why are there differences between males and females in who becomes a leader? This is one main question of concern to writers in the area of gender and leadership. Though the situation has improved recently for women in the United States and other western countries, throughout human history women have not traditionally been found as leaders, outside the family, in complex organizations—those corporations, legislatures, universities, and financial institutions that greatly influence society.
Several reasons are cited for the low proportion of women leaders. One is that females' life aspirations are diminished by their early childhood socialization in the nuclear family. Generally the nuclear family transmits definitions of appropriate gender behaviour to children. For girls, this includes submissiveness, passivity, avoidance of aggression and competition, reticence to take risk, and other qualities our culture considers "feminine." Research shows that even when high school boys and girls have the same college and career aspirations, the boys receive significantly more parental encouragement to pursue their goals.
Socialisation: One result of this childhood socialisation is the tendency for adult women to be stereotyped as less well suited than men for leadership roles. Several studies have shown that people perceive successful managers to have the characteristics typically associated with men, though the actual qualities successful managers possess are a combination of masculine (e.g., forcefulness, self-confidence, task orientation, initiative) and feminine (e.g., concern for people, feelings, and relationships) traits. An obvious consequence of this is that a man is more likely to be selected for a leadership position than is a woman of equal qualification. Thus, a woman who aspires to leadership positions must overcome both her childhood socialisation, which discouraged development of some essential qualities, and a popular perception of the maleness of leadership—both of which tangibly reduce the chance she will be judged qualified. In addition to socialization and stereotyping, other barriers to females' upward mobility into leadership positions include: (a) discrimination against them in personnel decisions involving promotion, selection, and supervision; (b) a dearth of women and men willing to mentor women; (c)
management development opportunities that are based on job rotation: geographic mobility can create difficulties for a woman's children and destroy her spouse's career; (d) coincidence of the biological clock and some professions' "up or out" policies, such as professors' tenure clock and lawyers' partner clock; and (e) the perception of women as "outsiders" because of their physical differences, stereotyping, and exclusion from some social clubs and activities where important networks are built and maintained.
Other reasons women ascend to leadership positions less frequently than men are that women most frequently inhabit managerial positions with little power, little advancement opportunity, or where other women are so rare that their presence is attributed to their sexuality or affirmative action, or it is used as a symbol of the organization's enlightenment. Outside their paid jobs, women usually have significant responsibility for the care of their families and home, thereby depleting the energy they might otherwise devote to the pursuit of leadership positions of
consequence (http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia). Do females in managerial
jobs face strains other than those encountered by their male colleagues? This topic may be summarised under the somewhat universal and brad-brush concept of ‘stress’. There is a vast amount of literature comparing the stress levels of male and female managers.
The general impression is that there are significant differences. A British questionnaire (Davidson and Cooper, 1984) indicated that female managers experienced higher pressure levels from what is referred to as stress factors both at work, at home and within the individual herself. They also experienced greater manifestations of stress than did male managers. Women in junior and middle management experienced the highest occupational stress levels. They lacked female role models, and felt exposed to sex role stereotyping. They felt pressure to achieve and felt their treatment was unfair compared to men when it came to prospects of promotion and career. They experienced discrimination and prejudice and felt that their job-related training was inadequate compared to that of colleagues received of the opposite sex. Finally, they felt that male colleagues received more favourable treatment by the management. In sum, the higher pressures at work which female managers are being subjected to, tend to be stressors beyond their control, i.e. external discriminatory-based pressures.
In the home there were also a number of factors, which gave rise to stress. Earning more than the husband/partner, lacking support for domestic chores, experiencing conflicting feelings of responsibility in coping with both family and career all gave rise to stress for female managers
with families. Single women managers faced higher pressures than male managers, in relation to feeling an “oddity” (strangeness), being excluded from social business events and career conflict over whether to marry/live with someone’.
As for the male managers, they experienced the greatest amount of stress arising from their authority/leadership role as well as from the (unsatisfactory) magnitude of their salaries. (Given that they presumably were much better paid than the average employee the lower than desired level of wage may be seen as a source of frustration rather than as ‘stress’). The female and male managers who were most exposed to stress showed symptoms like ill health, they smoked too much, consumed too much alcohol, were dissatisfied with their jobs and performed poorly at work. It is of course difficult to say what the cause is and what is the effect or to point at underlying significant factors.
A study of middle managers at Volvo, the Swedish motor manufacturers, also showed that women suffered higher stress levels than men, they also complained more than men, especially about communication problems on the job and about lack of support from superiors. In addition one third of the women said that they had to perform better than the men in order to be evaluated as equally good: Frankenhaeuser wrote 1993, (Alvesson & Due Billng 1997).
Women were seen as adopting the ‘stress profile’ of men, meaning that they tended to react in a similar way to men in relation to demands and challenges, and that they exposed the so-called A-type behaviour: competitive orientation, aggressiveness, distrust and suspicion towards people around them. And they were even more competitive than their male colleagues. Frankenhaeuser suggests that this is due to their over adaptation to the male values at the managerial level.
It is very difficult to estimate the relationship between experimental results and what takes place in ‘real’ organizational sites. The former may underestimate the degree of bias in judgements because in real settings people may feel less constrained by the degree of monitoring (by academics) in research experiments and thereby express their prejudices about sex more freely, although perhaps in a covert form. Or the experiments may exaggerate biases, because of the lack of broader information and a focus on sex in the research design, while in real settings the sex of a manager may be less central in evaluations, because other people have access to much richer and broader impressions of the person. (Alvesson & Due Billng 1997, p147, 148,150).
Theoretical frame work
During the studying of literature about leadership and gender perspective I found differences between male and female leaders that frame work helps me out to make questions regarding leadership and gender perspective.
Source: Own construction
Differences MALE FEMALE
Gender Masculinity is related to male
Femminity related to female
Position Decision Makeing Glass Ceilling
Leadership Style Transactional Transformational
Associated Forcefulness, self confidence, Task
Concern for People, Feelings
orientation, Initiative and Relationship, Traits
Behaviour Autocratic Democratic
Appreciation Monetary rewards with recongnition Less monetary rewards
Differences
Focus on single topic, More
Expressive Focus on different topics,
Less Expressive
Management Favour More Favourable Less Favourable
Level of Stress Low level High Level
Devaluation High Pay and High Status Low pay and Status
Chapter 4
4. Empirical Data
Interview with Mr. Anders Friman
The interview with Mr. Anders Friman took place at Volvo Business Services AB in
Göteborg on Tuesday the 22nd of May 2007 between 9.15 am till 10.25 am.
Mr. Anders Friman working as a Manager of Competence & Benefits & VIAM (Volvo International assignment Management). He is working in Volvo Group from 33 years but on this position his 3rd year.
He has since he started working for Volvo Group stayed loyal to the company during these 33 years. Before started working for Volvo Business Services in Sweden Mr. Friman had also worked with Volvo trucks there he was also responsible for the VIAM (Volvo international assignment management).
Mr. Friman has also done work for the company in Pakistan, India, China, France and United States.
Volvo Business Services (VBS) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AB Volvo with sites in Sweden, Poland, France and the U.S.A. This subsidiary provides Volvo companies with rational, cast-efficient and high quality services in the human resources and financial administration areas.
Regarding interview questions and answer given below:- Q-1- What is your position with in this organization?
Ans. Manager of Competence & Benefits & VIAM. Volvo Business Service is an Administrative company with Volvo Group. This company taking care of all financial matters with all Volvo companies.
Mr. Andres Friman’s responsibilities that Volvo international assignment management i.e. contracting people to sending out abroad. And working for compensation and Benefits for example pension, insurance matters, salaries, and bounces.
working in the Volvo Group?
Ans. This is 3rd year of his working on this position but he was working in Volvo
Trucks for 12 years. There Mr. Andres was responsible not only VIAM (Volvo International assignment management) also the whole administration process. Since 1974 Mr. Andres working in Volvo Group.
During his career he did some re-organization in HR functions, now they have three parts dealing with HR for example Expertise, Services Center, and Business Center. They also are doing different tasks.
Q-3- How/by which means do you try to create positive attitude towards giving good service among your subordinates?
Ans. In this organization we focus very much on customers we are internal consultant and we work every hour for specific customers. Every hour we have to report invoices every month, every customer and customer with every company of Volvo Group i- e.Volvo trucks, Buses and Financial services.
We are customer Focus Company because they are paying our salaries and we need to keep them happy. To make them understand what are our responsibilities and what we can do for them.
As a leader I try to do inform my team as much as about crucial points. We have meetings every 2 weeks with whole team group for 3 hours where I explain what happened with the management? What new things happening? Customers input, trying to give as much information as possible and listen carefully to the team.
Mr. Andres thinks listen carefully to your subordinates is very important and give positive attitude to your subordinates and updated them every day. As a leader what do you have and what your responsibility do have?
Q-4 Who sets standards for employee behavior?
Ans. We have done lot of efforts in this area. We have brochures about this and you can easily understand Volvo behavior philosophy.
We called Volvo way this said the standard for the leaders, members, and managers how should behave in all aspects and situations in working life.
Volvo Way:- Our mission.
We working with energy, passion and respect for the individual. Quality, safety and environmental care represent our corporate values, the common ground for all of our operations. These values have evolved within the Volvo Group. They are based on the facts that our products are used by people and serve society.
Our operations must always be built on our concern for people. The corporate values have to be the common ground also for the specific values that we use to promote and differentiate our brand.
Energy, passion and respect for individual help us to achieve the Group’s objects and to develop as individual.
Energy
By expanding more energy in each situation, we enhance our competitiveness. When achieving good results, we should be diligent in communicating this. Good results inspire and act as a renewable source of energy.
Passion
Passion is a strong emotion and yet this word best describes how it feels to be deeply committed. It evolves from feeling, pleased and proud about being part of the company, its products and its support for our customers.
Respect for the individual
Respect is fundamental for all relations. When we feel, we are empowered to assume responsibility for ourselves and our situation. Our personal capacity and self-esteem will grow and help us meet the high expectations that we face as employees.
Respect for the individual involves giving people the information and feed back that they need, under both favorable and difficult conditions. It also involves actively
listening too, learning from and supporting each other, working together and benefiting from each others differences and experiences. There is strength in diversity.
Q-5- Do you have special programme for future male and female leaders?
Ans. Volvo Group in Sweden has since many years’ graduate programs for newly graduated academics. We want to give the young employees a holistic view of our company and provide a number of tools in order to give them a good start in their career.
So far, around 100 Volvo personnel have taken part in the 12-month corporation-wide graduate program, which started in 2003. The idea is to create networks that cross company boundaries and thereby allowing members of staff to learn from each other’s knowledge and experience. The purpose is also to give newly graduated co-workers a holistic view of the Volvo Group. Companies taking part in the corporation-wide programs are Volvo Trucks, Volvo Power train, Volvo Penta, Volvo Logistics, Volvo Information Technology, Volvo Parts and Volvo Bus Corporation. Being employed as a graduate at Volvo equals getting permanent full time contracts with entry-level
compensation at one of the participating Volvo-companies. The group this year consists of 14 women and 13 men.
Q-6- How many subordinates working under your leadership?
Ans. Total 12 subordinates are working under Mr. Andres Friman. 10 Female and 2 Male. Q-7- Which type of difficulties you have as a leader?
Ans. Mr. Andres told me that we have been since one and half year in this project we transfer whole HR functions, being ordinary HR functions, where every Volvo Company has their own HR i-e. Administration, Analyst functions. Now we turn this totally round, we now divided in three different segments. The process and policy makers, Administrator and Business partners/ HR Managers.
We are reducing the number of HR people in the companies and move them here instead doing administration. This has been very turbulence project which has lot of
frustration and anger. For me as a leader very much focus on transition, how we can perform in best manner, receive task, how we can perform them and deliver in time. Time factor is a big problem. Time factor seem always to be a problem, you never think that you have good time enough. No how to give priorities what should we do first and what can leave to tomorrow? And also give the daily attention to the team members and speak to them regularly not only once year on daily basis. I have open door that my way, door open policy.
Always fight with my boss on Budget and cost reducing matters, but its not difficulties we recruit competent persons.
Q-8- Is marriage impact on your career?
Ans. No. For me it’s not a problem we don’t have any child. My wife is working full time as well. I don’t see any problem because I am always traveling.
Q-9- How you behave with your subordinates?
Ans. Mr. Andres thinks listen carefully to your subordinates is very important and give positive attitude to your subordinates and updated them every day. As a leader what do you have and what your responsibility do have?
Q-10- What is yours Recruitment policy?
Ans. We have general recruitment policy with in Volvo off course very much
concentrate on diversity that is very high on agenda that is not only male female but also non Swedes/Swedes people coming from other cultures, other languages. This company believes that we are operating globally.
We are in over 100 countries so that we are global company that’s why we need global people. When we recruit people to sending abroad not only Swedes people for different tasks. We have 35 nationalities.
Q-11- Do leaders who differ in gender differ in terms of expression of emotion? Ans. We are individuals I can not explain what female leaders are? I don’t know. In general talk female leaders are softer. In HR we have lot of female leaders my thinking
