Page 21 - SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES & COVID-19

Previously there was the term “glass ceiling”, which is a systematic but invisible barrier to prevent women in senior level
positions, but Mckinsey research (2019) shows that in the last five years there has been an increase in the number of
women at the top level of the company, this is due to the increasing number of women being recruited for director
positions and the average number of women at senior level being promoted higher than men. However, there is a term
“broken rung” where the biggest obstacle faced by women towards leadership positions is the initial step to become a
manager. Men are more promoted and recruited than women for managerial positions, so women are trapped in entry
level. So even though more women are recruited and promoted at the senior level and representation of women will
still lag behind men.

Companies in ASEAN gave better results related to gender diversity with 32.8% of senior management occupied by
women. Gender diversity in ASEAN is also influenced by company-specific factors such as ownership structure and
the business sector. Indonesia ranks first with the proportion of women on the board of directors of 11.7%, followed
by Vietnam 7.8% and Thailand 7.6%. Only 2% of companies in Indonesia where all senior management are male, and
generally women serve as company CFO (50.4%), HRD Director (26%), and CMO (18.9%). This result is supported by the
increasing support of companies in Indonesia to increase the number of women in senior management.

Women and men have different characteristics in establishing strategies and responding external factors in the
business environment. Gender-related policies need to be considered in the business world so companies can develop
strategies with a broader perspective and as a counterweight to the presence of female executives to maximize firm
performance.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Heading level 2 ß Times New Roman, 12pt, Bold
Sex is a biological categorization based primarily on reproductive potential, whereas gender is the social translation of
biological sex. Gender is built on biological sex, but exaggerates biological differences, and brings biological differences
into domains where it is completely irrelevant. Biological differences between men and women determine gender by
causing differences in abilities and dispositions that last a long time. (Eckert and McConnell-Ginet, 2013).

According to Tinsley and Ely (2018) science in general, does not support the claim that men and women are different.
Differences in male and female characters are not rooted in the nature of gender, but rather because of the organizational
structure, company practices, and interaction patterns that place men and women differently so as to create systematic
experience differences between the two which will then create differences in responses.

Gender influences risk preferences, social preferences, and competition preferences. Women are more risk-averse than
men, women are more sensitive to social issues, and in terms of competition, women’s preferences are lower than men.
These differences affect the economic decisions made in the labor market and products (Croson and Gneezy, 2009).
Gender differences affect business performance including human resources, capital resources, and company goals.
Women’s-owned companies are less successful than male-owned businesses because women use less initial capital,
have less work experience in similar businesses, and lack previous work experience in family businesses. (Fairlie and
Robb, 2009).

Cash holding is the company’s policy in holding cash in the form and or deposits rather than investment. Cash is the
most liquid asset, and can be used directly to pay for the company’s operational needs, payment of debts and corporate
investment. Gore (2009) defines cash holding as the ratio of cash and cash equivalents to operating costs and monthly
interest costs. Ross, Westerfield, and Jordan (2008) describe the reasons for holding cash are for transaction motives,
precautionary motives, speculative motives, and settling minimum balances.

When companies hold cash more than the minimum amount, it will incur opportunity costs such as the interest that
can be earned when the cash is invested in securities. However, holding cash in excess of the remaining balance limit
remains necessary as is to maintain liquidity for transaction needs. Therefore the company needs to calculate the
benefits and costs of holding cash. (Ross, Westerfield, and Jordan, 2008).

20 International Conference on Sustainability
(5 Sustainability Practitioner Conference)
Th