There's a gendered assumption that women CEOs are more risk-averse than men, but recent research suggests that isn't always the case.
The study, published in the Strategic Management Journal, analyzed 1,700 S&P 1000 firms in Execucomp from 2006 to 2013. The final sample yielded 10,351 observations on firms' acquisition activity and the gender of their CEO, along with industry dynamism, media coverage and relative board power over the CEO. Researchers from the University of Alberta (Canada), Athens-based University of Georgia, Blacksburg-based Virginia Tech University and Boise (Idaho) State University participated.
The researchers found that female CEOs of major firms do make fewer acquisitions than their male counterparts, on average. But in high-scrutiny contexts (where there is substantial industry dynamism, media coverage and relative board power), the difference disappears, and women acquire as much as men.
Under less scrutiny, women CEOs engage in "more detailed and effortful consideration of the data," according to the study. If they have the time and mental energy, they are more careful with acquisitions, finding reasons to block or slow transactions.
When the pressure is on, their evaluation processes become less calculated, more akin to men's.
Timothy Hannigan, PhD, a co-author from the University of Alberta, said this may not be seen in a positive light in North America, where men helm the majority of big companies. However, some business observers are questioning whether high acquisitions are always a good thing; women's careful handling of complex transactions "might actually be a benefit when it comes to shareholder value," Dr. Hannigan said in a March 6 university article.
"To say that women are conservative, and that's just how they were born, is not very helpful," Dr. Hannigan said. "The fact that their behavior shifts depending on conditions speaks to the dynamism of female CEOs and how they act."