Women in change management: Simone De Beauvoir and the co‐optation of women's Otherness

Abstract

Purpose

To consider Simone De Beauvoir's account of woman as Other, and particularly the appropriation of sexual difference, with reference to the gendered bifurcation and hierarchical organization of change management.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a review of relevant managerial texts, as well as a discussion of De Beauvoir's The Second Sex and related scholarship, the paper explores some of the ways in which men and women are “situated” within change management discourse.

Findings

Argues that within managerial discourse men are constructed as “effective” managers of change, whereas women are relegated to an “affective” support function, and that this can be understood as an appropriation of women's ascribed Otherness.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the ongoing development of a critical, feminist approach to the study of management. While acknowledging the many limitations of her work, it makes the case for a reappraisal of De Beauvoir's thinking in this respect.

Citation

Tyler, M. (2005), "Women in change management: Simone De Beauvoir and the co‐optation of women's Otherness", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 18 No. 6, pp. 561-577. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534810510628503