Archive for April, 2009
5/12/09- ExxonMobil 2009 Women’s Leadership Conference
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
Erika will be the guest keynote speaker at this ExxonMobil sponsored event, The Chemistry of Success.
Conference Objectives:
- Recognize, support and encourage Women’s groups across ExxonMobil
- Understand progress and define steps to further enhance Women’s development
- Provide networking opportunities across organizations
- Communicate and celebrate
A Woman’s Value(s): Evolutionary Psychology and the Differences in Compensation Packages for Male and Female Top Executives
Monday, April 27th, 2009“A Woman’s Value(s): Evolutionary Psychology and the Differences in Compensation Packages for Male and Female Top Executives,” by Christine Shropshire, Erika Hayes James, and Peggy Lee asks the question: What are the psychological aspects that may account for the pay gap between male and female executives? The authors use multiple samples and methodologies to try to answer this question. For example, they include the top executives of the largest 1,000 U.S. firms from 1990 to 2003, and they interview board of director members who have been involved in hiring and compensating CEOs.
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Linking Crisis Management and Leadership Competencies: The Role of Human Resource Development
Thursday, April 16th, 2009“Linking Crisis Management and Leadership Competencies: The Role of Human Resource Development,” by Lynn Perry Wooten and Erika Hayes James, shows the importance of building skills in executives for leading during a crisis. Human resource development can prepare leaders to handle the various stages of an organizational crisis. Typically, there is no formal training or on-the-job experience to prepare a leader for crisis management. The authors emphasize the importance of having a system in place to guide leaders through crises such as accidents, scandals, and product safety and health incidents.
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Decision Making in the New Economy
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
In 1998 I purchased my first home. The previous 3 years I saved for, planned, and anticipated the time that I would spend with a real estate agent in search of my new abode. After a few weeks of searching I found myself increasingly frustrated and disappointed. Sure there were plenty of nice homes, but they were not in the right location. Or I would find the perfect location only to learn that the available homes in the area lacked a garage, or the adequate number of bathrooms, or had closets that were too small. Eventually, I found the place that was right for me, although it wasn’t what I had planned or imagined. In choosing the home that I did, I satisficed. In other words, I made a decision that was sufficient to meet my minimum requirements, yet I ultimately sacrificed on key features of the home that I thought I wanted or needed. In the course of making subsequent significant decisions I have found satisficing to be the norm. It is what is required of decision makers who are responsible for tackling weighty problems at a time when it seems everything around them is changing – and quickly. In the current economy, the opportunities for slow, methodical, rational decision making are limited, because our circumstances are marked by hyper-competition, globalization, and rapid advances in technology at a rate we have never before experienced. (more…)
Leadership as (Un)usual: How to Display Competence in Times of Crisis
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009“Leadership as (Un)usual: How to Display Competence in Times of Crisis,” by Erika Hayes James and Lynn Perry Wooten, addresses the competencies required to lead a business through turbulent events. The authors emphasize that the handling of a crisis can be just as consequential as the crisis itself; it can make or break a firm’s reputation.
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