Global Diversity Management: Towards a Conceptual Framework

[Excerpt] Compared to research on cross-national differences in diversity management, more research has been conducted within the second key area of global diversity management – that on the effective management of culturally diverse teams and organizations, and on the development of global competence among employees. Indeed, research on multicultural teams (e.g. Earley and Gibson, 2002), global competence (e.g. Chang and Tharenou, 2004; Earley and Peterson, 2004), and conflict management in multicultural groups (e.g. Barkema et al., 2003) has been emerging in the last decade; it simply has not been labelled a part of global diversity management per se. However, to date, there are no unifying frameworks for studying global diversity, with the exception of one by Mor Barak (2000), which focuses on the connection between subsidiaries and the larger communities in which they are embedded. While we agree that this is an important issue, many leaders of global firms first want to know how to manage global diversity within the confines of their organization. Thus, one of our goals in introducing this special issue on global diversity is to propose one such framework, to serve two primary aims: (a) to provide a framework within which to situate the papers that appear in this special issue; and (b) to stimulate future research in the area. In what follows, we briefly describe this framework, and then we introduce the papers for the special issue

Revisiting the social construction of family in the context of work

Purpose of this paper: To demonstrate how traditional definitions of family, in the context of employment, have not kept pace with actual family formation in the U.S. and much of the rest of the world, and how this disadvantages individuals from atypical (i.e., non-nuclear), but increasingly common, families. Design/methodology/approach: A wide range of literature from disciplines spanning industrial relations, gerontology, management, and family studies is invoked to illustrate how employers’ definitions of “family” are often incompatible with actual contemporary family structures, and how this poses difficulties for employed individuals in non-traditional families. Findings: Many family structures are not accounted for by employment legislation and thus organizational work-family policies. These include same-sex couples, multi-generational and extended families (e.g., including parents or other elders; members from outside the bloodline or with grandparents providing primary care for grandchildren) and virtual families. Practical implications: We discuss a number of problems associated with current provision of work-family policy and practice among organizations, and recommend that governments and organizations expand upon the traditional definition of “family” to better enable employees in a variety of familial configurations to successfully balance their work and family demands. Value of paper: This paper identifies current failings in employment legislation and suggests improvements so that both governments and organizations can better facilitate employees’ work-life balance. As such, it will be of use researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers interested in the interface between work and family

Work-life, diversity and intersectionality: a critical review and research agenda

Work-life issues have important implications at both organizational and individual levels. This paper provides a critical review of the work-life literature from 1990 onwards through the lens of diversity, with particular focus on disparities of power induced by methodological and conceptual framings of work and life. Our review seeks to answer the following questions: What are the gaps and omissions in the work-life research? How may they be overcome? To answer these questions we scrutinize blind spots in treatment of life, diversity and power in work-life research both in positivist and critical scholarship. In order to transcend the blind spots in positivist and critical work-life research, we argue the case for an intersectional approach, which captures the changing realities of family and workforce through the lens of diversity and intersectionality. Our theoretical contribution is three fold: First, our review demonstrates that contemporary framing of life in the work-life literature should be expanded to cover aspects of life beyond domestic life. Second, our review explains why and how other strands of diversity than gender also manifest as salient causes of difference in experiences of the work-life interface. Third, our review reveals that social and historical context has more explanatory power on work-life dynamics than micro-individual level of explanations. Work-life literature should capture the dynamism in these contexts. We also provide a set of useful recommendations to capture and operationalize methodological and theoretical changes required in the work-life literature

Euphorbia-derived natural products with potential for use in health maintenance

Euphorbia genus (Euphorbiaceae family), which is the third largest genus of angiosperm plants comprising ca. 2000 recognized species, is used all over the world in traditional medicine, especially in the traditional Chinese medicine. Members of this taxa are promptly recognizable by their specialized inflorescences and latex. In this review, an overview of Euphorbia-derived natural products such as essential oils, extracts, and pure compounds, active in a broad range of biological activities, and with potential usages in health maintenance, is described. The chemical composition of essential oils from Euphorbia species revealed the presence of more than 80 phytochemicals, mainly oxygenated sesquiterpenes and sesquiterpenes hydrocarbons, while Euphorbia extracts contain secondary metabolites such as sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, sterols, flavonoids, and other polyphenols. The extracts and secondary metabolites from Euphorbia plants may act as active principles of medicines for the treatment of many human ailments, mainly inflammation, cancer, and microbial infections. Besides, Euphorbia-derived products have great potential as a source of bioactive extracts and pure compounds, which can be used to promote longevity with more health.Agência financiadora FCT/MCT, supporting the cE3c centre UID/BIA/00329/2013 UID/BIA/00329/2019 QOPNA research Unit (FCT) UID/QUI/00062/2019info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Voice, silence, and diversity in 21st century organizations: strategies for inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees

Employee voice has been largely examined as a universal concept in unionized and non-unionized settings, with insuffi cient attention to diversity of workers (Rank, 2009). As invisible minorities, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) employees provide a valuable focal point from which to examine employee voice mechanisms. Positing that GLBT employees are often silenced by what is perceived as “normal” in work organizations, this paper identifi es some of the negative consequences of this silencing and proposes ways in which the voices of GLBT employees and other invisible minorities can be heard. With its relevance to policies and practices in other organizations, the “Don’t ask; don’t tell” policy of the U.S. military is used as a lens through which to analyze voice, silence, and GLBT employees in other organizations. Heterosexist environments can foster organizational climates of silence, where the feeling that speaking up is futile or dangerous is widespread among employees. Specifi c recommendations are provided for HR managers to facilitate the expression of voice for GLBT employees in today’s increasingly diverse organizations

Editorial: equality, diversity and inclusion in accounting

Editoria

Academic employment and gender: a Turkish challenge to vertical sex segregation

This article explores the paradox of women's academic employment in Turkey. There is a low rate of female labour market participation in the formal sector, yet a higher proportion of women professors than in any of the 25 European Union countries. We use a range of data to set the Turkish labour market and its higher education sector in comparative European perspective, then present findings from two qualitative studies of Turkish professors, concluding that ideological state support rather than legal frameworks of equal opportunities laid the foundations for women's hierarchical achievements in Turkey. However, the explanation is multilayered and lies in the cumulative and interrelated effect of state policy, institutional transparency, increased labour demand, the home-work interface, and the agency of the professors themselves

Workforce diversity, diversity charters and collective turnover: Long-term commitment pays

Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Modern workplaces are becoming increasingly demographically diverse. However, the influence of workforce diversity on organizational outcomes is not fully understood. In this work, we study how and why workforce gender and racial diversity impacts collective turnover at the organizational level, and whether participation in and experience with diversity charters moderate this link. We particularly argue that greater workforce gender and racial diversity leads to greater collective turnover because it prompts social categorization and negative contagion in organizations. To mitigate these processes, organizations may participate in diversity charters, which are expected to provide support with managing workforce diversity and employee retention. We further argue that the influence of diversity charters follows a trajectory of maturity, so their benefits are magnified as an organization's experience with them increases. Drawing on a panel of UK universities, we find strong evidence that greater workforce racial diversity is associated with higher levels of collective turnover, but only weaker evidence for the positive link between workforce gender diversity and collective turnover. We further find that diversity charters may attenuate this link, but simply participating in them is not sufficient: instead, organizations must develop experience with charters over time

Selectividad para malla más grande y malla cuadrada de los copos comerciales en la pesca de la gamba blanca Parapenaeus longirostris (Lucas, 1846) en el mar Egeo

We investigated the differences between size selectivity of a commercial codend (40 mm diamond mesh – 40D), a larger mesh codend (48 mm diamond mesh – 48D), and a square mesh codend (40 mm square mesh – 40S) for Parapenaeus longirostris in international waters of the Aegean Sea. Selectivity data were collected by using a covered codend method and analysed taking between-haul variation into account. The results indicate significant increases in L50 values in relation to an increase in mesh size and when the square mesh is used in the commercial trawl codend. The results demonstrate that the commercially used codend (40D) is not selective enough for P. longirostris in terms of length at first maturity. Changing from a 40D to a 48D codend significantly improves selection, with an increase of about 15% in the L50 values (carapace length 14.5 mm for 40D and 16.6 mm for 48D). Similarly, 40 mm square mesh, which has recently been legislated for EU Mediterranean waters, showed a 12.4% higher mean L50 value (16.3 mm) than 40 mm diamond mesh for this species. However, despite these improvements, the 48D and 40S codends still need further improvements to obtain higher selectivity closer to the length at first maturity (20 mm carapace length).Se estudian las diferencias entre la selectividad de los copos comerciales (40 mm de malla de diamante – 40D); copos de malla más grande (48 mm de malla de diamante – 48D), y copos de malla cuadrada (40 mm – 40S), en la pesquería de Parapenaeus longirostris en aguas internacionales del mar Egeo. Para su estudio se utilizó el método del sobrecopo, y para su análisis, se tuvo en cuenta la variación intra-lances. Los resultados indican un incremento de los valores de L50 cuando se incrementa el tamaño de malla, y también con el uso de la malla cuadrada. Los resultados demuestran que el copo comercial actual (40D), no es suficientemente selectivo para P. longirostris en relación a la talla de primera madurez. El cambio, la malla de 48D, produce una mejora significativa en la selectividad cercana al 15% de incremento en los valores de la L50 (longitud del caparazón de 14.5 mm para 40D y 16.6 mm para 48D). Igualmente, la malla 40S, la cual ha sido legislada recientemente por la UE en aguas del Mediterráneo, muestra un incremento de la selectividad aproximadamente de un 12% en los valores de la L50 (16.3 mm) respecto a la de 40D. No obstante, a pesar de estas mejoras, los copos de 48D y 40S, todavía deberían ser ampliados para obtener selectividades más elevadas y acercarse a la talla de primera madurez (20 mm de caparazón)