Travel and other commitments have prevented me from doing as much blogging as usual lately. I’ve also been behind on reading lately and am just now getting caught up. The One of the things in the “to be read” pile was the spring issue of Pink Magazine. On pages 58-59 there is a list of the 59 largest companies in America with no women on the board ("The Zero Club," by James Burroughs). Not a one. Zippo. No girls allowed. I didn’t check the corporate offices of all the companies to see how many were in Pennsylvania; finding corporate headquarters can be tricky. Two names did jump out at me, however. Hershey and Toll Brothers were on the list. Toll Brothers has eleven directors, Hershey nine, all of the male persuasion.
Just zooming around google I found a number of women that might make an excellent addition to Toll; women in green construction, women who specialize in sustainable interiors, women who hold prominent positions in the retirement community industry. There are also a number of prominent women in the greater Philadelphia area, if they want to keep it local.
Hershey amazed me. It’s a CHOCOLATE company. Do women not buy chocolate? What madness is this? Tom Ridge is on the board of directors. Sure he’s a former governor and former cabinet secretary. If I wanted to know about homeland security Tom would be the go to guy. But, really, does he know more about candy than the average woman on the street? I think not.
To get a reality check on the candy business I looked at one of Hershey’s prime competitors, Mars, the makers of my personal vice, M&Ms. Mars is privately owned by the Mars family and therefore don’t have to tell anybody much of anything, but there are several women in the family who seem to have something to do with the business.
A few other names on the list: KBR, no shocker there. Land’O’Lakes was another surprise though. Interesting.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Mars Might Have Women, Hershey and Toll Brothers Do Not
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4 comments:
It's not a surprise. Corporate managements pick people whom they feel comfortable with as much as for their expertise.
Odds are that a bunch of white guys feels comfortable with a bunch of other white guys.
Yes, but their customer base may not be white guys and may want to see a more diverse governing board. These things matter in the big leagues. In last night's post I mentioned two small scientific companies in the region. One had two women on the board and the other had an all-male board but a woman in an executive position. With larger companies, diversity is essential.
95% of chocoholics are Women! What are they thinking?
my point exactly.
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