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Case study
Publication date: 19 October 2012

Dorota Joanna Bourne

Leadership, change management, knowledge transfer, quality, car manufacture, organisational culture, staff training and development.

Abstract

Subject area

Leadership, change management, knowledge transfer, quality, car manufacture, organisational culture, staff training and development.

Study level/applicability

This case study is intended for undergraduate courses on principles of management, cross-cultural management and organisational behaviour; postgraduate and MBA courses as above in addition to leadership studies and change management courses.

Case overview

Globalisation inevitably led to attempts to transfer know-how and expertise to markets in different locations and cultures, where the particular organisation is willing to begin to operate. Hence, the need for understanding the conditions for successful knowledge transfer is especially important. The globalisation process in the Eastern bloc, which began in 1990, is a good example of knowledge transfer where the mutual meaning creation played a crucial role. This case study illustrates the process of international knowledge transfer between Western Europe and an emerging economy using the example of DAK Corporation and quality transfer to Poland. The case is especially useful for undergraduate and postgraduate students, including MBA students, studying general management as well as more specialised courses stemming from international management, for example, cross-cultural management and organisational behaviour. Since the material focuses on people management and development as well as organisational culture creation, current and future practitioners from the human resources department will find it particularly useful. Students considering a career in a multinational company can also use this case in their preparation for the challenges of operating in a global business environment.

Expected learning outcomes

These include: understanding of the process of international and cross-cultural knowledge transfer; identification of key cultural and organisational factors contributing to the success of international knowledge transfer; understanding of the organisational culture creation process; and exploration of the process of new staff development and training.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available.

Abstract

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2008

Dorota Bourne and Mustafa F. Özbilgin

Earlier work on career choice has identified that career choice involves gendered processes which lead to differentiated career outcomes for women and men. However, this…

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Abstract

Purpose

Earlier work on career choice has identified that career choice involves gendered processes which lead to differentiated career outcomes for women and men. However, this literature remained anaemic in offering career counselling strategies for addressing the negative impacts of these processes. The paper aims to explore the creativity cycle and other tools derived from personal construct psychology (PCP) and other feminist literature as potential means for dissolving gendered perceptions of various professions and organisational practices.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper.

Findings

The paper argues that PCP can provide a theoretical and methodological framework for discussing how dichotomous and gender identified the perceptions of professions can be and how such perceptions might be challenged.

Practical implications

This theory and its techniques allow us an exploration of the flexibility of one's constructions system, which determines a person's ability to construe alternative views and to develop new ways of understanding oneself and others.

Originality/value

The PCP's potential as a technique to combat gendered perceptions of a career is examined.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2011

Katerina Nicolopoulou

The present paper seeks to focus on the processes involved in the knowledge transfer of CSR and sustainability programs and theorises about a conceptual framework that addresses…

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Abstract

Purpose

The present paper seeks to focus on the processes involved in the knowledge transfer of CSR and sustainability programs and theorises about a conceptual framework that addresses three aspects of such a knowledge transfer process: the “thinking”, the “doing” and the “being”.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a theoretical interdisciplinary study, which combines insights from the theory of knowledge transfer within the application domain of CSR and sustainability, and looks into the ways the above impact aspects of diversity, career identity and career development of professionals in this field.

Findings

HRM issues such as new competencies and differing approaches to career development options, talent retention and management, and a change of the notion of employment contract need to develop to successfully support the transfer of knowledge in terms of professionals in the domain of CSR and sustainability.

Research limitations/implications

Future directions and implications of this research include furthering the understanding of career identities and their development in the milieu of globally mobile knowledge workers in the field of CSR and sustainability knowledge transfer and identifying relevant and necessary tools for HR management and stakeholder engagement in this field.

Social implications

The establishment of career pathways and new career identities is an increasingly significant challenge in the workplaces of the twenty‐first century, and CSR/sustainability knowledge transfer processes highlight that.

Originality/value

The paper contributes an innovative angle to the topic of knowledge transfer in the area of CSR and sustainability, whilst also highlighting the importance of the role of knowledge workers with global mobility in this process, including their perceptions of career identities and development.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2011

Olca Surgevil and Evrim Mayaturk Akyol

In this study, the aim is to put emphasis on a specific discrimination area that is evaluated both as a disability and a diversity dimension. Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired…

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Abstract

Purpose

In this study, the aim is to put emphasis on a specific discrimination area that is evaluated both as a disability and a diversity dimension. Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) disease should be considered beyond the scope of health as a social issue. However, the main purpose of the study is to determine the influence of information levels on HIV/AIDS on attitudes and views towards people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) in work life. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to assess this influence by means of a pilot study. Additionally, one of the basic assumptions of the study is that career and identity developments of PLHIV will be positive as a result of the increase in knowledge amongst human resource (HR) managers and career counselors about HIV and PLHIV.

Design/methodology/approach

Disinformation about HIV/AIDS may cause stigmatization and discrimination. Thus, this paper seeks to indicate the effects and results of the discrimination and tries to create awareness. Consequently, discrimination against PLHIV in work life is emphasized in the study in parallel with the information levels related to the disease. Additionally, survey technique is used on the sample of HR employees and managers who are members of The Association of HR Managers (PERYON).

Findings

The paper finds that 50 percent of the respondents stated that it was right to request a HIV test whereas 36 percent of them declared that it was not right. The respondents' information level about the transmission of HIV was evaluated as medium or high. Respondents mostly think that HIV is not a punishment to people for their misbehaviors, and that sufferers should not be ashamed of themselves; PLHIV are not guilty and do not have marginal life styles. They also showed sensitivity towards the right for treatment and protection of the human rights of PLHIV. The majority of respondents stated that they could work in the same workplace with PLHIV and also that they did not associate HIV with homosexuals.

Research limitations/implications

As a limitation, there is a possibility that social desirability had an effect on some of the respondents' answers. Second, the respondents have never met PLHIV in their workplaces. Because of these limitations it was not possible to get answers regarding discriminative behaviors in the workplace towards PLHIV in terms of HR functions. Thus, it is suggested that a study on PLHIV or people who work with PLHIV should be conducted. Additionally, the study could be replicated with different and larger samples.

Originality/value

A contribution to increasing awareness and the cautions against discrimination towards HIV/AIDS is one of the values of this study. Another distinctive characteristic of this study is the investigation of this issue from the context of an emerging country, Turkey.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2011

Gözde İnal and Mine Karataş‐Özkan

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the career experiences of Turkish Cypriot women solicitors in Britain, by examining their choices of employment or self‐employment.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the career experiences of Turkish Cypriot women solicitors in Britain, by examining their choices of employment or self‐employment.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts a critical realist approach considering the macro‐contextual and micro‐agentic aspects of Turkish Cypriot women's career development. Applying “the instrumental case study” approach, it explores the career experiences of four Turkish Cypriot women solicitors. Case study material was collected through semi‐structured interviews.

Findings

The paper argues that one cannot talk of ethnic enclaves in positive or negative terms, without considering layered individual experience. Their life and career trajectory is marked by their ethnicity and migration that is characterised by dual processes of break with tradition and later return to tradition during which identities are tested and usually reaffirmed where Turkish Cypriots may rediscover their Turkish Cypriotness.

Originality/value

The study reveals that macro‐, meso‐ and micro‐effects are responsible for the polarisation of opportunities in the ethnic enclaves.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2011

Maria Tsouroufli, Mustafa Özbilgin and Merryn Smith

Attempts to modernise the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK involve promoting flexible approaches to work and training, restructuring postgraduate training and increasing…

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Abstract

Purpose

Attempts to modernise the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK involve promoting flexible approaches to work and training, restructuring postgraduate training and increasing control and scrutiny of doctors' work. However, the medical community has responded with expressed anxiety about the implications of these changes for medical professionalism and the quality of patient care. This paper aims to address these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on literature on nostalgia, gender, identity and organisations, the paper explores the narratives of 20 senior NHS hospital doctors to identify ways in which doctors use nostalgia to react to organisational and professional challenges and resist modernisation and feminisation of medicine.

Findings

This paper illustrates how senior hospital doctors' nostalgic discourses of temporal commitment may be used to constitute a highly esteemed professional identity, creating a sense of personal and occupational uniqueness for senior hospital doctors, intertwined with gendered forms of othering and exclusionary practices.

Practical implications

Nostalgia at first sight appears to be an innocuous social construct. However, this study illustrates the significance of nostalgia as a subversive practice of resistance with implications for women's career and identity experiences. Change initiatives that seek to tackle resistance need also to address discourses of nostalgia in the medical profession.

Originality/value

The main contribution of this study is that we illustrate how supposedly neutral discourses of nostalgia may sometimes be mobilised as devices of resistance. This study questions simplistic focus on numerical representation, such as feminisation, as indicative of modernisation and highlights the significance of exploring discourses and head counts for understanding resistance to modernisation.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2011

Nick Rumens

This paper aims to explore how gay men and lesbians draw upon workplace friendship for developing and sustaining managerial careers and identities.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore how gay men and lesbians draw upon workplace friendship for developing and sustaining managerial careers and identities.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts a qualitative design, using data collected from semi‐structured interviews with four lesbians and eight gay men, all employed in managerial roles in the UK.

Findings

Data reveal the importance of workplace friendship as a resource for mentoring, climbing managerial career ladders, fitting into existing work cultures and developing gay and lesbian managerial identities. A significant finding is that participants preferred to befriend heterosexual colleagues, to that end complicating previous research that suggests gay and lesbian friendship preferences tend to be marked by similarity in regard to sexual identity. Work friends enable and constrain the development and visibility of gay and lesbian managerial identities and careers.

Research limitations/implications

Although the data are not generalisable, it is of concern that gay men and lesbians continue to be disadvantaged by heteronormative constructions of gender and sexuality. While gender and sexual norms can limit the visibility and embodiment of gay and lesbian managers in the workplace, the study reveals also how gay sexualities can be utilised as a resource for developing influential friendships.

Originality/value

This article provides insights into issues not previously covered or understudied in the organisation studies literature such as the agency of gay men and lesbians in constructing different types of workplace friendships as a resource for developing managerial identities and careers.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2011

Roger Johnston and Orthodoxia Kyriacou

This paper seeks to explore the ways in which discrimination is exercised institutionally. The paper takes as its focus the UK institutional structures of accountancy.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to explore the ways in which discrimination is exercised institutionally. The paper takes as its focus the UK institutional structures of accountancy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a conceptual framework which explores the connections between institutional structures of UK accountancy and the rich experiences of individuals.

Findings

The narrative themes clearly illustrate the intersection of gender, ethnicity and identity across the institutional structures. Varying degrees of inclusion and exclusion are visible in the accountancy workplace.

Research limitations/implications

The oral history approach has its inherent limitations and many of the respondents were “snowball” contacts rather than drawn from a large randomly chosen selection.

Practical implications

This paper prioritises individual experience of unfair discrimination. Although research in this area of accountancy is emergent, it argues that the voice of the individual needs to be listened to by the institutions which form UK accountancy in order to facilitate equality and diversity.

Originality/value

The value of this study rests with the illumination of accountancy experiences which otherwise may have been silenced by the institutional structures of accountancy.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 October 2010

Dorota Joanna Bourne

The purpose of this paper is to explore and understand the process of successful introduction of total quality management (TQM) in Poland and the way in which it impacted on…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore and understand the process of successful introduction of total quality management (TQM) in Poland and the way in which it impacted on identity of Polish managers.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on a combination of ethnographic research and repertory grid interviews.

Findings

The process of TQM introduction and implementation is examined through the application of translation as a model incorporating cultural and socio‐economical dimensions in addition to individual and organizational levels that shaped the development of TQM in Poland. It then draws on the idea of fantasy as theorized in Lacanian psychoanalysis in order to incorporate the unconscious element of translation process which is missing from Latour's theorization and which forms an important aspect of adoption of new technology and the emergence of a new post‐transition generation of managers in Poland. The paper argues that a complex combination of contextual factors, amongst them the notion of fantasy shaped the process of translation of TQM to Poland, the identity formation of Polish managers and to the emergence of a new post‐transition generation of managers in Poland.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature on the post‐command transition by illustrating this process through the fantasy of total quality management explored in a specific socio‐cultural and geographical context and by combining the idea of Latour's translation with Lacanian fantasy.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 23 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

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