IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON FORMING CORPORATE GOVERNANCE VALUE CONSTITUENT THROUGH THE PRISM OF GENDER APPROACH

Broadening the gender diversity of the board seems to be one of the challenges most corporations are facing globally. The presence of women on corporate boards and their impact on enhancing the value constituent are critical attributes of a well-functioning board and a measure of sound corporate governance (CG). To a large extent, the value-based model of CG is affected by how corporate board directors pursue ethical values. The paper makes an attempt to consider whether the board gender diversity enhances or hinders the development of civilized relations within the firm. A combination of key shareholders' attitudes, beliefs and values and stakeholders' values seems to be an important prerequisite of value-based CG. In the first part of the article we overview recent efforts to increase the participation of women in boardrooms across the globe and present international evidence on how diversity of gender helps enhance workforce talent, streamlines decision-making, and strengthens a company's image. Though regulations and legislation to increase gender diversity on boards worldwide are changing the complexion of directors in some countries, the number of female directors is still relatively low- an average 12 percent. Then in the second part of the article we focus on a country-specific study and present the case of Russia. In Russian corporate boards the women's representation figure is twice as low as an average - women hold only 5.7 percent of corporate board seats. Special emphasis will be put on functioning women on boards of Russian companies with state participation.