She has just shattered a glass ceiling at the Association des MBA du Québec. Dominique Vézina, a risk management specialist at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has recently headed the organization’s board of directors. And she is well accompanied, since two thirds of the seats around the table are occupied by women. How does this large council of 19 people work? How different is it from a corporate B.A.? Interview.
It is only recently that there are more women than men on the Board. There is no precise explanation, other than that during the informal search for candidates, women may tend to approach other women. . Certainly, we advocate diversity and a balance within the Board. We believe that we will need a few more men. We will certainly take this into account for the next recruitment.
We arrived at this number when we combined, for the sake of efficiency, the Board of Directors and the management office, which then reported to two different people. This way of doing things was a bit tedious, because we often had to repeat the same discussions in both places to come to decisions. So we merged the two groups a few years ago, and the regulations were changed to allow up to 20 directors on the board. To attract skills, we had to give responsibilities by placing these people on the board. But 20 directors, this is perhaps a bit too much, because not everyone can hold management responsibility. We could possibly reduce the number a bit eventually. We think about it.
No way. We are all MBAs, of course. But MBA is a title that is added to a profession. We all have a different area of expertise, which is a definite advantage. From this angle, our board is similar to a corporate board that relies heavily on the diversity of its group. What sets us apart from the company is the cause. The corporate board establishes the strategy in order to maximize the return, to make the investments bear fruit. With us, the goal is to properly manage everything that revolves around the MBA designation. Challenges and issues are what set us apart.
It must be demonstrated that being an MBA is a guarantee of long-term value creation for each of the professions. In the current and future economic context, the challenges are many and varied. Being an MBA means putting yourself in solution mode in the face of all these challenges.
Be bold. To dare. We need to show in the current environment where challenges abound what the MBA is and thus allow the designation to take its place in the development of all spheres of professional activity.
