Search results
11 – 20 of over 51000The purpose of this paper is to explore what it means to do intersectional research in an organisational ethnographic case study addressing gender, race, power and change. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore what it means to do intersectional research in an organisational ethnographic case study addressing gender, race, power and change. The main contribution of this paper is a methodological one. The focus is on the relevance and experience of adapting two qualitative research methods – diary study and photographic method.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper describes the design, implementation and impact of the diary and photographic methods. Both research methods combine personal reflection with group dialogue. The case study is framed by feminist analysis of the gendered organisation and examines subjectivities and gender power relations embedded in organisational culture.
Findings
Insights from the case study indicate the importance of participatory methodologies for deepening organisational research in the context of an organisational ethnography; the adaptability of the diary and photo methods; the effectiveness of open questions for reflecting on race and gender when participants know the research context; the significance of reflexive practice; the importance of a process approach for organisational analysis and change.
Research limitations/implications
The case study findings are generalisable. The adaptations of the two key methods are applicable for research in practice. The concrete methodologies are significant for intersectional research inside organisations. The choice of intersections to be studied will depend on the research context.
Practical implications
The case study shows methodological refinements for researching gender, power and difference inside organisations.
Originality/value
The paper provides methodological insights into how to conduct intersectional and deep organisational research.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to show how an application of the qualitative diary method reveals the gendered organisation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show how an application of the qualitative diary method reveals the gendered organisation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on the author's experience of her own design and implementation of the diary method, using qualitative diaries, dialogues and interviews. The application is known as the “diary project” and is carried out in a case‐study organisation in which the researcher is addressing wider questions about gender, change and organisation.
Findings
The outcomes show how the diary project methodology is effective for learning about gender norms and practices embedded in organisational culture. Reflections on the interface between the personal and the professional, the formal and the informal, emotion, sexuality and power, hierarchies and difference, draw out significant organisational phenomena which shape advantage and disadvantage and unequal access and control.
Research limitations/implications
The diary project methodology is about the organisation in the present. To study gender embedded in the organisation requires the organisational researcher to also work with other research methods, to achieve a deep understanding.
Practical implications
The experience of the diary project is that it offers organisational researchers and change practitioners a methodology for study and intervention.
Originality/value
The paper is of use to readers looking for a participatory organisational research methodology to examine the gendered organisation. Findings highlight the value of the diary project methodology for a deep analysis of organisation.
Details
Keywords
The article builds upon recent developments in feminist theories as they were adopted in organization studies to review the state of research into women in MNCs and to offer new…
Abstract
The article builds upon recent developments in feminist theories as they were adopted in organization studies to review the state of research into women in MNCs and to offer new directions for the study of MNCs as “gendering organizations,” both as they are shaped by gender relations and are active agents in constructing gender categories, division of labor, images, and inequalities. Juxtaposing insights from gender studies and International Business and Management, the article offers a new agenda for the studies of corporate internationalization and its social consequences.
Details
Keywords
Beverly Dawn Metcalfe, Yasmeen Makarem and Fida Afouni
This chapter address how critical feminist organization studies can shed light on the dominance of masculinist logics in TM theorizing in both theory and practice and open up…
Abstract
This chapter address how critical feminist organization studies can shed light on the dominance of masculinist logics in TM theorizing in both theory and practice and open up opportunities to review TM systems that stress inclusion and equity. The exclusive approach is most worrisome given that contemporary events such as the prosecution of Harvey Weinstein the global ‘#metoo campaigns and the Sustainable Development Goals have highlighted the importance of equality agendas. We draw on transnationalism, intersectionality and postcolonialism approaches to illustrate how TM reinforces inequalities. Our contribution questions the elite logics, and the white Global North males that dominate both TM theorizing, and TM practitioners and denies many stakeholders voices and contributions to organization life. We also question the longevity of the elite mantra of MNCs’ HRM policy given that the Sustainable Development Goals are increasingly being advocated by the business community, and contradict entirely an organizational ethic premised on valuing the elite.
Albert Puni and Sam Kris Hilton
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of power distance culture (PDC) on whistleblowing intentions (WI) by examining the moderating effect of gender on the causal…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of power distance culture (PDC) on whistleblowing intentions (WI) by examining the moderating effect of gender on the causal relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used descriptive and cross-sectional survey design. Data were obtained from 300 employees of the selected organizations in Ghana and analyzed by using descriptive statistics, correlational and hierarchical regression techniques.
Findings
The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between PDC and WI, and such relationship is moderated by gender. The study also revealed that high PDC is the prevailing culture in the organizations surveyed, indicating low tendency of reporting corporate wrongdoing. However, the result of the moderation analysis indicates being a female worker in a PDC has a stronger influence on WI than being a male. Additionally, whistleblowers are likely to report their coworkers than leaders in high PDC organizations, but they are rather likely to report their leaders than coworkers in low PDC organizations.
Originality/value
This paper makes a significant contribution to the existing whistleblowing literature by establishing how gender moderates the influence of organizational culture on whistleblowing and recommends how to improve organizational ethos to facilitate whistleblowing in high-power distance societies.
Details
Keywords
Barrie O. Pettman and Richard Dobbins
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
Abstract
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
Details
Keywords
The aim of this paper is to critically evaluate sexuality and sexual symbolism within the organisational culture of an accounting firm to explore how it is implicated in processes…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to critically evaluate sexuality and sexual symbolism within the organisational culture of an accounting firm to explore how it is implicated in processes of gendering identities of employees within the firm.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a reflexive autoethnographical approach, including short vignettes, to analyse the inter‐relationships between gender, sexuality and power.
Findings
By exploring the symbolic role of artefacts, images, language, behaviours and buildings in creating and maintaining gendered relations, male sexual cultures and female sexual countercultures, the paper finds that sexual symbolism in this accounting firm entwines gendered power and domination, practice and resistance, in complex cultural codes and behaviours. It draws out implications for organisations and accounting research.
Originality/value
The paper extends current conceptualisation of gendered constructs in accounting to include sexuality; applies organisational and feminist theory to autoethnographical experience in accounting; and contributes a seldom‐seen insight into the organisational symbolism and culture of a small accounting firm, rather than the oft‐seen focus on large firms.
Details
Keywords
Janice Witt Smith and Stephanie E. Joseph
This article aims to provide a qualitative analysis of the diversity management challenges of professionals in corporate America. A specific focus is on the differential outcomes…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to provide a qualitative analysis of the diversity management challenges of professionals in corporate America. A specific focus is on the differential outcomes of women and ethnic minorities and their equal employment opportunities in the workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper examined the workplace experiences of 42 African‐American and Caucasian men and women in corporate America. Semi‐structured interviews were held to discover diversity management issues unique to these groups.
Findings
It was found that challenges supported a priori assertions of organizational culture, discrimination/stereotyping, and human capital investments. Each of these challenges impacted members in qualitatively different ways that may account for the variability in work experiences and outcomes. While there were some consistent themes, the findings demonstrated significant within race and between gender differences.
Research limitations/implications
Qualitative studies provide in‐depth information and a deeper understanding about phenomena which allows one to capture general themes that can be obscured in survey research. The intersection of race and gender provides unique findings that should be considered in future research. The use of self‐reported perceptual data without triangulation can limit the generalizability of the study but does provide a view in the language and emotion of the individual who is sharing his/her workplace experience.
Practical implications
The findings demonstrate that diversity management practices need to consider race, gender, as well as multiple group memberships (e.g. African‐American women) which reveals unique issues to be addressed within organizational contexts. There are also differences within race, by gender, in the ways that individuals experience the workplace. The findings provide insight for managers to aid in diversity management and retention.
Social implications
Race is socially constructed and has a political rather than biological basis for determining it. Racial categories in one country which limit an individual's power, influence, freedom, and clout may be very different than categories in another country or political context. Because race is socially constructed, individuals may increase or lose power, privilege, influence and status as they move from one sociopolitical context/power structure in one country to another.
Originality/value
This research provides an additional lens through which to examine the workplace experiences of women and minorities to aid managers in deriving the maximum benefit in a diverse, well‐qualified labor force.
Details
Keywords
It is well-known that women scientists are few in numbers in prestigious research organizations and still fewer in leadership positions. The purpose of this article is to analyze…
Abstract
Purpose
It is well-known that women scientists are few in numbers in prestigious research organizations and still fewer in leadership positions. The purpose of this article is to analyze how organizational gender inequality is rationalized by scientists so as to highlight how discourse on equality reproduces gender at the workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews with the scientists in four research laboratories dealing with medicinal drugs and chemical substances. It uses discourse analysis by Foucault as a theoretical lens to examine how gender inequality is rationalized and the power relations behind it. It adopts the perspective that socio-cultural beliefs form the basis of gendered practices in organizations.
Findings
It finds that the scientists refuse to blame the organization for inequalities by delinking gender issues from the organizational domain. This delinking occurs through rationalizing gender inequality as “social”, through separating informal behavior from the “system” and perceiving women as “privileged”. Such discourses while keeping intact the rationality and meritocracy of the organizations/institutions, reproduce the ideological “public-private dichotomy” and the male dominance at the workplace.
Practical implications
The findings indicate the need for extensive studies in India highlighting how gender is done in organizations, exploring men's role in undoing gender and government initiatives to create a climate of gender equality.
Originality/value
It highlights how discourse on gender equality/inequality at the workplace manifests dominance of men and represents an intersection of Indian social, organizational and institutional contexts at workplace. It also calls into question the applicability of the western concepts of “individualization” and “gender fatigue” to the Indian context.
Details