Women of the corporation:a sociolinguistic perspective of senior women’s leadership language in the UK

This paper reconceptualises a classic theory (Kanter 1993[1977]) on gender and leadership in order to provide fresh insights for both sociolinguistic and management thinking. Kanter claimed that there are four approved ‘role traps’ for women leaders in male-dominated organisations: Mother, Pet, Seductress and Iron Maiden, based on familiar historical archetypes of women in power. This paper reinterprets Kanter's construct of role traps in sociolinguistic terms as gendered, discursive resources that senior women utilise proactively to interact with their predominantly male colleagues. Based on a Research Council funded1 study of 14 senior leaders (seven female and seven male) each conducting at least one senior management meeting in the U.K., the paper finds that individual speakers can transform stereotyped subject positions into powerful discursive resources to accomplish the goals of leadership, albeit marked by gender.

An exploration of female leadership language:case studies of senior women in Bahrain

This is a multiple case study of the leadership language of three senior women working in a large corporation in Bahrain. The study’s main aim is to explore the linguistic practices the women leaders use with their colleagues and subordinates in corporate meetings. Adopting a Foucauldian (1972) notion of ‘discourses’ as social practices and a view of gender as socially constructed and discursively performed (Butler 1990), this research aims to unveil the competing discourses which may shape the leadership language of senior women in their communities of practice. The research is situated within the broader field of Sociolinguistics and the specific field of Language and Gender. To address the research aim, a case study approach incorporating multiple methods of qualitative data collection (observation, interviews, and shadowing) was utilised to gather information about the three women leaders and produce a rich description of their use of language in and out of meeting contexts. For analysis, principles of Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) were used to organise and sort the large amount of data. Also, Feminist Post- Structuralist Discourse Analysis (FPDA) was adopted to produce a multi-faceted analysis of the subjects, their language leadership, power relations, and competing discourses in the context. It was found that the three senior women enact leadership differently making variable use of a repertoire of conventionally masculine and feminine linguistic practices. However, they all appear to have limited language resources and even more limiting subject positions; and they all have to exercise considerable linguistic expertise to police and modify their language in order to avoid the ‘double bind’. Yet, the extent of this limitation and constraints depends on the community of practice with its prevailing discourses, which appear to have their roots in Islamic and cultural practices as well as some Western influences acquired throughout the company’s history. It is concluded that it may be particularly challenging for Middle Eastern women to achieve any degree of equality with men in the workplace because discourses of Gender difference lie at the core of Islamic teaching and ideology.

A multivariate examination of the relationship between strategic planning and organisational performance

Strategic planning and more specifically, the impact of strategic planning on organisational performance has been the subject of significant academic interest since the early 1970's. However, despite the significant amount of previous work examining the relationship between strategic planning and organisational performance, a comprehensive literature review identified a number of areas where contributions to the domain of study could be made. In overview, the main areas for further study identified from the literature review were a) a further examination of both the dimensionality and conceptualisation of strategic planning and organisational performance and b) a further, multivariate, examination of the relationship between strategic planning and performance, to capture the newly identified dimensionality. In addition to the previously identified strategic planning and organisational performance constructs, a comprehensive literature based assessment was undertaken and five main areas were identified for further examination, these were a) organisational b) comprehensive strategic choice, c) the quality of strategic options generated, d) political behavior and e) implementation success. From this, a conceptual model incorporating a set of hypotheses to be tested was formulated. In order to test the conceptual model specified and also the stated hypotheses, data gathering was undertaken. The quantitative phase of the research involved a mail survey of senior managers in medium to large UK based organisations, of which a total of 366 fully useable responses were received. Following rigorous individual construct validity and reliability testing, the complete conceptual model was tested using latent variable path analysis. The results for the individual hypotheses and also the complete conceptual model were most encouraging. The findings, theoretical and managerial implications, limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Aspects of health among an employed population

This survey collected information on aspects of health amongst an employed population, employees in 14 different organisations in the West Midlands Regional Health Authority; and was a stratified sample of senior managers, middle managers and operatives. Nine hundred and sixty questionnaires were distributed asking for both quantitative and qualitative information on 58 questions covering health, work, family, leisure activities and life-style. A response rate of 48% (459 returned questionnaires) came from 290 men (63%), 165 women (36%) and four people (1%) who did not answer the gender question. The initial findings from this study are unique in that there has not been a specific review of the health of people at work. In answer to the main research questions, 92% felt they were healthy. Compared to others of a similar age, 34% felt their health was `above average', 58% `average', and 7&37 `below average'. Thirty two percent of respondents had visited their GP in the past 1-2 months; the highest reason given was disorders of the respiratory system, 20%. People's perceptions on the effects of work on their health were: good effect, 13% fair effect, 20% no effect, 27% poor effect, 27% and bad effect, 7%. The effects of leisure activities on health were thought to be more positive: good effect, 46% fair effect, 20% no effect, 21% poor effect, 3% and bad effect, 2%. The perceptions of effects of life-style on health were considered to be: good effect, 32% fair effect, 32% no effect, 20% poor effect, 9% and bad effect, 1%.  In this survey, leisure and life-style were seen by employees to have more beneficial effects on health than work. Future implications include a review of occupational health as a major policy development area within primary care. There is a need to influence the education and training of health care practitioners in order to affect their ability to practise effectively in this new and challenging area of work.

Management and management education in a less developed economy: the case of Malawi

Malawi is seen as a society in transition, and as a consequence, it is argued, Malawian managers face particular problems where traditional and Western values intersect. The role of the Polytechnic of Malawi as a provider of management education in this environment is thus problematical. The thesis begins with a description of the Malawian business environment in its geographical, historical, political, cultural, economic and institutional forms, and then goes on to examine the problems practising managers themselves feel they face, and attempts to explain these problems in terms of the environmental factors described, and the environmental changes taking place. It is concluded, from the analysis conducted, that the environmental features discussed interact in a complex way to make Malawian managers averse to exercising initiative and taking decisions. The question of what the Polytechnic can do to help overcome this aversion is addressed. The field research was conducted in Malawi in the seven months January to July, 1980, during which time 207 questionnaires were administered to junior and middle managers working in all sectors of the economy at levels equivalent to Polytechnic graduate entry. In addition, a number of senior managers (both Malawian and expatriate) were interviewed, a case study was conducted in a manufacturing organisation, and a second questionnaire was administered to all business students at the Polytechnic. Extensive use of official statistics was also made where appropriate.

Senior management leadership, social support, job design and stressor-to-strain relationships in hospital practice

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the quality of senior management leadership on social support and job design, whose main effects on strains, and moderating effects on work stressors-to-strains relationships were assessed. Design/methodology/approach: A survey involving distribution of questionnaires was carried out on a random sample of health care employees in acute hospital practice in the UK. The sample comprised 65,142 respondents. The work stressors tested were quantitative overload and hostile environment, whereas strains were measured through job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Structural equation modelling and moderated regression analyses were used in the analysis. Findings: Quality of senior management leadership explained 75 per cent and 94 per cent of the variance of social support and job design respectively, whereas work stressors explained 51 per cent of the variance of strains. Social support and job design predicted job satisfaction and turnover intentions, as well as moderated significantly the relationships between quantitative workload/hostility and job satisfaction/turnover intentions. Research limitations/implications: The findings are useful to management and to health employees working in acute/specialist hospitals. Further research could be done in other counties to take into account cultural differences and variations in health systems. The limitations included self-reported data and percept-percept bias due to same source data collection. Practical implications: The quality of senior management leaders in hospitals has an impact on the social environment, the support given to health employees, their job design, as well as work stressors and strains perceived. Originality/value: The study argues in favour of effective senior management leadership of hospitals, as well as ensuring adequate support structures and job design. The findings may be useful to health policy makers and human resources managers. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Market orientation in a multiple stakeholder orientation context:implications for marketing capabilities and assets

Does a market orientation approach focus too heavily on customers at the expense of other stakeholders? Managers also need to address the interests of other stakeholders when making marketing decisions. This gives an orientation to each stakeholder group, which exist simultaneously, giving a multiple stakeholder orientation profile (MSOP). In the reported empirical study of senior marketing executives, this weakness is addressed, by taking a simultaneous multiple stakeholder orientation approach. The study identified where marketing capabilities and assets are both different and similar among executives with a market focus in their MSOPs, and those with other MSOPs. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Positioning gender in discourse:a feminist methodology

This book introduces a newly emerging approach to the analysis of talk. FPDA offers a means of analysing the ways in which speakers construct their gender identities within a complex web of power relations. The FPDA approach challenges the traditional feminist view that females are often disempowered within mixed sex settings. This approach shows that both male and female speakers constantly shift between positions of powerfulness and powerlessness - even within the same conversation. The methodology is demonstrated through a study of teenagers' conversations in class and a study of senior managers' discussions in business meetings, concluding with suggestions that while female speakers are often 'silenced' by dominant social discourses, they are far from uniformly powerless.

Gender and feminine Identities - women as managers in a UK academic institution

The paper considers gender identities in higher education. It examines how people involved in university life engage in (re)creating gender identities and in (re)producing gender-related expectations (and stereotypes) of managerial behaviour. The process of construction of feminine identities is explored through the discourses of academics from a UK university (mainly women who hold managerial positions). The paper reports findings from a series of in-depth interviews with women managers (dean, associate deans and heads of departments) and with university academics (men and women) from a Business School, part of a large British new university. The school was of special interest because women held the majority of senior managerial posts. It appears that the process of construction of femininities is mainly developed around four (stereo-)typical aspects generally associated with feminine management practices (multi-tasking, supporting and nurturing, people and communication skills, and team-work).

HR outsourcing:the impact on HR role, competency development and relationships

The business benefits of an outsourcing strategy are well documented, and HR is encouraged to outsource in order to add value. Yet little is known about how HR outsourcing affects the HR role, competencies and relationships with senior management. These issues are examined through 27 semi-structured interviews with senior HR professionals, comparing HR departments engaged in HR outsourcing with those maintaining full in-house HR provision. The findings indicate that HR outsourcing stymies HR role transformation. HR outsourcers experienced limited skill development and an increased focus on cost reduction at the expense of their strategic position. In contrast, non-HR outsourcers actively engaged in other parts of the business, developing competencies that garnered trust and support of senior managers. The benefits of an external HR community appear limited. The study suggests that an 'internal' HR community is better placed to enhance HR departmental roles. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.