John Grey believes men are from Mars, women are from Venus--is it true in the business world?

John Gray, author of the best-seller Men Are From Mars: Women Are From Venus (1) maintains that there are substantial psychological disparities between men and women. While Gray deals with interpersonal relationships, the purpose of this study is to examine whether there are significant differences between women and men regarding business issues. We have chosen transportation/logistics managers to be the respondents for this study, because we believe they are excellent surrogates for management personnel. Why? Because transportation/logistics managers must be both specialists' and generalists to be successful. Johnson and Wood have noted:

The logistics manager has a highly

complex and challenging position.

The major reason is that he or she

must be both a technical expert and

a generalist. In the first capacity the

logistics manager must understand

freight rates, warehouse layouts,

inventory analysis, production, purchasing,

and transportation law. As

a generalist, the logistics manager

must understand the relationship

between all logistics functions. In

addition, he or she must relate logistics

to other operations of the

firm as well as to outside suppliers

and customers. (2)

There have been many studies that have asked logistics personnel various issues, but they have not examined the differences in the answers between men and women. Recently, two studies have asked women in the transportation/logistics area their thoughts regarding various professional issues. (3) Again, however, there has been no attempt to examine the differences between the respondents' answers and their gender. That is the purpose of this study. We asked 500 male and 500 female transportation/logistics managers to answer three queries in their own words. Specifically, the three questions are: (1) What one additional skill would you like to acquire to increase your professional competence? (2) What advice would you give to a recent female college graduate who is about to start her career in transportation/logistics? and (3) Would you prefer a male or female supervisor and why? We then compared and contrasted the responses by gender.

This article will address the following-topics: (a) a literature review of the three issues mentioned above; (b) a description of the methodology utilized in this study; (c) a gender based analysis of each of the three management issues addressed in this study; (d) a discussion of our findings; and (e) an examination of the managerial implications that emerge from this study.

Literature Review

This study examines three managerial issues and then compares and contrasts the answers by gender. Each of these issues will now be discussed briefly in terms of previous research that is germane to each topic.

Additional Skill Desired

Logistics, like many management areas, can be outsourced if senior management determines that this function can be done at either less cost or more effectively by third parties. (4) For example, Dell Computer has outsourced both inbound and outbound transportation/logistics activities to Roadway Logistics. (5) Whirlpool Corporation has recently decided to outsource its entire inbound logistics materials management function to Ryder Dedicated Logistics. (6) For this reason--among others--transportation/logistics managers must stay current in their ca reef, because it is always possible they can be terminated because of outsourcing. (7)

The Ohio State University, for a number of years, has been asking logisticians a number of questions on an annual basis. One query involved the skill that each person would like to acquire in order to enhance their professional abilities. For the years 1994 to 1997, the most noted skill that logisticians desired to upgrade was information technology. Tied for second and third places were global logistics and corporate finance. (8)

Advice to a Recent Female College Graduate

Much had been written about the problems women encounter in the business world. Books devoted to this topic include: Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women; (9) Success And Betrayals: The Crisis of Women in Corporate America; (10) When Work Doesn't Work Anymore: Women, Work And Identity; (11) and When Mothers Work: Loving Our Children Without Sacrificing Ourselves. (12) The common denominator of these books is that women have so many demands on their time that the corporate work environment is often not personally fulfilling.

There are also specific problems that women encounter in the workplace. The most common is the stress brought on by working long hours. (13) Another is sexual harassment which can be encountered in the workplace. (14) An additional female oriented problem is the "invisible women syndrome." This is where men just ignore or discount the ideas of women because of their gender. (15) Anita Borg, a senior researcher at Digital Equipment Corporation, noted this problem and stated, "You run into subtle sexism every day. It's like water torture. It wears you down." (16)

Because of the above problems, we thought it would be instructive to see what the respondents--both male and female--would offer as advice to a recent college graduate who is beginning her career in transportation/logistics management.

Gender Preference For Your Supervisor

The third question addressed in this study asked respondents if they preferred a male or a female supervisor, or if they had no preference in terms of gender, and then to tell us why in their own words. The literature review indicated three aspects to this question. One involved the potential problem of a woman having a male supervisor who demands sexual involvement for job advancement. (17) Another situation was that some men perceive that women are not effective supervisors. (18) Pat Helm, a management consultant, believes the reason for this is that women grow up in a different environment compared to men. He states, "Men grow up in hierarchies and understand how power is wielded. Girls grow up sharing power equally. There never was a 'boss doll player'." (19)

The third issue is when women purposefully use their sexuality to succeed with their male bosses. This does not imply they sleep their way to promotions, but that they are willing to use their feminine charm and flattery skills to further their careers. (20) There have also been situations where there have been alleged consensual sexual relations between a male boss and a female subordinate. The most famous situation involved Mary Cunningham, a young executive who was constantly working with William Agee, the chief executive officer of Bendix in the early 1980s. A cover story in Fortune entitled, "Women, Sex, and Power," referring to Agee and Cunningham stated, "Now married, the couple always denied having a sexual relationship at Bendix. But the Mary-and-Bill saga was the talk of the business world, and it remains so titillating that high-powered women to this day carry some burden of proving they did not sleep their way to the top." (21)

Research Methodology

In order to better understand the gender differences regarding the three management issues noted above, a sample of logistics and transportation professionals was surveyed. Independent systematic random samples of 500 male and 500 female logisticians were selected from the 1997 Council of Logistics Management Membership Directory. We eliminated all individuals who were either a consultant or a professor at a college or university. Each potential respondent was first sent a copy of the two page questionnaire along with a cover letter urging his or her participation. Approximately ten days later a second copy of the questionnaire was sent with a cover letter thanking those who had responded and reminding the others to please do so.

Altogether, usable response were received from 146 female professionals, representing 146/500=.292, or 29.2% of the initial sample. Also, usable responses were received from 155 male professionals, representing 155/500=.310 or 31.0% of the initial sample. These response rates are considered very good, especially considering the professional status of those contacted. Responses from these 146 female and 155 male logistics professionals, then, form the database for this study. In terms of respondent demographics, the males were older than the females. For the male participants, 4.5% were under 30; 20.6% were age 30 to 39; 43.9% were 40 to 49; and the 50 and over category accounted for 31.0%. For the women respondents, 13.2% were under age 30; 34.7% were 30 to 39; 41.7% were 40 to 49; and 10.4% were age 50 and over. Looking at education, the male respondents possessed more formal education. For the men in our survey, 6.5% did not have a college degree; 47.7% did have a college degree; and 45.8% had earned a graduate degree. For the female respondents, 19.2% had not graduated from college; 42.4% were college graduates; and 38.4% had achieved a graduate degree. There are also substantial differences in the incomes of the male and female respondents--undoubtedly based on the relatively younger ages of the female participants. For the men in our sample: 8.6% had an income nearest to $40,000; 21.7%-$60,000; 21.7%-$80,000; 22.4% -$100,000 and 25.6% reported their in come as $120,000 and more. For the women in our survey: 22.5% had an income closest to $40,000; 33.3%-$60,000; 15.9%-$80,000; 13.8%-$100,000 and 14.5% received an income of $120,000 or more.

Additional Skill Desired