Oil can do better than “shale, stale and male” 9 Mar 2018 The energy industry has an abysmal record of hiring women – and the CERAWeek energy confab in Houston reflected rather than addressed the problem. But as oil companies move jobs from the well to the lab, hiring women is logical as well as right.
Asia’s boardrooms require critical mass of women 8 Mar 2018 One fifth of firms in Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index have all-male boards but appointments of women are rising. The next task is to ensure they are present in sufficient numbers for companies to reap the full rewards of diversity. The multiplier effect applies to girl power too.
Review: Knocking at the door of tech’s boys’ club 23 Feb 2018 Women played key roles in the development of computers, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at Silicon Valley. A hostile culture has pushed them to the fringes of America’s technology hotbed. A new book says thinking differently would pay dividends for women, and the industry.
Tesco pay showdown contains a wider warning 8 Feb 2018 A claim that female shop workers should get the same wage as male warehouse staff could cost the UK grocer up to 4 billion pounds. It’s a lesser-known twist on equal pay. While retailers Asda and Sainsbury’s face similar legal challenges, all sectors may be exposed.
Wynn Resorts slide shows house can lose in new era 26 Jan 2018 Boss Steve Wynn says sexual-misconduct accusations leveled at him are “preposterous”. The $2 bln wiped off the company's shares suggests investors nonetheless fear boardroom disruption. It’s a warning to all firms that even alleged misbehavior has become a financial risk.
Davos gathering gets #MeToo balance mostly right 22 Jan 2018 This year’s summit in the Swiss ski resort is chaired entirely by women, with gender a big theme at panels and parties. But the summit's low female attendance reflects the global imbalance of power. Tighter quotas would make Davos more politically correct but less formidable.
Review: “The Post” gets more relevant by the hour 12 Jan 2018 Steven Spielberg's cinematic retelling of the publication of the Pentagon Papers feels rushed at times, and the nostalgia for a bygone newspaper business is maudlin. But such flaws are easy to forgive as current events emphasize the necessity of a free – and profitable – press.
Viewsroom: Investors target sexual misconduct 29 Dec 2017 Companies that sweep settlements for bad behavior under the carpet will feel shareholder ire in 2018, Breakingviews predicts. Plus, Apple will float past the EU’s roving eye, splintering political parties are a ticking U.S. time bomb and bank bosses may hang up their hats.
C-suite is corporate America’s big sex scandal 19 Dec 2017 Females hold fewer than a quarter of senior executive titles, new research finds. And it’s getting worse. The tsunami of harassment exposés makes the paucity of women in leading positions even more egregious. Without change at the top, it’ll be hard to fix the broader situation.
UK gender pay data needs rigorous audit 7 Dec 2017 Some British companies have suspiciously reported no gap between the pay of male and female employees, the Financial Times found. The government thought transparency would help close the divide. To be credible, though, the data must be audited – and offenders punished.
Sexual misconduct will haunt 2018 annual reports 29 Nov 2017 This year brought revelations of companies using shareholder bounty to settle allegations male executives harassed and made unwanted advances on mostly female workers. In the coming proxy season, expect investor proposals pushing for greater disclosure and action on the issue.
Gender bonds are more than feel-good investments 17 Nov 2017 Investors have flocked to the first-ever U.S. dollar bond promoting equality at work. They are smart to do so. It's more than good PR at a bad time for the war of the sexes. Given the correlation between moral behaviour and sound returns, the bigger issue is lack of supply.
Holding: Corporate America loves its bad Boies 10 Nov 2017 The lawyer David Boies may have helped disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein try to hide his abuses, but don’t expect more than a shrug from the business world. In a realm that prizes results, the defender of the likes of ex-AIG boss Hank Greenberg will remain the go-to consigliere.
The Exchange: Ellen Pao 2 Nov 2017 The investor sued Kleiner Perkins for discrimination, becoming a canary in the coal mine for a raft of sexual-harassment and gender-bias allegations rocking Silicon Valley, Hollywood and beyond. She discusses if this is a turning point for what she describes as a systemic problem.
Sexual harassment forces way into the board room 18 Oct 2017 Harvey Weinstein’s movie studio is in tatters. Mighty Amazon is wrestling with the fallout from alleged misbehavior of a top executive. They're not alone. The mistreatment of women has swiftly moved from an HR issue to a serious business risk deserving of attention from the top.
Review: Ellen Pao cracked door for women in tech 29 Sep 2017 In "Reset," the venture capitalist recounts her decision to fight Kleiner Perkins in court over sexism, rather than settling. She lost, but several women have since publicly confronted the bro-culture of Silicon Valley at Uber, SoFi and beyond, yielding more promising results.
Hadas: Economists aren’t as sexist as economics 29 Aug 2017 Insulting comments about women economists on an online forum have shocked the profession. The problem exists in other fields. The difference here is the dismissive attitude embedded in a discipline that tends to ignore cooperation and the care work usually done by women.
Silicon Valley reinvents avoidable sexism scandals 26 Jun 2017 Binary Capital is imploding amid claims of predatory behavior. Uber is belatedly tackling similar issues. Venture-capital doyen Reid Hoffman wants an industry “decency pledge.” That's fine, but the tech world could have learned long ago from experience, including on Wall Street.
Bonderman gaffe spreads toxicity past Uber exhaust 14 Jun 2017 The TPG founder’s sexist joke at a meeting about sexism shows how far the ride-hailing app has to go to change its culture. He at least quickly took responsibility and quit the board, unlike CEO Travis Kalanick. But the financier’s poor judgment may worry other firms he advises.
Uber’s journey to good governance jerks to a start 13 Jun 2017 CEO Travis Kalanick will leave temporarily as the ride-hailing firm tries to impose order. An indefinite absence and putting a shrinking group of direct reports in charge are murky first steps. Finding an independent chairman should help, but the board could use a bigger shakeup.