Leadership Style and Gender: A Study of Spanish Cooperatives

Inocencia María Martinez-Leon,Isabel Olmedo-Cifuentes,Mcarmen Martínez-Victoria,Narciso Arcas-Lario

doi:10.3390/su12125107

Inocencia María Martinez-Leon, Isabel Olmedo-Cifuentes + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125107

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Abstract

The growing global need for social cohesion and sustainable development gives visibility to cooperatives because their principles help to achieve these objectives and the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among them, gender equality policies are in the forefront. This paper explains how cooperatives contribute to women’s professional opportunities and to balancing the presence of women in management positions. It analyzes the predominant leadership styles and gender differences in cooperatives with a sample of 114 cooperative firms. The results show that: (a) Both transformational and transactional leadership styles are widely used; (b) no significant differences in leadership styles between men and women exist; and (c) the composition of management teams results in significant leadership style differences. The transformational style is less often used in mixed teams with a male majority and a woman president, and most often used in homogeneous teams (made up of only men or only women). Transactional leadership is more frequently implemented in teams made up only of women than in mixed masculine teams with a female president. These findings identify women’s leadership styles in cooperatives, pointing out their difficulties and introducing innovative proposals for contributing to their success and the achievement of SDGs in cooperatives.

Highlights

IntroductionSustainable development refers to the “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” [1], which has an impact on the wellbeing of individuals and entire societies and reinforces social capital
The need for social development and cohesion to reduce inequality and contribute to achieving more responsible growth models calls for other ways of carrying out business and economic activities in concordance with the values of sustainability.Sustainable development refers to the “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” [1], which has an impact on the wellbeing of individuals and entire societies and reinforces social capital
The results reveal that the transformational leadership style predominates (4.30 over 5), especially in idealized influence behavior and individualized consideration, since cooperatives of associated work favor them due to their values and democratic relations, interpersonal orientation, and individualized consideration

Summary

Introduction

Sustainable development refers to the “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” [1], which has an impact on the wellbeing of individuals and entire societies and reinforces social capital This type of development requires a new way of organizing economies [2], with models that are more respectful toward the environment and social justice and that promote shared, safe, and sustainable progress, as well as supporting equality. The implementation and success of this Agenda rely on member countries’ own sustainable policies and programs to lay a solid economic foundation This will only be possible if wealth is shared and income inequality is combated. Dynamic, sustainable, innovative, and people-centered economies must be built, promoting, in particular, social economy enterprises (SEEs)

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