Consider the data from a Gallup poll:

• 34% of men said they preferred a male boss
• 10% of men said they preferred a female boss
• 40% of women said they preferred a male boss
• 26% of women said they preferred a female boss.

(The remaining respondents of both genders said they had no preference.)

So, the plurality of both men and women said, when given a choice, they’d rather work for a man. And the data from that survey fall right in line with other less formal polls.

• In a survey of Dartmouth MBA candidates, 90% of women said they rather have a male boss.
• In England, 63% of women in one poll responded that they didn’t want another woman as a boss.
• A Forbes Facebook poll showed that women overwhelmingly preferred men as bosses. Why? Some of the respondents left comments, such as:  “Women have been evil bosses to me in the past,”  “Women can be conniving and backstabbing while giving you the nice-nasty smile” and “Absolutely a man, and I speak from personal experience. Women I’ve worked for, with only one exception, tended to feel threatened by me, whereas men were better mentors.”

And here’s where it gets really tricky for women bosses. In a Harvard Business School study, women were especially hard on female bosses who were perceived as “trying to act like a man.” So the women workers said they (a) preferred male bosses and (b) hated women who acted like male bosses.

Few studies exist, however, on whether male-led work groups are, for instance, more profitable or have lower turnover rates than groups led by women. So at the this point, what’s being measured is more about perception than results.

interactive advertising is responsible for $300 billion of economic activity in the U.S.

Yes, consumers do click on those ads and buy the products that are promoted there.

The data for this conclusion comes from a  new study released today by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

The study found that the advertising-supported Internet represents 2.1% of the total U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). It directly employs more than 1.2 million Americans with above-average wages in jobs that did not exist two decades ago, and another 1.9 million people work to support those with directly Internet-related jobs.

That makes a  total of 3.1 million Americans with good-paying jobs thanks to the interactive ecosystem.

Much is being made recently of the decline in American manufacturing, with special emphasis on the auto industry, that was long responsible for creating both direct and indirect jobs that fueled the country’s economy.

“This is the first time anyone has undertaken a comprehensive analysis of the size and scope of the Internet economy and measurement of its economic and social benefits,” said Professor Deighton, a Harvard Business School prof, and an author of the study. “I am convinced the results of this study will prove useful for business leaders, legislators and the educational community.”

“This study underscores that the Internet ecosystem is generating an increasing level of economic activity in every corner of the nation,” said Professor Quelch, another Harvard Business School faculty member  and a co-author of the study.

Other study findings:

• Small businesses have thrived as a result of the Internet: There are more than 20,000 Internet-related small businesses in the U.S. that provide a variety of services such as web hosting, ISP services, web design, publishing, and Internet-based software consulting. Many of these businesses have 10 or fewer employees.
• Internet-related employment is particularly important to certain areas of the country but exists in every one of the 435 U.S. Congressional Districts. Some Congressional Districts have more than 6,000 Internet-related employees.
• Interactive advertising has substantially reduced what consumers have to pay for access to the Internet and for e-commerce products and services. In addition to its financial contribution to the U.S. economy, the Internet has produced large social consequences as an infrastructure and platform, providing American society comprehensive qualitative benefits that include:
  1. Universal access to an almost unlimited source of information
  2. Increased productivity (output per unit of capital or labor, or increased consumer utility at a lower cost)
  3. Innovation in business practices, consumer behavior, commerce and media
  4. Empowerment of entrepreneurs to start small businesses, find customers and grow
  5. Environmental benefits derived from saving natural resources lowering pollution through the reduced use of petroleum-based fuels and paper