MY article "Women are a powerful asset in business" in The Business Times a fortnight ago dealt with the question of what women bring to business situations. Their jigsaw ability to scan the horizon while focusing on the piece in hand is developed. Men often think more linearly - something essential in very specific situations - but less creatively. Creativity of thought coupled with numeracy are now deemed to be the top-most requirements for today's managers, to deal with the many changes continually taking place. I think it is because of the need for both that bringing more women into the C-Suite ultimately provides the best mix.

Women cannot be hired and employed in the same way as men. They have responsibilities, quite beyond conception and birth of a child, that men still do not generally accept for themselves. There are exceptions, of course. And there are some wonderful men who fulfil the role of home-keeper admirably. Most men and women still regard the man as the main earner for the household. When that is the case, it gives men the importance of the primary provider. There is nothing wrong with this concept, provided the woman of the home is given every opportunity to work if and when she wants to, and to become the primary source of funds for the family if that is the consequence of her doing so.

Mixing business and pleasure