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nAmlBIA unlVERSITY
OF SCIEnCE Ano TECHnOLOGY
FACULTY OF COMMERCE, HUMAN SCIENCESAND EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
QUALIFICATION: BACHELOR OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT HONOURS
QUALIFICATION CODE: 0SBBMH
LEVEL: 8
COURSE CODE: MTC821S
COURSE NAME: MANAGEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY
SESSION: JANUARY 2023
PAPER: SUPPLEMENTARY EXAMINATION
DURATION: 3 HOURS
MARKS: 100
EXAMINER(S}
SUPPLEMENTARY EXAMINATION
DR. CHRISVANZYL
MR. MOSESSHUUYA
MODERATOR: MR. ERNESTMBANGA
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Answer ALL the questions.
2. Write clearly and neatly.
3. Number the answers clearly.
PERMISSIBLE MATERIALS
1. Business calculator
2. The case study
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QUESTION 1
(a) Analyse the attached case study "IT.INTEGRATOR"and present a detailed caseanalysis
report containing references to all the relevant strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats. The recommendations should include suggestions of how the current
innovation strategy could be adapted to provide IT.INTEGRATORwith an alternative
successful innovation strategy. The suggested changes to the current innovation
strategy(s) must be well justified and motivated. The recommendations should
furthermore be very specific about how the strengths and opportunities that were
identified are to be utilized to improve or eliminate the identified weaknesses and to
minimize the effect of the identified threats on the enterprise's performance.
The following report headings need to be included in your final answer:
(a) Executive summary
(b) Introduction
(c) SWOT analysis
(d) Problems/Challenges identification and discussion
(e) Proposed Action Plan
(f) Conclusions
(g) Recommendations
[10 marks]
[S marks]
[30 marks]
[15 marks]
[20 marks]
[10 marks]
(10 marks]
TOTALMARKS:100
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Making IT.Integratora woman-friendly
company
-•-
Oksana Kukuruza,Natalia Golovkinaand Nadia Omelchenko
[I]n early 2021, Nadia Omelchenko, the Vice President of IT.Integrator, the largest
Ukrainian system integrator and a leader on the Ukrainian IT market, faced an
unexpected challenge. Her executive team members started questioning her thus-far
successful programs and initiatives aimed at women's career advancement. They were
worried that resources invested in those programs were an unaffordable expense given the
COVID-19 pandemic. Also, many women in the company seemed to be following the
stereotypical path of prioritizing family over work, as they were under the pressure of
intensified caregiving caused by the pandemic.
In 2020, lockdowns were being imposed and lifted, and distance working practices were
evolving. In the IT sector, most employees adjusted easily to the situation. Most women
opted for working from home and infrequent attendance at in-office, face-to-face meetings
because of increased family responsibilities. However, for managers and high-level
professionals, regardless of gender, remote work was practically impossible.
This situation gave male executives grounds to challenge the existence of initiatives aimed
at women's development. Sales director Oleksandr Pilipchuk stressed that the whole idea of
women's promotion was a waste of time because in critical situations they prioritized family
obligations ana neglected their managerial responsibilities.
One of Omelchenko's main tasks was to secure the company's ability to recruit and retain
the best talent and reinforce the company's position in the market. This was not an easy
task, even for a company that was an IT leader in the country. As in many emerging
economies, a serious skill shortage was the common refrain in Ukraine. Many employers
were facing the need to offer more than just monetary remuneration, which was a new
experience for them. Moreover, many Ukrainian IT companies were competing with
international companies with more financial resources and policies in place for retaining
talent.
She saw that, in the medium and long terms, the company would limit its access to the
available talent pool and lose its own human resources unless women's career problems
were tackled. Such disregard for HR policies could have jeopardized the company's
medium- and long-term business objectives.
Omelchenko once again had to put her career at risk as in 2017, when she became vice
president of IT.Integrator and set out to implement the first-ever development programs for
women. This time she had to secure her initiatives and make them part of the company's
culture and fabric.
Omelchenko reflected on how to keep women career advancement programs in place
without compromising the company's performance. Winning back her peers from the top
management team support was her other concern.
OksanaKukuruzais
ExternalRelationsDirector
at the International
ManagementInstitute
"MIM-Kyiv",IT.Integrator,
Kyiv,Ukraine.Natalia
Golovkinais Professorof
Marketingat the Business
AdministrationDepartment,
InternationaMl anagement
Institute"MIM-Kyiv",
IT.Integrator,Kyiv,Ukraine.
NadiaOmelchenkois Vice
Presidentat the
IT.Integrator,Kyiv,Ukraine.
Disclaimer. This case is written
solely for educational purposes
and is not intended to represent
successful or unsuccessful
managerial decision-making.
The authors may have
disguised names; financial and
other recognizable information
to protect confidentiality.
DOI 10.1108/EEMCS-05-2021-0177
I I VOL12 NO.2 2022.pp.1-21,© EmeraldPublishingLimitedI,SSN2045-0621 EMERALDEMERGINGMARKETSCASESTUDIES PAGE1
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IT.Integrator
IT.Integrator was founded in 2000. By the time Omelchenko was appointed vice president,
the company had become the top leader of the system integration segment of the Ukrainian
IT market. In 2019 and 2020, the TOP 100 publication ranked the company as a top system
integrator in Ukraine. Networks & Business, the most reputable national industry publication,
has ranked IT-Integrator as the leading nationwide system integrator since 2017.
The company targets large and medium private and public sector organizations operating
in Ukraine. Metinvest, an international steel and mining group, ABlnBev Ukraine, Cabinet of
Ministers of Ukraine, Ukrainian National Railways and Sumy National University, just to
mention a few, are among its clients. On the other side of the operations, IT.Integrator has
forged partnerships with such international vendors as Cisco, Microsoft, DellEMC and HPE.
Unlike the majority of firms in the industry, the company has diversified its revenue streams.
Its main areas of business are IT infrastructure, network infrastructure, information security,
data centers, management and monitoring centers, engineering infrastructure, service
support, IT outsourcing, solutions for education, smart city solutions and cloud services.
Of the 280 employees working at IT.Integrator in 2017, only 73 were women. Although they
were represented at various levels of the corporate hierarchy, most of them held junior
positions. Only 10 women were line managers, while one woman held the position of
regional director in Dnipropetrovsk province in central Ukraine. The ratio of men to women
varied depending on age group. In the most economically active group aged 31-50 years,
72% were men and 28% were women. However, in the youngest age group of employees
under 30, the ratio of men to women was more equal, with 59% men and 41% women. Most
of the women have been recruited since 2017.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a mostly negative effect on the company; although like many
IT companies, IT.Integrator has been growing after a brief dip in early 2020. However, the
workforce has reported difficulties caused by the lockdowns and working from home. An in-
company survey in 2020 showed that 72% of female employees suffered from anxiety; 40%
could not perform because they needed to take care of children; 80% had to do
homeschooling and so could not leave their children unsupervised.
The company has followed the strict requirements laid out by Ukrainian legislation, which is
employee-protective. In particular, parents are entitled to four months of maternity leave,
one year of paid vacation to take care of children younger than 12 months. Parents may also
take childcare leave for up to three years without risk of dismissal. Parents with school-age
children are entitled to additional holiday time.
Although the legislation reads "parents", it is women whom Ukrainian society usually
expects to stay at home with their babies for at least a year. Very few, if any, fathers
sacrifice their careers to stay at home with their children. The situation was similar at IT.
Integrator. No men took parental leave, but five women did.
When Omelchenko took up the post of vice-president, it was clear that although legislation
provided a range of protection instruments, those instruments did not facilitate the
development of women's careers. Long breaks in career development impeded
professional and leadership growth. Family obligations were viewed as career obstacles
that excluded women from informal professional networking and participation in
professional development programs. Lack of women in leadership positions meant a deficit
of role models for ambitious female professionals. The situation needed to change.
Nadia Omelchenko
A happily married mother of two, Nadia Omelchenko is an excellent role model for women
pursuing careers. She is a Vice President at IT.Integrator, a market leader.
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She started her career path in a manner typical for women of her generation. After earning a
degree in English from Kyiv National Linguistic University, Omelchenko took a job as a
personal assistant in the IT-Service company. She worked in HR, climbing up the corporate
ladder and moving horizontally as well. She has worked for startups, real estate companies
and professional services in HR management and general management functions.
Her previous experience confirmed that women's career failures tended to result from their
limited access to development programs and promotion opportunities, lack of role models
and advocates of female advancement in management, gender stereotyping and
attempting to balance family and work obligations.
When Omelchenko joined IT.lntegator in 2017, she was the only woman executive.
Moreover, the top management team suffered from unconscious bias against women.
When promotion issues were considered, women candidates were rejected because they
were believed to prioritize family obligations over managerial responsibilities or take career
breaks for having children.
It was opposite to global trends. Unlike IT.Integrator, the world was moving towards
inclusivity and increased representation of women in top positions.
Omelchenko also understood that the situation in the company required a comprehensive
approach that deals more with cultural issues rather than regulatory challenges. First,
women were not represented on the executive teams. That led to situations whereby women
were seen as unsuitable candidates for managerial positions because they were believed to
prioritize family obligations. The risk of women-managers taking long parental leave or even
exiting the company's workforce was considered to be too great for women to be promoted.
When Omelchenko joined the leadership team, she became a role model and advocate of
ambitious female employees. She introduced systemic programs aimed at unlocking
women's potential.
Second, women needed access to development programs. This was a relatively easy
challenge to overcome because Omelchenko herself introduced a comprehensive system
of professional development. She designed the system in such a way that provided access
to professional development programs for all employees through mandatory attendance of
the in-company seminars followed by testing and screening of participants.
Third, many ambitious women were not always ready for senior positions. They needed to
be mentored to face the challenge. Therefore, Omelchenko designed special programs on
leadership for women.
Fourth, combining family and working obligations has always been a challenge.
Omelchenko addressed the issue by designing a special program aimed at helping women
to adapt at the workplace after their maternity leave ended and a program designed to
promote the value of family obligations for men.
Fifth, Omelchenko tackled the problem of gender stereotyping by launching relevant
initiatives.
Not everyone approved of her activities. Some executives belittled her efforts. Even the
CEO of the company once referred to her initiatives as "Nadia's new toy". Many regional
directors resisted silently by blocking women's promotions and their access to the
development programs and succession pipeline.
To combat this resistance, Omelchenko "fine-tuned" the company's bylaws on
management development and presented the changes as an improvement to the
management development policy. This turned out to be a good way to get executive team
·members on board.
To change the prevailing dismissive attitude toward her initiatives, which was critical,
Omelchenko transformed the initiatives themselves into working instruments. She tried to
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foster a willingness to change behaviors rather than applying coercive measures. In some
cases, internal communications were enough. Sometimes, more active steps were needed,
like checking regional offices for compliance with the competencies approach in selecting
candidates for management development programs to stop sabotaging women's
participation in career development programs because of them having babies.
Eventually, the male CIO and CFO came to realize that her actions had value, since the
company was suffering from a talent drain, as women were leaving due to the lack of career
prospects. Both men actively participated in executing and promoting her programs for
women. The HR and Administration director together with the new PR director joined the in-
company campaign.
Toward equal opportunities in the IT sector
The Ukrainian IT market is very attractive to young people. According to The Global
Innovation Index (2017), Ukraine joined the top 50 most innovative countries in the world. IT
is one of the fastest-growing industries in Ukraine. According to the IT Ukraine Association,
the sector is growing at a rate of 11%-26% annually, well above the global average, in
terms of financial results and number of specialists.
The Ukrainian IT industry is globally very competitive. According to Ukrainian IT Industry
Report, most of the industry's customers are located abroad. Some 50% of revenues are
generated by US- and UK-based clients, while the rest comes from Germany, Canada,
Israel, Sweden and Switzerland.
Remuneration levels that are comparable with its neighbors and low tax rates for the self-
employed make Ukraine an attractive place to work. Although other countries may be
perceived as having better living conditions or social security, they often fail to offer a better
net personal income for IT professionals.
The Ukrainian Tech Market Report (2021) mentioned that as of 2021, a quarter of all tech
professionals in Ukraine were women. In 2019, the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private
Equity Association reviewed the gender situation in those startups, which had raised
capital, finding that some 26% of those companies were co-founded by women. At the
same time globally, only 20% of IT startups were founded or co-founded by women (Teare,
G., 2020).
According to a gender study made by Globallogic, the number of women in the IT sector
has quadrupled from 9,000 to 40,000 over the past five years. At the year-end 2019, women
held 24% of the jobs in the sector.
Both men and women in IT are attracted by the considerable career opportunities, high
salaries, flexible work hours, good teams and the chance to work in other countries. And
while IT professionals on the whole are happy with their salaries, according to a DOU survey
in 2011-2017, men were overwhelmingly paid more than women. According to the report
Information Technology Average Salaries in Ukraine(2021), male IT employees in Ukraine
earned 8% more than their female counterparts on average in 2020.
Women are often impeded on their way to the top positions (Klasen et al., 2015; Singh,
2017). Men dominate software development, business operations and systems
administration, holding over 90% of those jobs. More than a third of designers, QA
specialists, business analysts and project managers are women. Nearly one third of women
have a "junior" title, whereas only 12% (or half that of men) hold a "senior" title.
Specific actions taken
In her interview for this case study, Omelchenko explained why she decided to embark on a
path to unlocking women's potential in the IT sector.
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She said that she had been very aware of the gender imbalance in the Ukrainian white-
collar sectors since the very start of her career. Women were mostly rank-and-file
employees in service functions such as HR, administration and PR, whereas men tended to
be managers. When she was promoted to managerial positions, she would often hear
denigrating comments about women's managerial or professional abilities. She mentioned
that even now she sometimes hears such talk.
In her opinion, spending money on developing female employees looked like an
unnecessary expense only at the first glance. In the mid- and long-term perspectives, it has
proven to be an investment with healthy return. Her actions are supported by numerous
studies, which show that companies with diverse representation, especially with balanced
gender representation, tended to perform better than their rivals.
She well understood that regulatory mechanisms were good for protecting employees, but
not good enough for promotion. It was a question of fostering a cultural shift.
Omelchenko mentioned that her background is in education, psychology and languages
was very helpful in deciding how to proceed with her programs. In her opinion, education
was an essential tool she used to solve many problems, and this was why she launched
several educational initiatives, which evolved into a comprehensive program.
Transformations require not only great effort and many resources (Kanter, R.M., Stein, B.A.,
Jick, T.D., 1992) but also the support of top management. It was only after she secured
support from the CIO and CFO did Omelchenko launched her initiatives.
She also understood very well that unless, as a leader, she enlisted strong agents of
change, her efforts would not have amounted to much. Thus, the PR, HR and Administration
directors served as the program ambassadors.
Omelchenko launched in-company programs for women aimed at securing equal career
opportunities and professional development for men as well as women and leadership
programs for women.
Since 2017, the following in-company programs for women were implemented:
Professional development program (2017)
This annual program was designed to develop the company's succession pipeline.
The program consisted of two parts: external and internal. Internally, the company's
rank-and-file engineers and representatives of administrative functions were
screened, and talent was selected and tested via workshops on managerial skills
and the latest trends in the IT sector. Each workshop series ended with an
assessment that, when combined with standard reviews, helped to identify talent
and determine how to use it. At the external stage of the leadership and professional
development programs, future executives and engineers were offered educational
programs at other companies.
Those selected for managerial careers embarked on programs at respected Ukrainian
business schools. Those interested in an engineering career path took courses held by
other prominent vendors - the partners of IT-Integrator. IT-Integrator covered 100% of
tuition fees. Both engineers and managers were encouraged to participate in conferences
and training held by industrial associations and regulators.
In redesigning the program that existed only formally, Omelchenko incorporated a
clause banning the rejection of candidates who qualify for participation and promotion
because of their gender. There had been cases where qualified female candidates
were rejected because it was felt that their family commitments would outweigh their
work obligations.
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Leadership program for women (2017)
Although this program was designed for both women and men, Omelchenko added a
special component: annual workshops dedicated to issues important to women. These
workshops were conducted by leading experts and always had a women-oriented
approach. The course in female leadership run by melchenko was an integral part of the
program.
Tailoring programs to suit women's needs highlighted women's opportunities for promotion
(Sandberg, S., 2013). Men were also encouraged to participate in these workshops, as the
program was also focused on combating gender stereotypes.
Out of the 19 participants who also took managerial programs at MIM-Kyiv, 30% were
women. Among the program participants who were starting careers in engineering, the
share of women was the same.
As the result, women started applying for promotion. Out of 13 newly promoted women, five
applied for the promotion themselves. lryna Nazarenko, who was promoted to client support
director in 2019, said that she had been thinking about finding a new job in a company that
offered more career opportunities because women who were interested in promotion to
managerial positions at IT-Integrator were being ignored. When Omelchenko announced
that women were welcome to apply for the new opening, Nazarenko did so and stayed with
the company.
Managerial career promotion program (2018)
Executives-to-be were expected to have a solid management education background.
Therefore, every two years prospective and current managers were given the chance to
study at MIM-Kyiv, the most highly regarded national business school. Those who already
held management positions took the MBA or Senior Executive MBA program. Those
expecting to be promoted to management took non-degree, nine-month, functional pre-
MBA programs. Since 2018, four out of ten MIM-Kyiv graduates were women.
Work-wise, future executives were expected to have hands-on experience in the various
functions of the company. All candidates for managerial positions ran projects or worked as
first-line supervisors in at least two areas. This approach allowed candidates to acquire a
comprehensive picture of IT-Integrator's business.
Adaptation program for women returning from maternity leave (2018)
In Ukrainian society, women are expected to take maternity leave when they have children.
However, returning to the workforce is not always easy. Launched in 2018, the adaptation
program complemented the measures required by Ukrainian legislation. Under this
program, returnees were encouraged to put in 40-hour work weeks but were offered flexible
schedules so that they could keep up with family obligations and be paid their full salary. In
addition, new mother-members of the promotion programs continued to participate in those
programs and were entitled to promotion, regardless of maternity leave.
Olena Masliy-Shishova, HR director for IT.Integrator, explained that, unlike many companies
that avoid employing women after maternity leave, IT.Integrator acted differently, hiring
women even after long breaks taking care of their young families. Maternity leave did not
compromise career opportunities at IT.Integrator. In fact, one employee who returned from
maternity leave was promoted in less than half a year.
Life and career balance program (2018)
Ensuring a life-career balance helps to maintain high performance. IT.Integrator launched
the HBO (HealthyBalancedOffice) mentoring program to prevent burnout or the departures
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of talented women who had trouble balancing their families and careers. This annual
program consisted of classes led by well-being experts, group sessions with psychologists
and meditation. The cost of the program was covered by the company. So far, 45 women
and 45 men took part in the program. The mix of genders ensured equal access for women
to corporate benefits and helped to secure steady performance.
Program against gender stereotyping (2019)
The program against gender stereotyping fell into two categories: public education
activities and administrative measures. For the public education part, IT.Integrator
incorporated topics promoting workforce diversity into their in-house workshops and
seminars. In addition, employees were encouraged to join an initiative that supports girls'
participation in STEM programs providing academic supervision of students' research on
gender and diversity issues. Moreover, IT.Integrator participated in gender equality and HR
diversity research, and disseminated the results of this research by uploading the reports
on its intranet.
Both men and women have been entitled to take maternity or paternity leave since 2017,
one year before this option was added to the national regulatory framework. In addition, IT.
Integrator implemented a procedure for reporting cases of gender-based violations.
Anyone who witnessed or suffered from a gender-based violation could file a complaint with
Omelchenko, who then launches an investigation.
According to Stanislav Yablonsky, PR manager of IT.Integrator, the company supported
any activities aimed at promoting female talent. He also said that he was proud of what the
company was doing to keep up with the latest global trends. He noted that they sometimes
envied Western companies that had well-established rules and policies that support
women's careers. As a pioneer. IT.Integrator had to deal with not only male bias but also
female bias. His career in PR was an example of the reverse breaking of stereotypes. as
Ukrainians tend to assume that PR is a woman's domain.
Mentorship programs
These programs were designed to nurture leadership and managerial skills. Some 64% of
mentors and 60% of mentees have been women. These numbers revealed the considerable
leadership potential among women working in the company.
Experience exchange program (2020)
This program was launched to encourage horizontal career movement. Within this program,
women can spend time in other departments to upgrade their skills, improve their
understanding of what the company is doing, and enhance cross-functional cooperation.
During the pilot program, HR staff updated their understanding of finance, while marketing
people improved their understanding of purchasing and logistics.
Changes to existing practices
Omelchenko also launched a clear and gender-balance targeted promotion system. The
requirements for promotion were clearly explained in the company's bylaws. The HR
committee considered promotions every quarter. Employees usually had to wait from six
months to three years to get promoted. According to the company's remuneration system,
employees holding the same position were paid the same salary.
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Keywords:
Human resource
management,
Leadership,
Corporate culture, .
Empowerment,
Diversity
Achieved results and future challenges
The mere fact of discussing gender problems openly was a big step for the company.
Agreement on the launch of development programs for women and programs against
gender stereotyping was another important result. Thus, the number of women recruited,
retained and promoted without compromising the company's performance was considered
to be one of the success indicators.
In early 2021, the retention rate among women employees was 88.5%. Four women now
hold executive positions, compared to just one when Omelchenko joined IT.Integrator in
2017. The number of women in middle management and engineering increased from 36 in
to 49 over the same period. Although the 33% attrition rate of women was still high, it was
lower than the 41.5% registered in 2019. Some 80% of the women who left joined other
companies, 5.7% moved abroad, and 5.7% were dismissed. In their exit interviews, the
women mentioned that they were leaving for better salaries and the opportunity to work
outside Ukraine.
In 2018, the Technology Pact for Women in the STEM initiative recognized IT.Integrator as
the first female-friendly technology company. It assessed such women development and
career advancement drivers as loyalty programs, development activities, social security
and gender balance.
In 2019, IT.Integrator was among the 12 companies and 2 business associations that
signed the Pact for Gender Equality and against Domestic Abuse. The signatories
announced their intention to implement gender-sensitive approaches to business
operations and gender equality in the workplace.
Women development programs proved to be successful. Not only have they facilitated
women's careers and helped retain staff - against the odds during the pandemic - but they
also helped to establish other valuable practices. One of those was the Mentoring Program
launched in 2020. This program offered all employees the opportunity to upgrade their
skills. Female employees particularly appreciated this program, and today, 64% of the
mentors and 60% of the mentees are women.
IT.Integrator's reputation as an employer was solid. It was considered to be female-friendly
and ageism-free.
Business wise, development programs also proved to be successful. The company was
ranked #1 nationwide in 2019 and 2020, after the women-oriented programs were
launched.
However, Omelchenko had a feeling that the journey toward equal opportunities was not
finished. The COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns, coupled with increased
economic and social pressure, proved her concerns. The very first disturbance triggered
doubts from the executive team. Her male counterparts doubted that her efforts were good
for business. They pointed out that women were ready to abandon their career aspirations
to take care of their families.
Omelchenko was convinced that excluding women from career opportunities would help
neither the IT.Integrator's immediate financial results nor its future business successes. Her
challenge was to find instruments that secure equal opportunities for women under any
circumstances.
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Further reading
Beneria, L., Berik, G., & Floro, M.S. (2016). Gender, development and globalization. Economics as if all
people mattered (2nd, Ed.), New York, NY and London: Routledge.
Comeaux, A. (2020). Change (the) management: Why was leaders must change for the change to last,
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing, p. 272.
Fly, R.J. & Rhode, D.L. (2010). Women and leadership: Defining the challenge. Handbook of leadership
theory and practice, Harvard Business Press.
Kotter, J.P. (2012). Leading change, with a new preface by the author.
Microsoft Diversity and Inclusion Report (2019). The state of diversity and inclusion at Microsoft in 2019:
trends and progress. Retrieved from https://query.prod.cms.microsoft.com/cmc/api/am/bina-ry/
RE4aqv1 (accessed 17 May 2021 ).
Women in STEM: Realizing the Potential (2021). White paper. 2014 STEM connector. Retrieved from
https://www .bing.com/search?q=Women+in+STEM%3aRealizing (accessed 16 May 2021 ).
Corresponding author
Oksana Kukuruza can be contacted at: oksana@mim.kyiv.ua
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