Women on top

What could have been an alternative for SpiceJet's previous owner, Kalanithi Maran, to handing over charge of the ailing airline to its present chairman Ajay Singh? Possibly giving the job to a woman chairperson. That was what Singh, one of the panellists of the discussion, 'How women influence corporate decisions' told a gathering at Ficci on Thursday. In response to Ficci's women's wing President Archana Garodia Gupta's suggestion that keeping women in the top rungs of an organisation could boost its profit, Singh said, "If the previous owners had spoken to her (referring to Gupta) before me, SpiceJet would have been more profitable and we do want that... Then, I would not have had to take charge."