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Beyond the glass ceiling OUR
BUREAUS The
International Power 50 ranks women who have an operating role in
businesses outside the United States, including women based there who
run overseas divisions, such as Coke’s Mary Minnick. Pepsi’s Indra K
Nooyi, who featured in last year’s international listing by Fortune,
is on the US list now. Ms
Chhabria (55) successfully took over the reins of the Jumbo Group after
Manu Chhabria’s untimely death last year. Her ranking in the 38th
place is a steep climb from 44 last year. “I
consider this recognition as a vindication of business philosophy and
work ethics of the Jumbo Group. However, our real test lies in dealing
with radical changes in the business environment, all over. I look up to
our committed human resource for a better future, for that’s where the
real power lies,” said Ms Chhabria. Ms
Chhabria’s rise in the rankings is probably triggered by Shaw
Wallace’s move to form a joint venture with SABMiller, a move that
would impact the beer industry in India critically. She runs the
group’s 28 businesses with the help of two of her three daughters and
its flagship business, the Dubai-based Jumbo Electronics, is the largest
distributor of Sony Products in the world. The flagship of the Indian
operations, Shaw Wallace, is the second largest liquor company in the
country. Ms
Kidwai (46) is among the country’s most well-known investment banker,
which has traditionally been the home-turf of alpha-males. When
queried on how it felt to move up three notches in the ranking of 47, Ms
Kidwai said it only made it all the more tough to hold on! Do
gender-based rankings of this nature really count for? Ms Kidwai did not
volunteer a response, but concurred that perhaps it is a reflection that
there is still glass ceiling at companies, which makes such efforts most
interesting! Ms
Kidwai joined HSBC from JM Morgan Stanley last year, a move seen as
reflecting her new employer’s ambitions in investment banking, to be
an active participant in the country’s disinvestment process in
particular. According
to management experts, the success of these women only reveals that no
external forces like gender biases, for instance, can deter genuine
merit. Said Tarun Sheth of Shilputsi consultants, a global HR
consultancy firm: “If the women are able to consistently deliver
worldclass performance then breaking the glass ceiling is hardly an
issue. Once they are able to prove that they can steer the business
forward then more and more opportunities to prove their capabilities
will automatically come their way. Unless of course there is something
drastically misfit in the organisations. And such a possiblity is very
rare in the contemporary age.” Added
Anil Sachdeva, chairman of Grow Talent, a leading HR consultancy firm:
“The success of these women professionals reveals that by virtue of
sheer determination and a worldclass ability to succeed, breaking the
glass ceiling at the global workplace is hardly a challenge”. Moreover,
the success of those like Ms Kidwai reveals that along with all these
diverse capabilities, women also need to have the ability to balance the
various roles as a wonderful wife, mother and an outstanding
professional with consummate ease. Mr Sheth also believes that to make it to the top, women professionals should also be open to switch any number of organisations without being restricted by personal dilemmas, as some of these women professionals have done in the course of their successful careers. But this should be done only if such job switch provide them with the opportunities to enrich their careers. |
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