Female Representation on the Board of Directors :: womens studies, business

Hillman, Shropshire and Cannella (2007) seeks to answer the question of why do some organizations brook women on their scorecard of directors while others do not? This review will seek to identify the objective of the study basic assumptions and theories deployed identify the hypothesis and look into methodologies used in testing the assumptions, and discuss the results before reaching a conclusion.The research question is appropriate because it focused on the characteristics organisations have that are apparent pointers to the level of female representation on its board. Previous research looked at female representations based on work group level (e.g Cox & Nkomo, 1991 Milliken & Martins, 1996) or on an individual level. In addition, despite the several agitations and literatures that show the accrued benefits of having much women on board( e.g Blackman, 2004 Browder, 1995 Gasparino &Boyce, 1998), recent statistics shows that men still hold a great number of seats on boards of US firms. Schnake et al (200631). What could be the reason for this? What are the common attributes/characteristics of these organisations where there are women on their boards? These were referred to as organisational predictors.According to Hillman et al, management on organizational characteristics that are predictive of women on corporate boards allows us to systematically explore under what conditions a firms board is more likely to include female directors (2007941). This represents the underlying objective of this study. In achieving this, references were made to existing theory and hypotheses were developed and tested.The resource dependence theory was used as the theoretical framework in the search to answers for these questions. It examines the interdependence between organizations and entities in their external environment. Pfeffer, Pfeffer & Salancik, cited in Hillman et al (2007942). The Resource dependence theory is also, hinged on the feature that no organisation c an succeed without the derived benefits they get from external entities. This remains a crucial factor in board recruitment and female board members can provide such benefits to their organisations.The article is based on deductive research, which entails testing of hypotheses derived from existing theories and concept (Gummesson as cited in University of Leicester 2008187). The hypotheses tested were as follows1.Organisational coat is positively associated with female representation on a board of directors2.Firms in industries with greater female employment bases are positively associated with female representation on boards of directors3.A firms level of diversification is positively associated with female representation on its board of directors