Turning the Tide in Mozambique: Developing Gender Inclusion at a Major Logistics Hub

“Turning the Tide in Mozambique” explores the efforts of a new expatriate CEO to improve gender balance at a technologically advanced transportation hub in southern Africa that he is hired to run for a conglomerate headquartered in the Middle East. His goal is to increase the number of female staff and create a more inclusive culture. In collaboration with external consultants, his initiative begins to change the mindset of the largely male workforce. The case highlights the leadership roles of the project manager, lead consultant and CEO, but the story is told by multiple voices. References are made to diversity, equity and inclusion research in other contexts. Despite the many cultural complexities at play, some straightforward insights emerge from their shared experience.

1.To consider factors that enhance and impede the implementation of gender diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) initiatives: how leaders’ profiles, expertise, insider/outsider status, experience, and the diversity among them matter to the process and outcome. The case demonstrates how the design and implementation of diversity initiatives can be integrated with broader company goals through the collaboration of organisational leaders, HR, consultants, and management. 2.To demonstrate that DEI work can be done in contexts other than those often encountered in business school courses—both in terms of industry sector and regional culture. The case challenges assumptions about who champions these causes and where they are relevant. 3.To reflect on the how the goals of gender equity extend beyond North America and Western Europe. Academic research tends to leave most of the world (in terms of population and geography) wondering how Western DEI practices apply to their own context. Students can explore how gender DEI initiatives intersect with the struggle for empowerment of people in the former European colonies of Africa, Asia and Latin America that continue to be influenced by foreign powers. The case was developed for use in executive education and in MBA courses or modules on DEI. It can be particularly powerful in contexts where the relevance of conversations about gender, diversity, and inclusion may be challenged as US-centric or unsuited to ‘macho’ industry settings.