A MARKETING PERSPECTIVE ON WOMEN IN MANAGEMENT - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY

Previous research on women in management has concentrated on defining the problem and analyzing situational determinants. Theoretical perspe ctives presented in the academic and popular press accounting for lack of female representation in management include attitudinal obstacles, structural barriers, labour force discrimination, and the feminist vi ewpoint. The authors argue that while this research has made a signifi cant contribution, like other areas of management research, solutions offered reflect the bias of the individual author's theoretical and po litical perspective. This paper suggests that through the adoption of a marketing perspective on women in management, solutions can be consi dered from the viewpoint of the target audience, and the case presente d will reflect the benefits corporations want to derive. Since profit and other financial indicators are the gold standard for measuring cor porate performance, this paper uses a sample of 61 major Canadian corp orations to explore the relationship between the number of women in ma nagement and profit. While this approach has a number of methodologica l and conceptual limitations, it suggests that a marketing perspective , focusing on the benefits corporations can expect from more women in management, is worthy of future investigation.