The power of women in business

Taurai Changwa Business Forum

According to Bridget Brennan, a Forbes contributor, women account for between 70 percent to 80 percent of all consumer spending through both their buying power and influence.

Usually, women underline their influence even in cases where they are not buying by influencing the vote behind someone else’s purchase.

Some observe that women also have a higher life expectancy than men.
According to 2014 World Bank statistics, women’s life expectancy averages 73,6 years compared to men at 69,4.
Longevity often determines the extent of one’s influence over business and business decisions.

It must also be understood that women buy on behalf of people who live in their households as well as for extended family and friends.

Even in situations where they are not earning anything, women are likely to be the gatekeeper of household expenditure.
In short, they are a market that has to be reckoned with.

Some businesses consciously configure their plans to spending patterns that obtain in a particular economy, and it is, therefore, unsurprising that they go for groups they know are likely to shop and spend the most.

This also determines how they package and sell their wares.
Nowadays the consumer is largely viewed as a discerning animal that responds to different tastes.
Local businesses must bear this in mind.

It is undoubted that women make most decisions on home purchases, holiday destinations, healthcare choices and even which car to purchase.

So, in alomost every sector – from mining, retail to tourism – women play a crucial role.
Experts argue that it is foolish to make a business decision without considering the needs and wants of a woman.

In other words, women are the market yet many executives have not taken action on this huge opportunity.
Increasingly, women are assuming bigger roles in companies around the globe.

Facebook recently hired Philippa Snare to manage marketing for Africa, Europe and Middle East and the global marketing director is also a woman, Kelly Graziadei.

Even more interesting is that we are now seeing women lead companies in industries that have been historically male dominated.
For example, for the first time ever, IBM chose a woman CEO, Virginia “Ginni” Rometty.

Hewlett-Packard, another technology company, named Meg Whitman as their CEO in September 2011.
And Yahoo’s new CEO Marissa Mayer has been driving positive headlines for the struggling company.

On the local market, only Mrs Grace Muradzikwa, the MD of NicozDiamond, is perhaps the only noticeable female executive managing a listed company.

Over half the corporate leaders in China are women. India has more women CEOs than the US.
And over the past 30 years we have seen the number of women leaders in the Middle East, Africa, China, and Europe increase as well.

Quoting Andrew Craner, an American freelance writer, women are no longer held to the idea of being secretaries or the assistant to the business leaders, but are in fact leaders themselves. Women do not need to be seen as the bench-warmers, but as players in the field of business.

It’s time to not only accept the fact that women are helping in the business world to make improvements in their own way, but to also help promote the idea that women offer different strengths that can bring more success to the business world.

Among the Fortune 500 companies, those with the highest proportion of women in top leadership positions have seen much higher financial returns than those the lowest proportions.

This is not necessarily an issue about equality, but about bringing improvement from all directions regardless of gender, race, or other statuses.

Research shows that women in leadership roles often tend to display excellent business skills such as people development, participatory decision making, efficient communication, and inspiration.

So, when we talk of women empowerment in Zimbabwe, let us consider how influential women are and how valuable they are in our respective industries.

In Zimbabwe, there are several women rising and results in these companies have surely proved that women are competent to run big corporate companies.

This means that women empowerment has to be taken seriously.
As developing societies chart the way forward, such matrices have to be seriously considered in order to spur growth in industry and commerce.

If the country has to be competitive, it has to quickly adopt and adapt to international best practice.

Taurai Changwa is an articled accountant with vast experience in tax, accounting, audit and corporate governance issues. He is MD of SAFIC Consultancy and writes in his personal capacity. Feedback: [email protected], Facebook page SAFIC Consultancy and Whatsapp +263772374784