Women make most of the consumer purchases in the United
States, earn about half the family's income in more than
half the households and control more than $14 trillion
in wealth, according to a 2005 study by the Business and
Professional Women's Foundation.
But in many companies — including many in Michigan — that
influence stops somewhere short of the boardroom door.
 |
Barclay |
Women make up less than 10 percent of the directors and
about 11 percent of the executive officers in Michigan's
largest companies. That disparity is what led Inforum,
a women's professional organization, to create the Michigan
Women's Leadership Index. It ranks the 100 largest publicly-owned
companies in the state based on the percentages of women
serving on their boards of directors, on their executive
teams and among their highest-paid officers.
And thanks to a healthy partnership between Inforum
and the Eastern Michigan University College of Business,
the bi-annual index project has found a new permanent home
at EMU as of Aug. 1.
"To me, it furthers our interaction with the business
community," said COB Dean David Mielke. "And I think it
builds strong ties with a group that is really the leader
in terms of executive development and support for women
business people."
Inforum, formerly known as the Women's Economic Club
of Detroit, has published the report since 2003 with the
help of the University of Michigan's Center for the Education
of Women (2003), Michigan State's Institute for Public
Policy (2005) and the University of Michigan's Ross School
of Business (2007). At this point, Barclay said, the project
would be best served by finding a place where it can flourish.
"There are some efficiencies to be gained by partnering
with one university," Barclay said. "We think
Eastern Michigan University's College of Business really
has a focus on the local business community, in addition
to the many exciting things it's doing in the international
business community. We feel they're a good partner for
Michigan."
By producing the report year after year, EMU's faculty
will become increasingly familiar with the companies it
covers, putting them in a better position to understand
trends and develop perspective on the data. It also may
spark additional research ideas, Barclay said.
The index creates another link in an already strong relationship
between EMU and Inforum. The COB has been one of Inforum's
corporate sponsors for four years and, through its professional
education center, has conducted six leadership programs
at Inforum's southeastern Michigan offices. Those were
successful enough to warrant three more sessions at the
group's Grand Rapids location.
Under the guidance of a faculty coordinator, a full-time
graduate student in the College of Business will compile
the report using Securities and Exchange Commission filings
and a verification system developed by the University of
Michigan.
Corporate stars of previous indexes have included Compuware,
FNBH Bancorp, the holding company for First National Bank
of Howell; and X-Rite, a Grand Rapids-based company that
provides color management and color measurement software,
hardware and services.
FNBH Bancorp, which is in the under-$100 million revenue
category, had the highest ranking, 24 of 30 possible points,
in the 2007 index. Its five top executives included three
women, as did its 11-person board of directors. In contrast,
29 of the companies in the index scored a zero.
"(The index) is a benchmark against which companies can
measure their own performance on a diversity front," Barclay
said. "They can compare by size or industry classification.
A lot of times, manufacturing companies cry foul if you
compare them to a small bank in the Upper Peninsula. And
they're right. We have Fortune 500 companies, but we also
look at companies with revenues more than $100 million
and under $100 million."
