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Capstone Project Part 1: Overall Impacts of Women CEO in Business

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Introduction
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There were 54 female CEOs heading America's biggest corporations as of May 2023, up

from 41 in 2022. The first two Black women to head Fortune 500 companies are Thasunda

Brown Duckett and Rosalind Brewer. According to sociologists and career development

consultants, women can be motivated to accomplish comparable goals by observing others who

have gone through similar situations. Notwithstanding advancements, it's critical to honor these

women since 84% of women think it's critical to see more women in leadership positions. These

15 female CEO role models are motivating. There are several strategies that can be implemented

to increase the number of women executives in the business sector. The purpose of this report is

to discuss these strategies comprehensively and to recommend how they can successfully be

implemented to increase the number of female executives in the corporate sector.

Overall Impact of Women CEOs in Business

Research has demonstrated that when women are given the opportunity to assume

leadership roles, everyone can experience a metamorphosis. Compared to men, female leaders

are more likely to exhibit transformational leadership styles, embody the organization's best

qualities, and motivate others to support its goals. Competency stereotypes have changed

drastically over time, with women today viewed as either equally or more competent than men.

Because women gain from group processes, their participation in the group considerably

enhances team collaboration. In seven of the eight qualities that are important for a leader—

honesty, intelligence, compassion, extroversion, and creativity—women score higher than or on

par with men. In both male- and female-dominated businesses, the sheer existence of a female

leader can result in more equitable treatment, higher predicted salaries and status, and more

organizational trust. Putting women in leadership positions can help lessen the impact of

ingrained linguistic stereotypes. This suggests that having more women in leadership roles is not
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only a goal in and of itself, but also a method of systematically altering pernicious gender

stereotypes and resolving the dilemma of being liked or competent.

Three Women CEOs at Publicly Traded Companies

Rosalind Brewer

Currently serving as CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) is Rosalind Brewer. In

March 2021, Rosalind (Roz) Brewer became the CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA). She

serves as a director on the board of WBA. From October 2017 until January 2021, Brewer most

recently held the positions of group president and chief operating officer at Starbucks.

Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors (GM).

Mary Barra leads General Motors as its chair and CEO. She has been GM's CEO since

January 15, 2014, and on January 4, 2016, she was elected Chair of the GM Board of

Directors.Under Barra's direction, GM hopes to create a world free of collisions to save lives,

emissions to leave a healthier planet for future generations, and traffic to free up consumers'

valuable time. In addition to striving to spearhead the transformation of personal mobility

through cutting-edge technologies like connection, electrification, and autonomous driving, she

is focused on enhancing the customer experience and bolstering GM's core car and services

business.

Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

Dr. Lisa T. Su oversaw the transition of AMD into the industry leader in high-

performance and adaptive computing and one of the fastest-growing semiconductor businesses

globally while serving as chair and CEO. As senior vice president and general manager of

AMD's worldwide business units, Dr. Su joined the company in January 2012 and was in charge

of overseeing the full business execution of AMD's solutions and products.

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Career Path They Took

UpRosalind Brewer was president and CEO of Walmart's Sam's Club division from

February 2012 through February 2017. Prior to Walmart, she held several executive leadership

roles with the company beginning in 2006. She also served as president of Kimberly-Clark

Corporation's global Nonwovens division from 2004 to 2006 and held various management roles

at the company beginning in 1984.Before joining Walmart, Ms. Brewer served as the

chairwoman of Spelman College's Board of Trustees, where she completed her undergraduate

degree. She is also a Board member of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American

History and Culture. Ms. Brewer has also served on the Boards of Directors of Starbucks,

Amazon, and Lockheed Martin Corp. and is currently ranked No. 27 on Fortune's 50 most

powerful women in business.

Prior to her appointment as CEO, she was GM's executive vice president of global

Product Development, global Purchasing and supply chain from August 2013 to February 2011,

and senior vice president of Global Product Development from February 2011 to August 2013.

During her time in these roles, she and her team were responsible for designing, engineering and

delivering GM vehicle launches around the world. Prior to that, she was Vice President of Global

Human Resources, Vice President of Global Manufacturing Engineering, and a plant manager in

Detroit, Michigan at the Motor Division. Before that, she worked in executive engineering and a

variety of staff positions. Barra joined GM's workforce in 1980 as an undergraduate co-operative

student at the General Motors Institute in Pontiac, Michigan. She graduated in 1985 with a

bachelor of science in electrical engineering, and in 1990 with a master of business

administration. She is also the Chair and founder of GM's Inclusion Advisory
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Lisa Su Prior to her current role as Chair and CEO of AMD, Lisa Su served as the Chief

Operating Officer (COO) of AMD, overseeing the integration of AMD’s Business Units, Sales,

Global Operations and Infrastructure Enablement Teams into one market-facing organization

with responsibility for all aspects of Product Strategy and execution. Prior to AMD, Lisa Su

worked as a Senior Vice President and General Manager (SVP) at Freescale, Inc., and as a Chief

Technology Officer (CTO) at IBM. Prior to joining AMD, Lisa Su held a variety of engineering

and business roles, including a Vice President at the semiconductor research and development

center. She holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT and has published more

than 40 technical articles. Lisa Su has been elected to several organizations and has received

numerous honors, such as the Robert N.Noyce Medal from IEEE. She also serves on the board of

directors at Cisco Systems and the semiconductor industry association.

Profitability of Their Companies

Rosalind Brewer, the third black woman in history to lead a Fortune 500 company, has

been appointed as the new CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance. Brewer, who has a background in

organic chemistry, has led various businesses, including Kimberly Clark, Walmart, and

Starbucks. She has been an inclusive leader, advocating for diversity and making healthcare

affordable and accessible. Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors, has been a key figure in the

company's success, focusing on homegrown talent and understanding its unique dynamics. She

has held various professional positions, including Plant Manager and Vice President of Global

Product Development. Lisa Su, former senior vice president and general manager at AMD, has

played a significant role in the company's diversification beyond the PC market, focusing on

high-performance computing and graphics technologies.

Their Management Style

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Servant Leadership

Servant leaders are leaders who put their team and their customers first. They don’t care

about power or personal success. They care about the growth and success of their team, and they

care about their customers’ satisfaction. A great example of a servant leader would be Rosalind

brewer, CEO of Walgreens. She instilled a servant leadership mindset where the company did

everything in its power to make sure customers were happy, even if that meant losing revenue by

returning or refunding. Instead of focusing on the short-term revenue loss, she and her team

understood the value of keeping a customer in the long-term, rather than trying to retain revenue

from a customer that was lost.

Charismatic Leadership

The CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra, puts transparency, simplicity and employee

empowerment at the center of everything she does. She believes in transparent communication

and problem solving, and uses social media to communicate her leadership style. Barra’s success

can be attributed to her emphasis on the company's interests and her commitment to the

company's core values, which include customer, relationships and excellence, integrity and

innovation. According to her, her goal is to "change the world one CEO at a time."

Transformational Leadership

Dr. Su's leadership style is very similar to transformational leadership in that it focuses on

team development. In an interview with Bryant in 2017, she said, “leaders are supposed to make

the people around them better than they ever thought they could be,” by reaching out to each

member individually and supporting them in achieving their goals. Her preferred way of

approaching a task is by setting a difficult goal and working with the team as a whole to find a

way to meet that goal, taking the time to listen to the input from different members. These ideas
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are all consistent with what we would define as transformational leadership. However, they don't

necessarily mean the whole thing. Specifically, Dr. Su's approach to organizational changes and

transformation is missing from the interview. But her actions after she became CEO of AMD,

and the subsequent changes, show that she fully embraced this approach and applied it to great

effect.

Conclusions

According to research, women in leadership positions have a transformative impact on

organizations. Women leaders demonstrate transformative leadership styles, motivate people,

and are perceived as just as capable as men. Women in leadership also enhance team

collaboration and rank higher in leadership qualities such as integrity, intelligence, empathy,

openness, and creativity. Women in leadership positions can help break gender stereotypes and

bridge the gap between competence and likability.

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