93 WOMENPRENEURS: 21st CENTURY SUCCESS STRATEGIES DOROTHY PERRIN MOORE BOOK REVIEW Frances M. Amatucci Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania frances.amatucci@sru.edu Reviewing this book was a particularly daunting task, not only because of the respect I have for the author’s accomplishments as a leading scholar on the subject of women and management, but also due to the wide variety of topics she chose to address in one volume. Moreover, there were seventeen case studies of outstanding women who are all worth mentioning and chapters which contain valuable practical advice taken from research which is meticulously referenced. Dorothy Perrin Moore is an internationally respected scholar who has dedicated her entire career to the advancement of women in management. WomenPreneurs: 21st Century Success Strategies brings together three decades of research that clearly achieves the purpose of integrating theory with contemporary practice. The target markets for the book include the following: 1) academics teaching courses in management, entrepreneurship, human resource management, and gender and diversity and professional development directors; 2) working women and those interested in advancing their professional careers; and 3) women entrepreneurs at all stages of venture development. This is Moore’s third book and she draws from the experiences of over 350 women she has interviewed in the past to include seventeen case studies of phenomenally successful women whose professional accomplishments are impressive and inspirational. WomenPreneurs covers a broad array of contemporary topics relevant to women in management and is organized in five chapters: 1) The New Work Landscape; 2) Organizations: Leadership and Management; 3) Work, Life and Career Strategies; 4) On the Road to Entrepreneurship; and 5) Preparing for the Future. In Chapter One, Moore makes a case for the numerous drivers of change that impacted the workplace over the past several decades. These include organizational restructuring since the mid- 2008 recession, the erosion of trust between business and society, increased importance of teamwork, increasing employee diversity S TRATEG Y JOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS Journal of Small Business Strategy Vol. 22, No. 2 94 and the development of innovative leadership styles. Citing the influx of women as a notable trend, Moore provides the case study of Gail K. Naughton, Founder and CEO of Histogen. Naughton holds over 100 patents and served as the Dean of the College of Business at San Diego State University. Her secret to managerial success? Naughton commented, “If you believe in what you want to do, what others think doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if people put up road blocks, or tell you it’s impossible; if you’re doing what you believe in and think it is right, sooner or later they’ll come around.” Likewise, Nikki Hardin, Founder and Publisher of Skirt® Magazine commented about her amazing career transition, “What is looking for me? Looking back, I can see that all the while the field was being prepared in the darkness, the seeds being planted…. Something is looking for me as intensely as I am looking for it.” Moore’s book is chock full of reflective tidbits of advice from these high achieving women who exhibit intelligence, creativity, courage, persistence, vision and risk-taking. What makes these stories all the more amazing is the fact that women are not playing on as level a playing field as men, as there still remains considerable challenges for opportunity and advancement. Performance metrics that favor men, unfavorable organizational environments, and lack of core opportunities that lead to advancement were some of the issues women encountered. Moore summarized Barbara Bird (2010) stating “Glass ceilings, glass escalators that move men up faster, the glass cliffs of being chosen for high-risk leadership positions in times of crises, and the glass walls of staff and other sidetracking assignments. These are some of the invisible, systemic and hard to prove barriers that women (and minorities) face.” I couldn’t agree with this statement more, and yet so many girls and young women are clueless about the career challenges they will encounter. After discussing government legislation and policies regarding discrimination, Moore reviewed job analyses and the gender problem of performance appraisals. Chapter One concluded with two case studies demonstrating how the business landscape is changing because of the increased participation of women. Also, the business case for having women on corporate boards was presented. Moore referenced research by Catalyst and other academic journal articles that address this diversity and governance issue. Led by Norway, and followed by Finland, Spain, France, Australia and the United Kingdom, the mandate for the increased inclusion of women on corporate boards has become a global trend. Chapter Two, “Organizations: Leadership and Management”, provided an extensive review of management theory taken from some of the most widely read scholars in management and leadership. The references are too numerous to mention but include Bernard Bass, Warren Bennis and James O’Toole, Richard Daft, Peters and Waterman, David Nadler and Michael Tushman, and Peter Drucker to name a few. Moore then turned to the subject of women, power and management and a discussion of gender and leadership. Although women tend to display a transformational style, Moore cautioned that “Successful management techniques run the gamut from fiercely hierarchical to the widely participatory. What works in any given situation depends on a number of complex factors.” Journal of Small Business Strategy Vol. 22, No. 2 95 In the discussion of ‘avoiding skilled incompetence,’ Moore introduced the seminal work by Chris Argyris on organizational learning. Interestingly, Argyris found that “women were more open to discussion and thinking creatively than men.” Given the emphasis on strategic adaptation, innovation, dynamic capabilities, and flexibility in the 21st century business landscape, a discussion of learning at the individual and organizational levels is particularly relevant. Moore concluded Chapter Two with a discussion of values, ethics and stress. Sharon Watkins from Enron and Cynthia Cooper from WorldCom have become renowned ethics speakers after being a whistle blower in their respective companies. The author presented a hypothetical case taken from the WorldCom collapse in 2002. It described an ethical dilemma and the four choices that individuals have including: 1) go along, 2) resign, 3) blow the whistle or 4) live two lives. According to the ethics pundits, the best choice is to leave the organization in order to “keep you out of harm’s way and preserve the personal brand of ethical behavior that you have worked so hard to create.” Given past discussions of ethical dilemmas in the classroom, I know that some individuals may view this choice as a lack of moral courage and, in a way, compliant with unethical behavior. How many employees chose to do nothing and left Enron before its demise in 2001? Could the corporate downward spiral have been stopped sooner if they had spoken up? Many corporations today require employees to sign a whistle blowing contract that legally requires them to inform management when they become aware of wrongdoing. In Chapter Three, “Work, Life and Career Strategies”, Moore provides pointers on the job hunting process and retooling your skill sets, as well as addressing key questions a novice job hunter may ask. Self analysis regarding your strengths and weaknesses, taking a proactive stance, doing the research on your company, creating networks and marketing your skill set in the best possible way are deemed important. When considering dress, Moore reminds the reader that “most people make up their minds about someone in the first 10 seconds” and suggested that “classic (dress) always works” and admonished high spiked heels, miniskirts and sexy clothes. While this may be true in the United States and the United Kingdom, my experience with Latin American MBA students suggests such advice may not hold true. Likewise, cultural norms in Italy, France and other countries where fashion is important can be more open with regard to ‘appropriate’ dress in business situations. In other words, ‘classic may be culture-specific’. Moore took on the gender gap in wages citing the Bureau of Labor Statistics report that in 2010 “the median wage of nearly 100 million women working full time was 81 percent of what men earned.” Suggestions for avoiding this trap included doing extensive research on job titles, responsibilities before the interview and be prepared to negotiate for the same salary men earn. She addresses negotiation skills later in Chapter Five. Finally, Moore revisits the problem of stereotyping and arguments for increased diversity training and modern management styles that are more inclusive. An important career tip offered is the notion of ‘managing up’ which means how to manage your boss instead of the traditional interpretation of managing direct reports. Sponsorship and networking are also identified as critical Journal of Small Business Strategy Vol. 22, No. 2 96 aspects of career strategies. Since most companies do not assign mentors, it is important to be proactive in finding an advocate who can be both a mentor and a sponsor. In Chapter Four, “On the Road to Entrepreneurship”, Moore focused on the woman entrepreneur citing research by Catalyst and the National Foundation for Women Business Owners as to why women left corporate jobs in favor of starting their own businesses. Major reasons included lack of flexibility, glass ceiling issues, unhappiness with the environment and lack of challenge. The percentage of women who left because of these reasons increased from 25 to 46 percent over a twenty year period! Moore describes the paradox of firms needing internal entrepreneurs, or intrapreneurs, for new product development and venture creation; however, corporate bureaucracy preserves the status quo and may view intrapreneurs negatively. This challenge is not gender-specific and the topic of whether the intensity of negativity is gender-specific is not addressed. The author discussed the similarities and differences between two types of female entrepreneurs from corporate backgrounds that were identified in previous books – Women Entrepreneurs (co-authored with E.H. Buttner) and Careerpreneurs (Moore, 2000; Moore and Buttner, 1997). These are intentional entrepreneurs, who knew they would someday start their own business, and corporate climbers, who left the corporation for any of the previously mentioned reasons. Some of the notable trends in women’s entrepreneurship include their significant role in innovation driven economies, and the growth potential for the “missing middle” which represents the largest group of women entrepreneurs whose needs are not sufficiently addressed by existing entrepreneurship programs -- that are developed from male-based paradigms (Weeks and Riebe, 2007). Another trend is the global growth rates as documented in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) reports. In Chapter Five, “Preparing for the Future”, the author discussed additional contemporary topics such as philanthropy in an age where there is a significant transfer of wealth across generations, successful negotiation strategies to get what one deserves, work-life balance, technopreneurs and the dearth of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers. Moore references some of the leading scholars on the topic of gender and negotiation styles and cautions readers about the dangerous effects of sex-role stereotyping. Moore provided the case study of Diane C. Harris, Founder and CEO of Hypotenuse Enterprises, Inc. who shatters the image of a woman negotiator as being passive and compliant. She founded the deal training program “The smART of the Deal” where she remains a principal lecturer in North America. The proficiency of women entrepreneurs in negotiation strategies, especially for private equity investment has not been well researched (Amatucci and Swartz, 2011). The discussion of women and STEM training presented serious concerns about the low numbers of young women who will miss out on high paying jobs in these fields later in their careers (Amatucci and Crawley, 2011; Coleman and Robb, 2012). Moore described the book as a collection of essays and, if there is one criticism I have, it seemed disjointed at times without logical flow of content. But perhaps that was not her intent. The author achieved the objective of providing a wealth of Journal of Small Business Strategy Vol. 22, No. 2 97 information about women in management, the myths, opportunities and challenges, while celebrating the successes of these women who refused to be put in their place, to be pigeon-holed into a gender stereotype, and to let anything keep them from their calling. I highly recommend this book as very useful supplement to courses on women and management, diversity management, and women and entrepreneurship in business or liberal arts courses. REFERENCES Amatucci, F. and Crawley, D. (2011) “Financial Self-Efficacy and Women Entrepreneurs,” (with D. Crawley) International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 3(1):23-37, 2011. Amatucci, F. & Swartz, E., (2011) “Through a Fractured Lens: Women Entrepreneurs and the Private Equity Negotiation Process,” Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, September, 2011. Bird, B. (2010) “Overview: Women Leaders in the Business and Profit Sector,” in Gender and Women’s Leadership: A Reference Handbook, O’Connor, K. (ed.) Women Leaders in the business and Profit Sector, Thousand Oaks, CA: London & Singapore: Sage Publications. Coleman, S. & Robb, A. (2012) A Rising Tide: Financing Strategies for Women-Owned Firms, Stanford University Press: Stanford, California. Moore, D.P. (2000) Careerpreneurs- Lessons From Leading Women Entrepreneurs On Building A Career Without Boundaries. Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black Publishing. Moore, D. P. (1997) Women Entrepreneurs- Moving Beyond The Glass Ceiling, Thousands Oaks, Ca, London, & New Delhi: Sage Publications) Weeks, J. & Riebe, M. (2007) “Mapping the ‘missing middle’: Determining the desire and dimensions of second-stage women business owners. A Womenable Research inBrief. http://www.womenable.com/userfi les/downloads/ResearchinBrief_Mi ssing_Middle.pdf . Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.