Not many changes in corporate SA

She bases her comment on findings of a study just completed by the company.

"We assessed changes at the chief executive level in all the top 40 JSE companies," says Goodman-Bhyat. "We also looked at the CEO situation in what we term the broad 40, made up of our big clients, which include multinationals and listed and unlisted mid-size firms."

The results, she says, reveal that only 15% of top 40 chief executives are black and 5% are females, while in the broad 40, 13% of chief executives are black and 10% are females.

"Clients mandate us to find a CEO who will change the firm's culture and is, ideally, black," says Goodman-Bhyat. But a well-intended mandate is usually as far as it gets. "There is a reluctance to make a bold move to change those at the helm," she says.

She says there are many reasons for this, not least the current tough economy. "No-one seems to want to shake up the status quo, for fear of a negative impact on the bottom line," says Goodman-Bhyat.

Another key reason for resisting change, she says, is the broad trend of boards tending to choose leaders who are like themselves. "You can see it in the characteristics of most CEOs. The vast majority [almost 70%] are finance graduates."

Experience also plays a big role in CEO selection. "Among larger corporations significant experience is not negotiable," says Goodman-Bhyat. The result is an ageing corporate SA management. Among the top 40 firms no chief executive is younger than 40, 22% are between 40 and 50, 58% between 50 and 60 while 20% are over 60.

The succession strategies of many top 40 firms is also a concern. "Less than half the companies have an obvious CEO successor," says Goodman-Bhyat.

At least chances are good that CEOs will be home grown. She says the study debunks the corporate myth that an unusually high number of foreigners head SA companies. Among the top 40 firms 85% of CEOs are South Africans and in the broad 40 firms 77% are local people.

Source: Financial Mail via I-Net Bridge