Rowena Barrett and Susan Mayson
The purpose of this paper is to examine the management of maternity leave in small firms and particularly to explore the perceived costs and benefits of paid maternity leave…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the management of maternity leave in small firms and particularly to explore the perceived costs and benefits of paid maternity leave (PML). PML is a universal right in some countries (i.e. the UK), but not in Australia where most private sector female employees only have access to 12 months unpaid maternity leave. It also aims to explore how the business case for (or against) PML is constructed in small firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was limited to smaller firms operating in the business services sector in the same regional area. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with eight employers and female employees in six of these firms. Analysis by theme was undertaken within and across interview transcripts.
Findings
Not one of these small firm employers offered PML and the cost of doing so was not considered to outweigh the benefits already realised through the (legislated) unpaid maternity leave scheme. In these firms maternity leave was managed in an informal way with notions of flexibility – give and take – characterising what happens.
Originality/value
The paper addresses the lack of research on access to family‐related leave policies in small firms. Employer and employee views of the issue are drawn upon, the latter not often being heard. The paper contributes to understanding the construction of the business case for a specific issue in smaller firms and human resource management from a resource‐based view more generally in smaller firms.
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Rowena Barrett and Susan Mayson
The purpose of this paper is to begin the process of exploring the intersection between entrepreneurship and HRM by developing an understanding of the nature of HRM in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to begin the process of exploring the intersection between entrepreneurship and HRM by developing an understanding of the nature of HRM in growth‐oriented small firms.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of 600 small Australian businesses, conducted by CPA Australia in March 2002 to explore employment issues, is analysed by the authors.
Findings
The analysis shows that growth‐oriented small firms are more likely than non‐growing ones to use formal HRM practices where that means that they are written down, regularly applied or assured to take place.
Research limitations/implications
The data are a single snapshot of small firms in time (March 2002) and therefore, while non‐growing small firms can be identified amongst the sample, it is not correct to assume either that they have not grown in the past to reach their current size (with the exception of the single person firms) or that they will not grow in the future. Moreover it is not known whether the growth, which the growing small firms indicate they undertook, was or is sustained.
Practical implications
The result suggests that small firms seeking growth should reconsider their HRM practices in light of their business plans to ensure that there is a good “fit”.
Originality/value
The authors examine small firms in Australia, which are much smaller than their international counterparts, to see whether conclusions from overseas studies are relevant.
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Maggie M. Wang, Cherrie J.H. Zhu, Connie Zheng and Susan Mayson
The purpose of this paper is to explore suzhi requirements and expectations to double-shouldered academics as middle-level cadres (双肩挑处级干部) in a Chinese higher education institute…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore suzhi requirements and expectations to double-shouldered academics as middle-level cadres (双肩挑处级干部) in a Chinese higher education institute (HEI) as an initial step to examine the interplays between suzhi requirement and expectations and organizational operational mechanism in the Chinese context.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted an exploratory single-case approach for the study. In this study, 22 participants composed of middle-level cadres, other stakeholders at the university, college/department and business unit levels were interviewed.
Findings
Suzhi requirements for the cadres followed the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) guideline, the required de, neng, qin, ji and lian (德, 能, 勤, 绩, 廉) was abstract and vague. With the parallel systems, the CPC and administrative lines, there were discrepancies between the CPC required suzhi and those expected by the stakeholders. A social phenomenon, “official rank-oriented standard” (ORS, guan ben wei, 官本位), was found significantly intertwining with the self suzhi expectation of the cadres, unveiling a more complex dynamics than most research reported for the Chinese public sector organizations (PSOs).
Researchimplications
With the initial qualitative findings unveiling suzhi as an organizational construct, this study informs future empirical research in the indigenous suzhi phenomenon in organizational setting. The conceptualized results of our study offer new insight for future indigenous Chinese management research in all PSOs including state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
Originality/value
As an initial step, this study endeavored to explore suzhi as an organizational construct in a Chinese HEI. The paper contributes to the literature by unveiling the complexity of PSOs in the interplays of dual management systems and ORS coupled with dual-role suzhi requirements for the cadres.
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Rowena Barrett and John Burgess
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers contributing to this special issue and to locate them within the broader questions about the role of small firms in enabling…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers contributing to this special issue and to locate them within the broader questions about the role of small firms in enabling or alleviating issues of equality, diversity, and difference for various groups in society.
Design/methodology/approach
The literature dealing with the issues of equality, diversity, and difference pertaining to the operation of and/or working in smaller firms was reviewed prior to drawing out the key points from the submitted papers and considering the contribution they make to this literature.
Findings
Overall, one's these five papers contribute to one's understanding of the issues facing those in business or self‐employment, working in small business or wanting to pursue enterprise.
Originality/value
Rarely are questions asked about the assumed role small firms play in mitigating social exclusion for a range of groups in society. By addressing questions which explore the challenge of equality, diversity, and difference for small business in their establishment, management, and effective operation using interdisciplinary frameworks and different methodologies, a better understanding of the role of small business in society can be developed.
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Amber Gazso and Susan A. McDaniel
This paper aims to explore how neo‐liberalism shapes income support policy and lone mothers' experiences in Canada and the USA.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how neo‐liberalism shapes income support policy and lone mothers' experiences in Canada and the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
A critical comparative analysis is undertaken of how Canadian and US governments take up sociological concepts of risk, market citizenship, and individualization, whether explicitly or implicitly, in the design and administration of neo‐liberal income support policies directed at lone mothers. Specifically, the contradictory life circumstances that Canadian and American lone mothers experience when they access income supports that are designed ostensibly to construct/reconstruct them as citizens capable of risk taking in their search for employment and self‐sufficiency are compared.
Findings
The paper finds that the realities for poor lone mothers are remarkably similar in the two countries and therefore argue that income support policies, particularly welfare‐to‐work initiatives, underpinned by neo‐liberal tenets, can act in a counter‐intuitive manner exposing lone mothers to greater rather than lesser economic and social insecurity/inequality, and constructing them as risk aversive and dependent.
Research limitations/implications
The economic and social implications/contradictions of neo‐liberal restructuring of income support policies for lone mothers is revealed.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to broader scholarship on the gendered dimensions of neo‐liberal restructuring of welfare states in late modernity.
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Rosa Faaliyat, Keith Townsend, David Peetz and Susan Ressia
This paper explores the experiences of non-English-speaking background (NESB) skilled employees working in Australian workplaces, their perceptions of managers' actions and how a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the experiences of non-English-speaking background (NESB) skilled employees working in Australian workplaces, their perceptions of managers' actions and how a lack of employee involvement and participation (EIP) practices and performance appraisal (PA) is perceived regarding career progression.
Design/methodology/approach
This exploratory research project is based on 26 semi-structured interviews with skilled migrant NESB employees based in Australia. Social exchange theory (SET) and labour market segmentation theory (LMST) are applied to help explain macro- and micro-level influences on NESB employees and their relationships with their line managers and the workforce.
Findings
Participants perceived line managers to be highly communicative and approachable; however, they indicated how a lack of EIP in decision-making and in their PA affected career progression opportunities for NESB employees. While they were satisfied overall with their jobs, the research indicated a need for improved practices and support from the broader organisation in these two identified areas.
Originality/value
There is relatively little research on how the challenges of an increasingly diverse workforce are managed, particularly from NESB employees' perspective. Therefore, this research fills a gap concerning NESB employees' experience in Australian organisations.
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This paper aims to provide insights into the experiences of and challenges confronting higher degree research students and learning advisors (LAs) regarding data analysis support…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide insights into the experiences of and challenges confronting higher degree research students and learning advisors (LAs) regarding data analysis support. The ability to handle data and use numerical evidence systematically is an important transferable skill and essential for the successful completion of a quantitative research thesis.
Design/methodology/approach
A combination of qualitative and quantitative data was used, enabling a convergence of findings: the questionnaire and one-on-one advisory sessions feedback gathered information on the student experience, while semi-structured interviews provided data on the LAs’ perspective.
Findings
Phenomenographic analysis of interviews revealed many challenges associated with centralised learning support provision. Learning advisors recognised not only different disciplinary needs but also the tensions associated with working centrally and cross-disciplinary. Students identified a need for more practice-orientated training opportunities in data analysis during their postgraduate and doctoral research.
Practical implications
Understanding gained from students’ and LAs’ experiences are essential for changes of university-wide teaching and learning strategies. The collection of “bottom-up” data on the student experience combined with data on learning thresholds provided by faculty and student learning support units would allow a coordinated, institution-wide approach to identified learning needs.
Originality/value
Developing a community of practice concerned with quantitative literacy means that staff with expert knowledge, regardless of discipline affiliation, can provide an environment in which students are able to develop their analytical skills further and can participate in ongoing discussions on real-life research and data analysis issues.