Managerial psychological gender and its impact on selected corporate behaviours

Abstract
Objective: The article aims to determine the psychological gender of leaders of the fastest-growing enterprises and its impact on corporate entrepreneurial behaviour and social responsibility.
Research Design & Methods: We conducted empirical, quantitative research on the leaders of companies from the top of the Forbes Diamonds List to obtain knowledge about their personality traits and behaviours that contribute to business success. Methods: survey research (n=150) applying Bem’s BSRI gender role questionnaire, the concept of entrepreneurship orientation and the basic forms of corporate social responsibility (CSR). We also applied tests measuring the statistical significance of relationships between variables (Shapiro-Wilk, Ch2, V Kramer).
Findings: We identified three types of psychological gender culture among the leaders of the surveyed enterprises, the most numerous of which was mixed psychological culture. Androgynes (50 leaders) and unspecified cultures (46 leaders) constituted a total of 64% of the sample. With a few exceptions, there were no statistically significant differences in the entrepreneurial orientation, selected entrepreneurial behaviours, or involvement in responsible social activities of the identified gender cultures.
Implications & Recommendations: Women can and should perform managerial functions in business and achieve success, provided they acquire instrumental traits in the socialization process. The combination of instrumental and expressive traits in a person, especially in a manager, increases their adaptive intelligence and the probability of success regardless of biological sex. The postulate of gender diversity in top management is justified but in terms of psychological gender, not biological sex.
Contribution & Value Added: The research results show that the leaders of the fastest-growing companies have developed both instrumental and expressive features, which may indicate their high adaptive intelligence. Masculine culture differs from the others in a greater, statistically significant, feature: readiness for fierce competition and a lower declarative orientation towards climate protection, safe products, and concern for the local community in terms of social activity. The leaders’ cultural, entrepreneurial, and social profiles have additional cognitive value. The results contribute to the development of the following areas: managerial competences, role congruity theory, the theory of higher echelons, and social/psychological gender in business.
Keywords
androgyny, entrepreneurial orientation, social responsibility, AI, internationalization
Author Biography
Wojciech Popczyk
Associate professor at the Department of Strategy and Enterprise Value Management in the Faculty of Management at the University of Lodz. His research interests include: development strategies for family enterprises, international entrepreneurship, and soft management skills.
Alicja Winnicka-Popczyk
Associate professor at the Department of Corporate Finance Management in the Faculty of Management at the University of Lodz. Her research interests include: family entrepreneurship, finances of family enterprises, and financing innovations in family enterprises.
Zaklina Jablonska
Assistant at the Department of Strategy and Enterprise Value Management in the Faculty of Management at the University of Lodz. Her research interests include: business economics, business strategy, franchising, and entrepreneurship.
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