To Get More From R&D, Put Women in Charge
Want to get better results from your company's investment in research and development? It's easy: get more women involved in new product development, especially mid-level women.
In a validation of both feminist theory and corporate cafeteria speculation, Columbia Business School assistant professor David Gaddis Ross has found that the classic female management style creates a hospitable environment for new ideas and different ways of thinking. That directly lifts the return that those companies reap from their R&D.
This is good news for the C-suite and those grinding away in labs, brand development and on project teams. "Sometimes companies believe that there's a trade-off between the 'right thing to do' and shareholder value," Ross says. "There's no tradeoff. This is particularly true for companies that have to be more creative with strategy, or those that develop technology." Ross and a research colleague, Cristian Dezsö of the University of Maryland, analyzed the financial performance of the 1,500 largest U.S. firms. They found that senior women are most effective at companies that heavily rely on research and development (as evidenced by the corporate R&D budgets). That's especially relevant for technology companies, which are always driving dramatic change, but also for companies that are top innovators within their industries.
"On average, women manage with a more inclusive, democratic style, and those behaviors are associated with generating a more innovative outcome," Ross told me in a recent interview. "Innovation is fostered by diversity. The last thing you want is to pack a room with people who think the same way. But they need to feel safe, so they can share ideas."
Here's how managers can make the most of this dynamic to jet-fuel results for new product development:
1. Proactively rotate women into project management roles. Specifically cultivate women as team leads to load your pipeline with qualified women who are gaining key experience.
2. Showcase the innovation and business results of senior women. Communicate through case studies that illustrate how women parlayed their technical and management skills to bring new ideas to market.
3. Make sure that top managers encourage women to introduce their ideas. "A lot of women who have great ideas feel stifled, or less safe, to develop those ideas," Ross says. "They exit to develop those ideas on their own. As a manager, you don't want to lose them."
Image courtesy Flickr user faith goble, CC 2.0