The Top 20 Women In Business

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: The Financial Express pioneered media attention on women high achievers in business. In November 2002 it dedicated a weekly section to profiling them. About four months back, it also started a regular weekly section to capture their achievements and trends in this field. On 19th February 2004, the FE-Electrolux Awards For Women in Business will be given away to honour and celebrate high achievers in four categories: the best professional, the best knowledge manager, the best entrepreneur and the best lifetime achievement award. A fifth award for the best young achiever will not be given this time, but will be part of the annual awards in the coming years.

The FE-Electrolux Awards in a sense capture the mood and trend of women in business over the recent years. The 1990s, which had been a period of riveting change for business in India, also brought forth significant changes in the achievements of women in general and, in the business sphere in particular. One of the key reasons for this was that the Indian family business was going through significant changes. If the role of women in these institutions were limited till then, in the last few years, not only have daughters taken charge in some of the major business groups, but so also have the wives of the founders and patriarchs of the groups. Another key driver for the change is the conducive preconditions for women managers to break the glass ceiling in organisations: higher level of education, studies abroad, changes in governance and board norms in corporates and influences of international working norms which have impacted organisations in India. The greater opening up of the knowledge economy in the beginning of this millenium and the easier availability of finance helped throw up a group of smart, high-achieving women entrepreneurs. Finally, slowly but steadily, the public sector which till today is a male bastion has seen some exceptions.

The Financial Express awards jury ploughed through dozens of potential candidates. From scores of names, it shortlisted twenty high-achievers from different segments of the economy and almost all parts of the country.

From these, four have been selected who will be presented the awards. Here are short profiles of Top Twenty Women Achievers in Business.