The impact of women leaders upon organizational performance

The aim of this research was to target television professionals in the state, and the private sector to develop their professional capabilities to address gender issues, and to portray women in an affirmative manner in the media. Research literature of the past indicated that women were paid 30% less than men: That they experienced an invisible barrier, the “glass ceiling effect": That organizations headed by women were less corrupt and more efficient. The present research focused on these issues in Pakistani organizations. Imperial College of Business Studies Lahore was assigned the research by United Nation Development Programme, to see if those variables were operative in Pakistani organizations. The specific research objectives were: 1. Identification and quantification of leadership qualities in a given leader in a Pakistani organization. 2. Operationalization and measurement of "glass ceiling effect" as it operates in the selected Pakistani organizations. 3. Operationalization of "honesty", "transparency" and "diligence", and the quantification of these attributes, as they operate in a given organization. 4. Identification and evaluation of relevant organizational records to corroborate the research results. Three organizations were selected for the purpose of the present research. They included “A”, “B” and “C”. A set of six measuring instruments were developed, the instruments included (i) a measure of glass ceiling effect (ii) a rating scale to assess leadership qualities (iii) a measure to assess the achievement of organizational and departmental goals, (iv) a measure each of (a) transparency (b) diligence, and (c) honesty. All the instruments pertaining to transparency, honesty and diligence were meant to measure those attributes which were within the rules and parameters of a given organization, such that the respondents were to judge the incidence of those variables within the framework and definition of the organizations’ standard, and not in view of some external benchmark. https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.54784/1990-6587.1257 Published by iRepository, March 2021 52 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January June 2010 The research results indicated that women leaders in Pakistani organizations were preferred over men leaders.The research also indicated that women employees felt the glass ceiling effect in their respective organizations. The result indicated that all three explored organizations were perceived by their employees to be honest, transparent and having diligence. The rating given to “C” for those variables by its workers was the highest, followed by the ratings given to “B” by its workers and that followed by ratings given to “A” by its workers. Those results of the probes were double-checked with relevant organizational records and it showed that the reported opinions of workers corresponded with records maintained by those organizations. The research also explored whether the stated organizational and departmental goals were met or not. It was found that they were met in all organizations. In view of the obtained results it was suggested that glass ceiling effect was a major hindrance in the upward mobility of females in Pakistani organizations. Steps for removal of the effect were required. It was recommended that discriminatory policies and practices must be changed. It was also recommended that the media must sensitize people about the real impact of glass ceiling effect, and invite experts to suggest remedies to counteract it. It was recommended that steps be taken to remove barriers for the emergence of more women leaders in Pakistani organizations.


Introduction
United Nation Development Programme launched a project in Pakistan in the recent past which aimed to target media professionals, particularly those in Pakistan Television (PTV) and the private sector media organizations so that they could address gender issues and portray women in an affirmative and balanced manner. The objective of the project was to improve the production skills of professionals, and conduct research on existing gender perceptions, potential trends of female employment, and identify barriers if any, in the advancement of females in employments; and in the light of such feedback, made available by research, recommend policy decisions. The present research was meant to focus on issues such as: How does presence of women at the leadership level, influence an organization as a whole? Are female -headed organizations less corrupt, and therefore, more efficient as compared to organizations headed by males? Do women in organizations experience the so -called "glass-ceiling effect"? Specifically, the objectives of the research included: · To investigate whether women experience "glass ceiling effect" in Pakistani organizations.
· To see if the presence of female leadership promotes efficiency in terms of honesty, transparency and diligence.
Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 · To highlight leadership qualities of Pakistani women.

·
To do a comparative analysis of the data from three different organizations.

·
In the light of the intensive and extensive research activities to be undertaken, to make recommendations for future policy guidelines for organizations in general and PTV in particular with specific regard to placement of women in policy -making positions.

Review of literature
Even today working women world wide do not enjoy equal privileges to men and they lack opportunities for attaining success. It is a fact that on the average women earn lower incomes, accumulate less wealth, enjoy lower occupational prestige, and rank lower than men in the workplace. Even in the so -called developed countries, a considerable majority of working females remains limited to administrative support work or service work. As compared to men, very few women are found working in the top management positions even in those countries. Most of those who succeed in entering the managerial channel, find themselves stuck in the middle level of such hierarchies.
One of the commonly held gender -stereotypes in this regard is the perception that women can be good subordinates, and men good bosses. Women are thought to be lacking cool headedness, and maturity of thought, action and above all, emotion, considered to be imperative for a good team leader. People tend to associate leadership characteristics with only men. But this state of affairs should not be mistaken to indicate that women are less capable than men in any sense. There is no denying the fact that women also tend to perform up to their optimal potential, and can prove to be successful group leaders in organizations. However a recent study in the US, of Fortune 500 companies revealed that only 12.5 percent of corporate officers were females. An even smaller percentage i.e. 6.2 percent held highest ranking corporate leadership positions, bearing titles such as chairman, vice chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), or chief operating officer (COO). Only two women were of the rank of CEO in the 500 largest corporations in the US (Catalyst Census, 2000). In companies of the new economy the representation of women in top leadership positions is even more sparse (Stuart, 2001). This phenomenon is best explained by the concept of glass ceiling effect; that subtle and informal barrier that does not allow females to go beyond a certain level of management hierarchy in an organization. The glass ceiling effect may stem from a number of causes. The first category of barriers emanate from the objective, and therefore easier to change, causes of gender imbalance. The second category of causes are rooted in explanations that revolve around behavioral and cultural issues like stereotyping, tokenism, power, preferred leadership styles, and the psychodynamics of male/female relations (Oakley, 2000). A major cause of scarcity of women CEOs in organizations world wide is that very few women in upper management have line experience in https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 marketing, operation, or other relevant areas, which is a prerequisite for the top position. A recent survey revealed that although 44 percent of women senior executives reported to the CEO, more than 60 percent of these women were in staff support areas like human resources or public relations (Lublin, 1996). This practice is the root-cause of the lack of relevant experience, which is a pre requisite for the post of the CEO. As for promotion polices, they do not include affirmative action programmes to promote women to senior management positions, and thus have remained unchanged since the 1960s, (Morrison, 1992).
The objective barriers are however easily detectable, and therefore easier to control if only the organization is willing to do so. The behavioral and cultural barriers, on the contrary, are latent, subtle, and deep rooted. First of all leadership is a concept that remains to be a masculine notion. Good leaders are culturally assumed to be 'heroic'. They are expected to exhibit autonomy, discipline, emotional restrain, and be command -and -control figures (Sinclair, 1998). All these qualities are culturally supposed to be masculine in nature. This stereotyping negatively effects the probability of the selection of a woman for a senior, leadership position. The second type of behavioral explanation for the scarcity of women CEOs is the behavioral double binds i.e. a situation is created where a person cannot win no matter what she does. In order to be considered fit for the top position, a woman is expected to be as tough and authoritative as a man. But when she acts like that, this behavior is considered undesirable. Therefore, she is in a no-win situation. One such double bind has been called the femininity/competency bind by Jamieson (1995).
A third subtle hurdle is the communication style of women. Men often devalue or misinterpret the linguistic styles of females. The less aggressive and assertive forms of communication associated with females may be considered particularly an unacceptable way to communicate in the upper levels of most corporations (Oakley, 2000). Then again gender norms tend to underplay the leadership potentials of females. These norms shape which leadership skills are going to be most valued and recognized in organizations.
However it has been observed that females are better than men, in terms of strong relational and interpersonal leadership skills. These skills are required for leaders in modern-day organizations facing concerns such as flatter structures, self-managed teams, greater workforce diversity, and strategic partnership alliances. When women excel in leadership skills they are often perceived as doing something desirable, but not essential for achieving positive business results. Besides, these skills are often construed as something women naturally do and are, thus, not seen as skills at all (Fletcher, 1999). Again the standards for an effective manager have been perceived to be more associated with descriptions of men than women, including characteristics like task orientation, assertiveness, and risk taking. These are some of the barriers in the rise of women as organizational leaders.
https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 Tokenism in top management circles poses another cause of the fact that much of the best female talent is driven away from ascending the corporate ladder to the top. Sex ratio of people working in an organization may exert marked influence on group behavior. Those in majority are the 'dominants' and those in minority are the 'tokens'. Women in upper management are almost always in the token positions. Since the tokens are more visible to the rest of the group, they are subject to more pressure and scrutiny in the workplace than dominants. Their visibility increases performance pressures (Kanter, 1978). Dominants exaggerate aspects of their culture that they believe distinguishes them from the tokens; thus tending to affirm the group's identity in solidarity. They indulge in boundary heightening behaviour, and by doing so seek to exclude the tokens. This behaviour may be a result of the fear, on men's part, that they may face a loss in pay if women start penetrating into the organization, since females are paid substantially less than male managers at every level (Kanter, 1978;Karsten, 1994). The negative effect of the psychological pressure caused by tokenism is long-term. The minority status of female tokens often blocks their access to the information needed from informal sources and networks, thus keeping them away from the appropriate line of action.
The root-cause of a very limited number of females functioning at the top levels of management, is not their incompetence or incapability, but the various objective and/or subjective barriers deterring their pathway up to the top. These barriers are informal, latent, unintentional, and taken for granted. There is a host of empirical evidence suggesting that women do as ably as their male counterparts. Literature also suggests that female bosses and heads of organizations prove to be better leaders in many respects. The generally held belief that women are not interested in taking on leadership roles has also been challenged by factual data. Data have shown that women are just as likely as men to accept a leadership role when offered (Merrill-Sands, and Kolb, 2001). There is no dearth of research evidence challenging the misconception that women do not reach the highest professional ranks because they have not yet acquired the skills, attitudes, and abilities required for touching the ceiling. When women were assessed on specific skills considered important for effective leadership, by organizations as well as consultants, they were either perceived to do as well as men, or even outperform them (Merrill-Sands, and Kolb, 2001).
Another misconception challenged by empirical investigation is the notion that women excel only in "people" and interpersonal skills. Research evidence suggests that women also excel in skills that traditionally have been perceived as directly linked to getting "bottom line" results, and associated with masculine norms of leadership (Galeman, 1997).
Women's perceptions of their self-efficacy, personal competence, and leadership capabilities have been found to be not much different from those held by men. The findings of an in-depth leadership survey, carried out at Center for Gender in Organization, in a global financial services firm, yielded the fact that high potential men and women https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 assessed themselves equally on the majority of leadership competencies defined by the organization. 51 percent women, whereas only 36 percent men, reported that they did not identify with current leaders or with the image of leaders in the firm. Women also significantly out numbered men in questioning whether the firm was able to accurately judge their capabilities to perform in a leadership role (Merrill -Sands, and Kolb, 2001).
Evidence shows that women, if allowed an opportunity to enter the leadership ranks, do prove to be successful leaders, effective managers, and bosses. Women leaders have been found to positively effect, the overall output and performance of the organization. Female heads of organizations tend to introduce more of human, psycho-social, and moral elements for enhancing the productivity of an organization.
Women have been found to be more likely, than men, to display "visionary, initiating, charismatic, innovative, and strategic", leadership qualities (Russell, and Associates, 1990). Women naturally create "webs of inclusion" rather than hierarchical structures (Hegelson, 1990). They are said to be more nurturing, accommodating, and interested in sharing power and information (Edlund, 1993;Rosener, 1990;Rosen, and Jerdee, 1995). Women were found to be more 'democratic' in organizational settings, in a meta analysis of laboratory, assessment, and organizational studies of differences in men's and women's leadership styles (Eagly and Johnson, 1990). Research suggests that women tend to be more ethical, or more rule oriented, than men (Brady, 1987). They have been found to be more concerned about ethical issues in business than men, regardless of the issue (Beltramini, Peterson, and Kozmetsky, 1984). Investigators, in one study found that in general women and men do not show much difference in their ethical attitudes. However, the findings indicated three areas where women showed a stronger ethical response than men: product information for consumers, minority hiring, and comparable worth (Jones, and Gautschi, 1988). Some other investigations trying to explore the ethicality of males and females have found no significant differences between the two (Stanga, andTurpen, 1991, Sikula andCosta, 1994). One plausible explanation for these mixed results is that ethical responses of men and women are contingent on the type of ethical situations with which they are presented (Hoffman, 1998). However when the effects of situational dynamics on the ethical response of men and women were studied, the results showed that women had a significantly higher level of ethical responses than men (Hoffman, 1998).
Research evidence has brought forth a number of other avenues also where women leaders have had a more positive impact than men. It has been suggested that in order to improve the bottom line in a company that is about to go public, women should be appointed at the top. A study (Gutner, 2001) showed that higher numbers of top women managers at such companies improve stock prices and earnings per share after the lPO (initial public offering). Similar results were yielded by data collected from IPOs taking place. When the magnitude of improvement in company's financial performance was studied it was noted that in case of executive teams that were at least https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 10 percent female, a considerable rise in stock prices was recorded. This rise was 4.5 percent more that at companies with no top managers. A 56 percent increase in earnings per share in those companies was also noted. In case of companies where women comprised half of the management team, the stock prices rose 23 percent more than at companies with no top-brass women. These companies also enjoyed a huge, 281 percent, rise in earnings per share.
Affective and continuance organizational commitment is another area wherein gender seems to have effect. The concept of organizational commitment encompasses various aspects of the psychological attachment of a member to her organization: An organizationally committed employee strongly believes in the organization's goals and values; she is willing to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization; she has a strong desire to maintain membership in the organization (Mowday, Porter, and Steers, 1982). Organizational commitment can be both affective, as well as continuance (Allen, and Meyer, 1990;Meyer, and Allen, 1984). Affective commitment is based upon one's emotional attachment to the organization, whereas continuance commitment stems from the costs that employees will be associated with when leaving the organization. Research data suggest that women are more affectively committed to the organizations than men are. It has been proposed that gender may affect employees' perceptions of the workplace, and their attitudinal reactions to the organizations. Gender may influence whether individuals become more committed to organizations that offer various kinds of opportunities (Mowday, Porter, and Steers, 1982;Mathieu, and Zajac, 1990;Scandura, and Lankan, 1997). Gender roles as a key constraint for women in employment have often been highlighted; for example working wives are more likely to suffer from work family conflicts due to their heavy job and domestic obligations (Gutek, Searle, and Kelpa, 1991.: Women have retained primary responsibility for domestic duties even though they hold a full-time job (Bielby and Bielby;; women's family-roles and work demands are higher than men's (Higgins, Duxbury, and Lee, 1994), all factors related to gender and relevant roles.
A host of research, on the other hand, has failed to identify any significant sex differences in organizational commitment, particularly when the samples were drawn from professionals and managers. The level of organizational commitment among women managers was not found to be much affected by their marital status and the presence of children. Male and female managers have similar attitudinal reaction to their jobs, such as career satisfaction, job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment (Lorence, 1987;Powell, 1990;Parasuraman, and Greenhaus, 1993). In one study the investigator evaluated the effects of two employment practices namely work flexibility and firm labour markets on organizational commitment. The study showed that although the two employment practices had significant and positive effects on both affective and continuance organizational commitment, they were not affected by gender (Ngo, 1998).
https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 A number of studies have illustrated that men and women are almost the same in their attachment to, and affiliation with the organization, unlike some other studies that found otherwise. The latter include investigations showing that females were better than men, in many respects in their management style, commitment, or ethicality. However an interesting aspect of these mixed findings is that one has yet to come across any study in which females were found to have scored lower than men on any of the indices of organizational commitment, ethicality, appropriate styles of leadership, or/and communication. These mixed findings in a way, favor the females. Men have always been preferred over women for leadership positions, since women are thought to be lacking in the capabilities required for effective leaders. However these findings suggest that a woman can be at least as good a leader as a man can be: although there is no dearth of empirical data suggesting that women can prove to be even better command -and-control persons when compared with men, in many respects.

Methodology
A core group of experts was formed which met repeatedly to prepare the instruments for intervention in chosen organizations to gather the data pertaining to the objectives of the research. These instruments were prepared with due discussion and deliberations amongst the core group members. The instruments were then pre-tested. Only when the instruments were approved by the core group of experts, were they used to collect data. The instruments pertained to: 1. Identification and quantification of leadership qualities in a given leader.
2. Operationalization of "honesty", "transparency" and "diligence", such that quantification of these positive attributes, as they operated in a given organization, could be done.
3. Operationalization and measurement of glass ceiling effect.
4. Identification and evaluation of organizational records to corroborate the research findings.
The organizations selected to be explored for the purpose of research included "A", "B" and "C". The fieldwork for exploring these organizations took three weeks to complete. "A" was selected for the purpose of this research because it had been headed both, by a male general manager, and by a female general manager. In addition, UNDP had specially identified "A" as one of the organizations that was required to be explored for the present purposes.
https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 "B" was selected because this organization had always been headed by a female,which is a rare phenomenon in Pakistan. The exploration of this organization could provide new and divergent insights into the operations of an organization, as compared to the organizations headed by men, such that organizational behavior of "B" would perhaps be intrinsically different from other organizations.
"C" was chosen because the organization had always been headed by a male; is one of the leading organization in the field of advertising, production, and media consultation; and because its inclusion in the research provided the research team with opportunities for direct comparisons with a female headed organization.
The research analysts, thus had data available to them from one organization always headed by a male that is, "C"; one organization always headed by a female that is "B"; and one organization headed both by a male and by a female respectively that is, "A". Across organizational comparisons, in the light of the data available, proved to be illuminating.
After the instruments for investigation had been prepared, and the organizations for probe had been selected, a team of four investigators per organization were selected, who were sent to the relevant organizations. The investigators, through the different heads of departments probed the departments earmarked for research. The data from each department was pooled with other departments and thus a picture of the organization as a whole emerged. All the sampled organizations were probed in the similar manner. The results of these investigations are presented below.

Organization B.
The organization was headed by a female and had a majority of female workers, therefore, it was expected that women working for it would not have experienced any glass-ceiling effect, the stated objective number one of the research. The expectation was found to be correct. These results are summarized in the following table: https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.54784/1990-6587.1257 Table 1 shows that the expected scores indicating the absence of glass ceiling effect in the organization were similar to, or near the observed scores, showing the absence of the effect. It was obvious from these data, therefore, that overall, employees in "B" did not feel that they were discriminated on the basis of their gender in their jobs in the organization. (The insignificant chi square is a statistical confirmation of the stated conclusion).
A for the second objective of the research relating to better work environment in terms of transparency, honesty and diligence in the organization, the people in the organization were interviewed, and were also asked to fill in a graphic scale. In addition, the relevant company records were also examined by the investigators to supplement the data collected. The following table shows the results: Since the observed value of presence of transparency in the organization had proximity to the expected value, the conclusion could be drawn that there was a high degree of transparency in the organization as measured by the scale. The verbal reports collected through personal interviews of the people in the organization also confirmed the finding. Thus it was concluded that there was a high degree of transparency in organization "B".
Regarding honesty as an element of better working environment, three variables expressing honesty were probed, namely: a. Misuse of funds. b. Giving in to external influences, (pressure, bribe), and c. Violation of rules and regulations.

Misuse of funds. None
Giving in to external influence. None Violation of rules. One (The above data refer to record of the past five years) The table shows the organization to be a highly honest organization. An additional probe also confirmed the information gathered by the research. The records showed that only one case of violation of rules had been reported to the police as being of serious nature. This showed an impeccable record of honesty of an organization, particularly viewed in the backdrop of tremendous increase in the white collar crime in the country in the past few years.
Diligence in the organization was measured in three dimensions, namely employees putting in extra working hours, punctuality observed by the employees, and the rate of turnover. The following table shows these results: Table 4 Diligence in the Organization.

Extra working hours. High
Punctuality observed. High Turn over. High Table 4 shows that employees put in extra working hours with no demand for extra pay, an expression of high degree of diligence; that the employees maintained a high standard of punctuality, but there was also a high turn over rate in the organization as employees did not stay in the organization for a longer period of time. When the relevant records of the organization were checked the above observations were confirmed. Overall it could be said that the organization showed a high degree of transparency, honesty and diligence prevailing in it.
https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 Regarding the third stated objective of the research, namely the performance of the organization in terms of achievement of organizational goals, the measurement involved probing at two levels, i.e. departmental level and organizational level. Regarding departmental goals, the employees of a department were asked to do two exercises. i.
They were asked to state the departmental goals for the past one year, and ii. They were asked to state whether those goals were achieved or not.
The results are given in table 5 below: Table 5 Achievement of Departmental Goals

Departmental Goals
Achieved Not achieved To impart computer literacy among women through our training center. Yes Efficient handling of data. Yes Control of 11 regional branches. Yes

Efficient handling of proposals. Yes
The table shows that all the stated four departmental goals were achieved by the organization.
The overall organizational goals were also explored. The following table shows the picture of that probe: The employees of the organization, stated that the goals were partially achieved but since it was an ongoing phenomenon, they were constantly working on achieving them.
The fourth objective of the research was to identify some of the qualities of a leader. The literature review and discussions with the experts led to identify the following fifteen qualities of a successful organizational leader in Pakistan:

8.
Ability to earn respect from others.

11.
Willingness to take responsibility.
13. Ability to cope with stress.
The above list expressed leadership phenomenon quite comprehensively. If an organizational leader had more of those qualities and to a higher degree, she would prove to be an effective leader than the one who had less of these and to a lesser extent.
After identification of these qualities, a six-point scale was made, such that zero represented absence of a given quality, one showed the presence of the relevant quality to a very small degree; two, three, four and five, showed higher levels of presence of the quality in the leader. The following table shows the assessment of the organization's employees about the leadership qualities of their leader.
https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.54784/1990-6587.1257 As is indicated by the table, employees of organization "C" feel that the glass ceiling effect was operative in the organization, such that female employees were discriminated against: The computed chi square and the alpha level indicate the result to be highly dependable. There is therefore a very high probability that female employees in organization "C" feel discriminated against.
As regards the second objective of the research relating to better working environment in terms of transparency, honesty and diligence prevailing in the organization, the results indicate the following. The table indicates that there was a high degree of transparency as seen by the employees of the organization. The statistical analysis of the data revealed the same conclusion as expressed in an insignificant chi square.
Regarding honesty prevailing in the organization the following table revealed the true picture of the company for the last five years: Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 Table 9 Honesty in the organization.

Misuse of funds. None
Giving in to external influence. None

Violation of rules. None
Since the data refer to the last five years of the working of the organization and since no misuse of funds, bribery or major violations of rules had been reported, it could be said that the organization maintained a high honesty record. This evidence was corroborated by checking the company records. The reported parameters of honesty were borne out by the records maintained by the organization.
The third element of diligence relating to the overall second objective of the research was measured as in the case of "B"; that is measuring it in terms of extra working hours, observed punctuality and turnover rate in the company. The collected data are presented in the following table:

Table 10
Diligence in the organization

Extra working hours. High
Punctuality observed. High Turn over. low The above table shows that there was generally a high level of diligence enjoyed by the company, as employees put in extra hours whenever the company required; they observed punctuality in attending the office; and since the turn over rate was low, it showed a high level of diligence. When the investigators checked other sources, such as the attendance registers and other records facts were corroborated by those relevant records. Overall, therefore, it could be said that "C" enjoyed a high level of organizational functioning as expressed in a high degree of honesty, diligence and transparency operating in the company.
Regarding the third objective of research related to the achievement of goals of the company, two levels of goals were probed i.e. departmental goals and organizational goals. The results of the probe are given below in table 11: https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 As the table indicates, the departmental goals stated in the table were very clearly set, and were pursued, to be achieved. The probes showed that the above stated four goals were set and were achieved, (in case of increase of growth rate, the target achieved was more than the stipulated limit).
The presence or absence of a clearly stated organizational goal was also probed, which is the hallmark of any successful organization. In that regard it was found that the organizational goals were not only clearly stated in various publications of the company but were also pursued. The following table shows the results of this investigation: Table 12 Achievement of organizational goals.

Organizational goals.
Achieved Not Achieved To be the best communication partner of the client. Yes To be the number one advertising agency of Pakistan. Yes As a result of the probe, the employees were found to be aware of the stated goals, and the goals were partially achieved. No one stated that the goals had not been achieved or that the effort in that direction had not been made.
The fourth objective of the research relating to the presence of leadership qualities in the leader was also checked in "C". The list of leader's qualities has already been described in the previous section, so here the perceived presence and the perceived magnitude of the presence, are presented: https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 (Average score for all qualities of leadership combined, for this leader was 4.05 out of a maximum possible 5). The table shows that the employees of "C" view their leader in a positive light).
https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 Organization "A" In the manner described above, "A" was also thoroughly probed. A big difference between the two earlier described organizations, and "A" was that the later was a huge organization compared to the other two. It therefore took much longer to gather data from "A".
Regarding the first objective relating to the presence or absence of the operation of glass-ceiling effect in "A", more than two hundred readings were taken. Based upon those data the following table was prepared: As indicated by the table, the respondents felt that the glass ceiling effect was operative in the organization. Statistical analysis also confirmed the conclusion. The result therefore, that glass ceiling effect was felt by "A" s employees was highly dependable. As table 15 indicates the difference between expected value of transparency and observed value was not significant. It warranted the conclusion that the employees of "A" saw their organization as one not having transparency. In addition to those data, the personal interviews conducted by the researchers confirmed the findings. The two main reasons why people did not consider "A" to be a transparent organization were https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 that: (i) They found that everyone did not have easy access to relevant records. (ii) Information regarding all businesses was not readily available to them. They however felt that records were properly maintained and there was due accountability in the organization. The verbal reports collected by personal interviews supplemented the conclusion. It was concluded therefore, that transparency in "A" was not like it should have been in an ideally transparent organization.
Regarding honesty prevailing in the organization, the following table shows the picture: Giving in to external pressure. None Violation of rules. 1 (The above data refer only to the tenure of one GM and only to the lower staff: No breach of honesty as described above, was observed/detected in the higher staff in the tenure of the incumbent).
Keeping the size of the organization in view, and the fact that "A" was a stateowned organization, the honesty record of the past over three years appeared commendable. The record, it must be pointed out, was gathered from the relevant departmental records of the organization.
Regarding the third variable related to better working environment, in the organization and diligence being one of its elements the probes showed as follows: https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 The table shows that the organization as a whole maintained a high level of diligence; that punctuality was maintained, and that extra working hours were observed; additionally there appeared a low turnover rate.
In order to check the performance of the organization regarding achievement of goals, organization "A" was probed at two levels, that is departmental level and the organizational level.
The following tables 18 and 19 show the results of these probes: Four departments were probed for the present purpose, the finance department, marketing department; production department, and administration departments. Our probe showed that the three departments, namely, finance, administration and production achieved their targets, whereas the marketing department did not. This was an overall good record, particularly in view of the fact that the revenues generated by the marketing department exceeded revenues generated in the previous years. However these revenues fall below the expected levels. In understanding this finding, it must be kept in mind that "A" was not only competing for revenues with others in Pakistan, but was also pitched against foreign competition. So the market revenue shares were being split three ways, between "A", other locals, and foreign firms. Hence less than ideal expansion in revenue generation by "A" in the marketing department.  The various heads of the departments of "A" provided their in-put about the over all goals of "A". All concerned seemed to agree that the above stated three goals adequately expressed their own views and the views of the concerned authorities.
Interviews with significant ones in "A" revealed that, although these were on-going targets, yet they had more than adequately been achieved in the past and at present the organization was geared towards achieving them.
The fourth objective of the research namely the identification of leadership qualities, and quantification of the present leader in the light of those qualities, the following steps were taken: After having identified the qualities of a leader, (previously stated) a total of thirty people were selected randomly from four departments, namely, finance, administration, production, and marketing. Those randomly selected people were asked to rate the general manager on the provided scale. The results of that exercise are given in table 20 below: https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 A glance at the table reveals that the employees of "A" rated their present general manager very highly in terms of the identified leadership qualities.
https://ir.iba.edu.pk/businessreview/vol5/iss1/5 DOI: https://doi.org/10. 54784/1990-6587.1257 Business Review Volume 5 Number 1 January -June 2010 A two pronged strategy might be adopted to counteract the effect: one at the organizational level and the other at a larger cultural level. Pakistani media is in an ideal position to adopt both of these strategies. The media must high light the fact that we must away with all discriminatory practices, rules and regulations on the one hand and on the other facilitate and aid the emergence of female leaders. If, for example, such practices exist such as the spouse/mother/father/children of a male worker being considered his dependants, but the spouse/mother/father/children of a female worker are not considered dependants, this rule/practice must stop forthwith. All dependants of workers, regardless of the gender of the worker, must enjoy equal privileges. All other such discriminatory practices must be abandoned.
At the extra-organizational-cultural level, the media must propagate correct and relevant information about gender issues, particularly with reference to leadership phenomenon, its relation with gender, and its impact on an organization. Specific material must be prepared for this purpose, and feedback of the impact of such programmes must be sought on a constant basis, so that corrective measures could be adopted. Media in general, and television in particular have a significant role in formulating, perpetuating or annihilating mind-sets. Media must, correct the negative mind-set prevailing in our culture regarding the "inferiority" and "unsuitability" of female leadership. Research all over the world, including the present one in Pakistan, bears testimony to the fact that it is not so. Media must play its role to disseminate this information.