Abstract
Much research shows little or no difference between the management styles of women as compared to men. One explanation of this is that women who want to become managers must adapt to rules set by men. A corollary hypothesis is that modern corporations are designed by men for men. This research was undertaken to understand whether women, when designing their own organizations from the ground up, choose different structures, processes, reward systems and people practices than men do. Two nearly identical firms in Seattle, Washington in the United States were studied using intrinsic case study methodology. The two companies are direct competitors in the real estate relocation and management industry. They are the same size and age and draw employees from the same labor pool. They compete for the same types of business and clients. The main difference between them is the gender of the founders.
Galbraith's (1977) Star Model framework was the basis for comparison of the organizations both between each other and between prototypical 'male' and 'female' organizations as derived from current literature. The actual company case studies reflected, in large part, their equivalent gender-based prototypes. When comparing the two company cases, significant differences were found between the two firms. The female-designed organization was more communication-intensive, less hierarchical, more conscious of work-life balance, paid its employees using a.more egalitarian system, and hired people based on organization- personality fit. The male-designed organization was more overtly hierarchical, more process- focused, paid its employees a fixed salary, and hired based on skills needed. Other differences were also observed. Notwithstanding the differences between the organization design choices made at each firm, both firms were found to follow an internal and intrinsic "fit" in accordance with the strategy and management processes chosen.