Zinhle Mapumulo

Zinhle Mapumulo

Women in Finance (WIF) hosted the launch of Value through Values in Pretoria last week.

Written by economic journalist and author Jerry Schuitema, the book discusses the likelihood of women rather than men heading successful businesses in the future.

Colleen Larsen, pictured, chief executive and founder of WIF, welcomed Schuitema's new work saying that it promoted a return to sound values for business.

"Value through Values should be a textbook for women in business as it supports the notion that people can achieve personal abundance and contentment while being of service to their fellow human beings.

"It offers a contribution based approach which is refreshing. It also provides an alternative to the greed and pure profit-based philosophy that has dogged business.

"The book is particularly relevant in terms of unleashing entrepreneurial behaviour for growth," Larsen said.

Speaking at a preview of his new book, Schuitema said feminine attributes of nurturing and caring were becoming more relevant to business than the conventional categories of aggressiveness and being predatory.

"The new generation organisations will have to be built on higher human values such as care for others and compassion - attributes that women seemingly are more comfortable with than men.

"Of course generalisations are always dangerous. But, without assuming that these traits cannot exist in either male or female, they do impact on company behaviour," he said.

Schuitema said this would automatically lead to women being considered more seriously for company leadership, independently of affirmative action or women's rights lobbies.