Abstract

The case “Women Leading the Fight against COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from Finland, Iceland, and Norway” talks about how the women leaders of Finland, Iceland, and Norway navigated through the COVID-19 crisis. The case starts out by giving a brief history of Sanna Mirella Marin (Marin) – Prime Minister of Finland, Katrin Jakobsdottir (Jakobsdottir) – Prime Minister of Iceland, and Erna Solberg (Solberg) – Prime Minister of Norway. It then describes the various strategies adopted by these leaders to tackle the COVID-19 crisis. It also touches upon the measures taken by them to protect both the lives and livelihoods of their citizens. The case also covers the impact of the strategies adopted by these women leaders in their respective countries. Lastly, the case provides a brief comparison of how these three countries – all led by women leaders – fared compared to countries led by male leaders such as the UK, France, and Italy in combatting the COVID-19 crisis.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand whether gender plays a role in leadership
• Understand the different strategies adopted by women leaders in managing a crisis
• Understand how women leaders overcome internal and external challenges during a crisis
• Understand whether women leaders are better at decision-making than male leaders
• Study the personal characteristics and traits of women leaders that contribute to their success

Keywords

COVID – 19 pandemic; Leadership styles; Crisis Management; Women Leaders; Gender and Leadership; Leadership and Change; Strategic Leadership; Participative Leadership; Crisis Communication; Decision-making; Sanna Mirella Marin; Katrin Jakobsdottir; Erna Solberg