Elisabeth Harstad was employed as a trainee at the Norwegian risk managemant consultancy DNV when she realized that being a woman was a barrier. Although trainees were supposed to go abroad the Company had problems finding a job for Elisabeth n a foreign subsidiary: 'I wanted to go to London, Houston, or singapore. At the end I managed- aged to get an international assignment from Oslo to Copenhagen'.

This was in the 1980s . However, Harstad did not give up and pursued her Career intensively. Today be is the manager of the research & innovation unit at DNV and since 2006 member of the Board of directors of the large norwegian chemical company yara . when the new members of the boards of directors were elected , for the first time it was an advantage for Elisabeth a to be a woman. since 2008, Norwegian Companion are requierd by law to have 40 percent female members of their board of directors. Thus, Elizbabeth is part of an experiment - if women do not make it to the tap on their own, political support this process in norway.

Discussion Questions:

1- Relate the situation in Norway to one of the cultural dimensions identified by Hfstede How can you explain it?

2- Can the rules for quotas of female managers be applied in other countries as well? what is the advantages and disadvantages?