Karen Morley and Tricia Vilkinas
Reports the beginning of a process for identifying significant skills in the recruitment, development and retention of high calibre public sector executives. Focuses on the…
Abstract
Reports the beginning of a process for identifying significant skills in the recruitment, development and retention of high calibre public sector executives. Focuses on the qualities which will be of significance in the public sector in the year 2000 and beyond. Compares the research available on both public and private sector executive qualities. Argues that there are differences in the qualities required of public and private sector executives. Suggests that a set of qualities specific to the public sector should be the basis of executive recruitment and development to ensure high level public sector executive performance.
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The purpose of this paper is to study gender differentials in scientific productivity while looking at academic discipline and advisor practices. The natural sciences and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study gender differentials in scientific productivity while looking at academic discipline and advisor practices. The natural sciences and the liberal arts are shown to constitute two organisational cultures which affect the ability of women to attain excellence on a par with men.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical study is based on a sample of 660 doctoral students in two universities in Israel. Regression procedures were employed to predict productivity.
Findings
There is a slight gender gap in scientific productivity, but only in single‐authored papers. This suggests that publishing together with an advisor – which is the common practice in the natural sciences – is more conducive to gender parity. Students' reports suggest that their advisors evince little differential treatment of men versus women, thereby ruling out the possibility of overt advisor bias against women. Overall, the natural sciences appear to be more supportive of students' success while the liberal arts seem to challenge students to struggle on their own, putting women in greater jeopardy of suffering family‐work tensions.
Practical implications
Universities need to appreciate the disciplinary differences within them and help students to get greater support in the “natural selection” mechanisms that are often unconsciously employed in higher education.
Originality/value
This paper adds an important angle in appreciating currently dominant approaches to work‐family balances while focusing on unintended exclusionary mechanisms embedded in the standards and culture of different scientific disciplines.
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Executive development and education have proceeded on the basis of two developments as a result of shifts in government policy over the past two decades. The first is…
Abstract
Executive development and education have proceeded on the basis of two developments as a result of shifts in government policy over the past two decades. The first is marketisation, the belief that marketplace ideology is best, and the belief that the private sector functions better and more rationally than the public sector. The second is performance, the belief that performance can be controlled. It is argued that these trends are myths that have developed into the performance cult. This paper argues that even knowing you cannot be in control doesn't stop you trying to be in control, but understanding what is happening enables us to stay active in negotiating our daily lives moment by moment.
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Karen Panum, Michael W. Hansen and Elder Davy
Based on six case studies of self-proclaimed social enterprises (SEs) in Kenya, this paper aims to critically assess the “SE” concept in a base of the pyramid (BoP) context.
Abstract
Purpose
Based on six case studies of self-proclaimed social enterprises (SEs) in Kenya, this paper aims to critically assess the “SE” concept in a base of the pyramid (BoP) context.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on multiple case studies to challenge traditional notions of SE. Six SEs operating at the BoP in Kenya are analysed. Interviews are conducted with entrepreneurs from each enterprise, during which the enterprises’ business models are mapped and scrutinised.
Findings
Based on the six case studies, the paper argues that the SE concept is challenged in a BoP context: the six Kenyan SEs viewed social and commercial orientation as equally important and mutually supportive; viewed social orientation as a competitive advantage; and did not consider social objectives as harmonious. These findings corroborate key claims of the BoP literature, e.g. that it is not possible meaningfully to distinguish social and commercial missions at the BoP as they are intertwined; that any company succeeding at the BoP will have a social impact; and that the pursuit of some social objectives may undermine the achievement of other social objectives. The overall conclusion of the paper is that in BoP environments, the concept of SE becomes illusive.
Originality/value
This paper adds perspective to existing literature on SE at the BoP and provides empirical evidence that can help shape the understanding of social business activities in East Africa. The paper demonstrates that in BoP environments, the boundaries between social and commercial enterprise become illusive.
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Duncan McTavish and Karen Miller
The purpose of this paper is to analyse gender representation in leadership and management in further and higher education organisations. It does this, through the lens of two…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse gender representation in leadership and management in further and higher education organisations. It does this, through the lens of two perspectives on bureaucratic representation, a “liberal democratic” perspective and an alternative view which states that bureaucracies are not necessarily gender blind or women friendly. The paper reviews the reform and managerial environments, vertical and horizontal gender patterns in the sectors; undertakes empirical research which surveys staff in six case study institutions seeking responses on job roles and activities, career motivators and inhibitors, supportiveness of line managers, perceptions of organisational leadership and culture with regard to gender equality and career advance.
Design/methodology/approach
Secondary data were used from a variety of sources. Primary data were based on all staff surveys using online software symbolic network analysis program in case study institutions with n=4,522, representing one quarter of the population.
Findings
Non‐executive levels of management in both sectors were highly gendered and unrepresentative of the population. Vertical segregation was found at executive level too, though less in colleges than universities. In higher education, horizontal gendering – in subject areas – and the emphasis on subject knowledge and background with the connected gender segregation of research activity, played a crucial role in unequal gender representation patterns. In colleges, while there was horizontal subject‐based segregation, the lesser importance of research/subject background in the career dynamic has created opportunities to de‐couple subject background and career opportunity. Part‐time working, especially in colleges, had mixed effects in gender career terms. The research showed that in universities women spent greater proportions of time in teaching and administration vis‐a‐vis research compared to men. Work life balance was not a career inhibitor for women in higher education but was for women in colleges. Some other key similarities and differences in perceptions between men and women in both sectors are outlined, perhaps the most striking of which was that women in both sectors, while agreeing that opportunities policies are equal and fair, felt that institutional leadership could do more to advance the careers of women; men did not.
Originality/value
This is the first study of its kind to compare and contrast college and university sectors, and makes a significant contribution to understanding of gender representation in organisations. While, there are similarities between the sectors, this research has highlighted major differences which have importance for research, policy and managerial practice. The paper, in its conclusion, aims to stimulate action by suggesting some practical initiatives, based on the research.
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This paper aims to identify a wide array of utility-based attributes of Airbnb listings and measures the effects of these attributes on consumers’ valuation of Airbnb listings.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify a wide array of utility-based attributes of Airbnb listings and measures the effects of these attributes on consumers’ valuation of Airbnb listings.
Design/methodology/approach
A hedonic price model was developed to test the effects of a group of utility-based attributes on the price of Airbnb listings, including the characteristics of Airbnb listings, attributes of hosts, reputation of listings and market competition. The authors examined attributes as they relate to the price of Airbnb listings and, therefore, estimated consumers’ willingness to pay for the specific attributes. The model was tested by using a dataset of 5,779 Airbnb listings managed by 4,602 hosts in 41 census tracts of Austin, Texas in the USA over a period from Airbnb’s launch in Texas up until November 2015.
Findings
The authors found that the functional characteristics of Airbnb listings were significantly associated to the price of the listings, and that three of five behavioral attributes of hosts were statistically significant. However, the effect of reputation of listings on the price of Airbnb listings was weak.
Originality/value
This study inspires what they call a factor-endowment valuation of Airbnb listings. It shows that the intrinsic attributes that an Airbnb listing endows are the primary source of consumer utilities, and thus consumer valuation of the listing is grounded on its functionality as an accommodation. This conclusion can shed light on the examination of competition between Airbnb and hotel accommodations that are built on the same or similar intrinsic attributes.
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This chapter intends to provide a reflexive discussion of the experience I loosely refer to as the ‘supervisory relationship breakdown’, which led me to withdraw from a…
Abstract
This chapter intends to provide a reflexive discussion of the experience I loosely refer to as the ‘supervisory relationship breakdown’, which led me to withdraw from a Professional Doctorate in the penultimate year of completion. The event left an indelible impact upon me; a reminder of my blackness, the contrast between that and the ivory tower of academia and the emotional toil I endured as each incident unfolded, ultimately leading to my exit and the shattering of my emotional wellbeing. The term ‘supervisory relationship breakdown’ is a superficial reference to a complex entanglement of what I deemed to be dysconscious racism and attempts situated historically to control people of colour through education. I will explore how I as a black woman in academia believe I am perceived through a dysconscious racial lens, a lens shaped by a perception to maintain white privilege. I posit how a misalignment existed between who I am and who I was perceived to be by my doctoral supervisor. The space between this misalignment became filled with inequity, tension and oppression, culminating in the relationship breakdown. I present an ‘implosion’ of the relationship as a metaphor for the embodied affect having to withdraw from the doctorate had on me; it felt as though my ‘self’ – body, mind and spirit – were broken, in a state of collapse which I did not know how I would recover from. I conclude with support and renewed hope, I returned to academia and found an alternative approach for completing my doctorate.
Comparable Worth Volume 108 Number 12 of Monthly Labor Review contains four articles on the above theme. The first, by Janet L. Nor‐wood, is entitled “Perspectives on comparable…
Abstract
Comparable Worth Volume 108 Number 12 of Monthly Labor Review contains four articles on the above theme. The first, by Janet L. Nor‐wood, is entitled “Perspectives on comparable worth: an introduction to the data” and discusses reports presented to a national conference of statisticians. These reports point up the many facets of the comparable worth issue and suggest directions for conducting future research. In the second article, “Comparable worth: how do we know it will work”, Carolyn Shaw Bell argues that the debate over comparable worth obscures the lack of consensus on the definition and goals of such a policy, and of the data requi‐red for informed decision‐making. Thirdly, Karen Shall‐cross Koziara explores in “Comparable worth: or‐ganizational dilemmas” the political, economic, and social implications of comparable worth for public and private employers and trade unions. Finally, Sandra E. Gleason argues in “Comparable worth: some questions still un‐answered” that we know the issues surrounding and groups most likely to be affected by a national policy on compar‐able worth, but we cannot quantify possible costs and bene‐fits.
A unifying theme apparent at this year's Symposium was the need for balance when lifting the veil of bank secrecy: (1) the need to protect civil liberties versus the need to fight…
Abstract
A unifying theme apparent at this year's Symposium was the need for balance when lifting the veil of bank secrecy: (1) the need to protect civil liberties versus the need to fight crime; (2) the bank's need to balance its role as policeman while furthering its commercial objectives; (3) the necessity of weighing international cooperation against the awareness that individual nations jealously guard their own legislative regime; (4) the dichotomy of technology that serves both to protect and penetrate secrecy; (5) the balance required when investigating crimes.