Compare and contrast the styles of Scardino and Sorrell using documentary sources. Does gender play a part in whatever style differences you note?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Published facts about Sir Martin Sorrell tend to portray him as a single-minded, alpha-male character.
Despite now owning only 1% of WPP he seems to reign unchallenged and will doubtless continue until
he decides he wishes to retire or is brought down by a combination of poor results and a credible
challenger. He attends to the detail, but he is also a good delegator and must be particularly reliant on his
innermost circle of trusted senior staff. Once he has decided, he acts decisively, as for example in the
case of his costly 2005 divorce from his wife of 35 years. Dame Marjorie Scardino’s early career was in
journalism, after successes and failure migrating to the Economist newspaper where she was promoted
regularly, becoming its chief executive and subsequently CEO of parent company Pearson. While she
has demonstrated ruthless, decisive qualities to match Sorrell, it seems probable that her wider early
experience enables her to look at issues differently and perhaps with considerable sensitivity. The latter
quality might be attributed to her gender, but most reports discount gender factors in her career success;
while she broke through the ‘glass ceiling’ to the most senior levels, many other women have not,
suggesting that she matches or outcompetes her male contemporaries.