The organisational contexts in which research with impact is produced: lessons from REF2014

What are the organisational contexts in which ‘impactful’ research is produced? Following an empirical analysis of a selection of REF2014 impact case studies, Neil Kellard and Martyna Śliwa discuss the links between impact scores and a variety of important contextual factors. In what might be seen as a challenge to the established hierarchy of HEIs, high scores for research publication quality did not necessarily correspond with high scores for impact case studies. However, the under-representation of both early-career and women researchers is a concern future evaluation exercises should seek to address

Leadership learning, power and practice in Laos: A leadership-as-practice perspective

This article contributes to the growing body of literature developed within the leadership-as-practice perspective, focusing on issues of learning and power. It draws on a co-constructed (auto)ethnographic account of an individual’s longitudinal experience of leadership in the context of an international development project in Laos. This person’s circumstances as a non-Lao-speaking foreigner provided him with a unique opportunity to learn about and participate in the embodied, sociomaterial unfolding of leadership practice in an unfamiliar setting. The analysis examines (1) what ‘leadership learning’ involves when viewed through an ‘entative soft’ leadership-as-practice lens and (2) how individual attempts at exercising power and influence can be understood and represented in leadership-as-practice terms. The study highlights that participants are not given equal scope to exercise power within the emerging, hybrid agency orienting the flow of leadership, and that one task of leadership learning at an individual level is to develop reflexive knowledge about one’s own and others’ contribution to the unfolding of leadership process. Such knowledge draws increased attention to the responsibilities commensurate with attempts to exercise influence within leadership practice

‘It is English and there is no alternative’: intersectionality, language and social/organizational differentiation of Polish migrants in the UK

In this paper, we employ an intersectional approach to explore language as a process of social and organizational differentiation of Polish migrant workers in the UK. In addition to intersectionality, our conceptual framework is informed by a sociolinguistic perspective on globalization, which accounts for the social differentiation produced by language in transnational contexts. Empirically, the paper is based on a qualitative study employing life history interviews. Our findings show that for a migrant worker, the ability to negotiate access to employment and other key institutional settings depends to a large extent on her or his linguistic abilities. However, as we demonstrate, it is necessary to account for the intersections of language and other processes such as gender, class and nationality to understand how the social and organizational positions as experienced by the participants are shaped by broader processes and practices of differentiation. Our study contributes to the extant literature on intersectionality by specifically considering the intersection of language with other categories, and by relating intersectionality to contemporary debates on migration

Hacking work: Critically examining the implications of the new discourse and practices of hacking for work intensification and organisational control

This article discusses the importance of ‘hacking work’ in organisations, specifically in relation to control over workers in organisations operating within the neoliberal ideological project. Noting the shift in the discourse of hacking beyond references to computer-mediated, anti-establishment oriented activities, we draw on the current meaning of the term ‘hacking’ that encompasses any ‘shortcuts’ that can be applied to more efficiently complete tasks. We argue that in workplace contexts, the emergence of ‘work hacking’ practices can be observed, whereby employees invest time, effort and tacit knowledge into inventing and implementing various ‘tricks’ in order to fulfil organisational demands while maintaining their own well-being. We discuss how ‘hacking work’ practices, even if seemingly subversive, present a new form of work intensification and control within the labour process. They can be seen as an exercise in ‘working to work’ through self-disciplining, aimed at ensuring that the employee completes the allocated tasks regardless of the insufficiency of time and other resources. Their emergence also points to the devaluing of work itself, manifested in a view of work as no more than a set of tasks that need to be ‘hacked’

Workplace accentism as a postcolonial and intersectional phenomenon: The experiences of Brazilians in Portugal

What insights can postcolonialism and decoloniality offer into workplace accentism? Drawing upon these two strands of literature, this paper contributes to workplace research through proposing a view of accentism as an intersectional phenomenon, rooted in the historically sedimented unequal social structure and relations formed during the colonial past. Based on a qualitative study of Brazilians in Portugal, we identify two forms of workplace accentism experienced by the participants: 1) overt accentism – which involves an explicit, direct reference to a person’s accent; and 2) accent-activated stigmatisation – which occurs upon the listener’s realisation that the speaker is a member of a particular group (specifically, nationality). We theorise the experiences of accentism as contemporary manifestations of the workings of colonial power and prejudices. In addition, we distinguish between four approaches to managing workplace accentism: suppressing, confronting, marginalising and exiting. We theorise these as contemporary expressions of resistance strategies historically used by the colonised in response to colonial power. We also highlight the intersectional differences – along the axes of class, race and gender – with regard to individuals’ deployment of each of these approaches. The paper enriches our knowledge about how colonial power relations continue to underpin discrimination and its consequences throughout the global economy

When the political becomes (painfully) personal: Org-studying the consequences of Brexit

This ‘Speaking Out’ essay contributes to debates over Brexit and populism by suggesting how we, as management and organisation studies scholars, might approach ‘org-studying’ Brexit. First, as UK-based European Union citizens working in UK business schools, we clarify our own position(s) in relation to Brexit. Second, we position ourselves more specifically as management and organisation studies academics by considering how we might begin to analyse the organisational consequences of Brexit through seeing it as part of a continuing global crisis – or series of crises – including and going beyond those affecting American and European societies and economies, as well as their political and other social fields and organisations. We highlight the salience of emotions with regard to Brexit, and in particular ressentiment in relation to populism as a political methodology. We also note the importance of identity and how political and personal identities are being reconstituted in the United Kingdom in light of the Brexit vote. We put forward suggestions for how management and organisation studies scholars might integrate these insights into an overarching approach to researching the organisational consequences of Brexit based on the works of Pierre Bourdieu and Gisèle Sapiro on the transposition of crisis. Our final remarks address the way that Brexit crisis continues to challenge our own established identities

When the political becomes (painfully) personal: Org-studying the consequences of Brexit

This ‘Speaking Out’ essay contributes to debates over Brexit and populism by suggesting how we, as management and organisation studies scholars, might approach ‘org-studying’ Brexit. First, as UK-based European Union citizens working in UK business schools, we clarify our own position(s) in relation to Brexit. Second, we position ourselves more specifically as management and organisation studies academics by considering how we might begin to analyse the organisational consequences of Brexit through seeing it as part of a continuing global crisis – or series of crises – including and going beyond those affecting American and European societies and economies, as well as their political and other social fields and organisations. We highlight the salience of emotions with regard to Brexit, and in particular ressentiment in relation to populism as a political methodology. We also note the importance of identity and how political and personal identities are being reconstituted in the United Kingdom in light of the Brexit vote. We put forward suggestions for how management and organisation studies scholars might integrate these insights into an overarching approach to researching the organisational consequences of Brexit based on the works of Pierre Bourdieu and Gisèle Sapiro on the transposition of crisis. Our final remarks address the way that Brexit crisis continues to challenge our own established identities

What does inclusion mean, really?

Organisational inclusion often goes hand in hand with diversity management. However, inclusion and diversity have different meanings. Even when organisations try to do their best to have inclusive policies, an external event such as COVID-19 may bring new dynamics to the game. Maria Adamson, Elisabeth K Kelan, Patricia Lewis, Martyna Śliwa and Nicholas Rumens write that external events test every approach to inclusion and require organisations to continually work on their inclusivity efforts to remain or become as inclusive as possible

Context-specific understandings of uncertainty: a focus on people management practices in Mongolia

This paper addresses the link between local understandings of uncertainty and people management practices in the under-researched and uncertain context of Mongolia. It draws on a qualitative, interpretive study of 34 top and middle managers with people management responsibilities in Mongolian organisations. We put forward the concept of a ‘mindset about uncertainty’ for examining Mongolian practitioners’ understandings of and responses to the uncertainty inherent in the country’s institutional environment. We identify four elements of the Mongolian mindset about uncertainty: (1) belief that impermanence is natural; (2) consideration of uncertainty as normal; (3) framing of uncertainty as positive; and (4) emphasis on flexibility in adapting to changing circumstances. We discuss this approach to dealing with uncertainty as a potentially valuable source of learning for Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and International Human Resource Development (IHRD) practitioners in unstable environments