Women managers are slowly but surely breaking the glass ceiling to handle strategic and key positions which were once thought of the prerogative of their male counterparts. However, they still face significant challenges.

In 2006, The Fortune, one of the most influential business publications in America, released its annual list of 50 most powerful women business managers; it sprung off quite a few pleasant surprises. There were three Indian women managers who made it to the list this time as against two in 2005 rankings. Naina Lal Kidwai, CEO, HSBC India, joins the elite list at number 41 along with two other influential women managers from IndiaChanda Kochhar of ICICI Bank at 37 and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon at 48, who appeared in the previous list as well. This indeed marks the arrival of women power in business arena in India in a powerful way. In fact, what makes the celebration all the more special is the fact that another India-born woman manager, Indra Nooyi becomes the first woman to get the top job at the US-based PepsiCo, the global beverage and snacks giant. Nooyi's ascendance from CFO to PepsiCo's CEO heralds an important phase in the history of Indian woman managers, in the sense that for the first time an Indian woman gets a chance to head an American firm; though there are many instances where many Indian men have manned the top post at global firms, for instance, Arun Sarin who is currently the CEO of Britain-based Vodafone, the world's largest mobile communications operator.

While they represent the new, growing women power, there are many unsung women managers, who though have not yet found coverage in Fortune list, have led from front and been behind their firm's successes. And these women of substance have not been afraid to venture into male bastions. In fact, these women managers have been operating in highly competitive environment and in diversified industries from automobile to engineering, hospitality to healthcare and movies to multiplexes. Some of them are Sulajja Firodia Motwani of Kinetic Engineering, Anu Aga of Thermax and Priya Paul of Apeejay Park Hotels. Through their sheer skills and determination, these women managers have successfully made their way through the hyper-competitive halls of corporate power.

MBA Review Magazine, Glass Ceiling, Women Business Managers, Global Firms, Kinetic Engineering, Consumer Electronics, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, Business Culture, Corporate Sectors, Organizational Policies, Global Business.