Women in management in family businesses: Any impact on the financial performance?

Abstract

The main goal of this project is to explore and analyze the influence of women's presence in a firm’s managerial positions and whether that can benefit the firm's performance, particularly the impact on the financial performance of family businesses. Each year the number of women directors and CEOs rises, but there is still a disagreement on whether female leadership can impact the financial performance of firms. While some authors state that there is a positive correlation between female leadership and a firm’s financial performance, others agree that their presence is nonessential to a firm’s profitability, although still being an ethical and moral imperative. By analyzing existing literature, this thesis aims to understand the impact women leaders have on the firm performance of family businesses by studying the financial reports of four family-owned businesses: Coty Inc., H&M Group, Merck Group, and Eramet S.A.