A feminist poststructuralist critique of talent management: Toward a more gender sensitive body of knowledge

The field of talent management (TM) has grown over the last two decades, and much theoretical and methodological progress has been made in an effort to better conceptualize the field. Despite these efforts, the construction of knowledge within TM research has ignored power and gender dynamics. In this paper, we adopt a feminist poststructuralist perspective and unveil how talent management theory is underpinned by predominant masculinist discourses that create and sustain business elites in a neoliberal world order. Based on a textual and discourse analysis of foundational texts on TM, we identify the power effects of language in shaping current TM theory. This study raises questions concerning the epistemological foundations of talent management as objective, neutral, and observable. We suggest that future researchers adopt critical methods of inquiry to ensure that gender and equity issues are interrogated within dominant talent management writings

Macro talent management theorizing: transnational perspectives of the political economy of talent formation in the Arab Middle East

Challenging dominant Global North trajectories, we critically explore the complex terrain of global talent debates. We contribute new theoretical insights to the Macro Talent Management (MTM) field by examining the complexity of Talent Management (TM) through a transnational and political economy of skill formation lens. We provide a macro assessment of TM processes, at different scales (i.e. Local, National and Transnational) and explore the myriad partners in devising TM strategy that existing scholarship has not sufficiently examined. We explore the complexities of economic organization and highlight that TM theorising would benefit from spatialized accounts, and the politics of location in shaping TM logics and ideas, embedded in the geographies of transnational organizing. We take the Arab Middle East as a case in point to highlight the deficiency of current Macro Talent Management models and proffer a new multi-level model at global, national and local to reflect the dimensions of Talent Management realities in the Arab Middle East, and indeed other developing regions. We are driven by a concern that Talent Management theorization is rooted in a neoliberal ethic and rarely considers how the local becomes global, and how the global is articulated in the local

Management and Organization Review Special Issue "Social Networks The Dark and Bright Sides of Informal Networks'

Research on the mechanisms of organizing and managing via interpersonal relations has a rich history in the management and organization-oriented literature. So far, however, the informal dimension of managing and organizing by drawing on informal networks in an international context has received comparably less attention. Recent research has pointed out that social capital and network theories have largely been developed by Western scholars based on circumstances and social structures that are typical of Western societies. Thus, current theory takes into account to a lesser extent their character and nature and the way in which informal ties and networks are formed in other parts of the world (Ledeneva, 2018; Li, 2007b; Qi, 2013; Sato, 2010). Besides the growing body of literature concerned with informal ties and networks in emerging and transitioning countries, for example guanxi (China), blat/svyazi (Russia), and wasta (Arab World), a trend for analyzing pervasive informal networks in advanced and industrialized economies, such as yongo (Korea), has arisen. While insights from the latter research stream indicate that informal networks persist, the results generated in both research streams will help in developing the extant informal network theories further

Gender Equality and Corporate Social Responsibility in the Middle East

This chapter focuses on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in relation to gender equality in the Arab Middle East. It examines the relationship between CSR and gender in the workplace whilst exploring the link between CSR and human resource management (HRM) policies and practices. The chapter first presents some seminal work on gender equality and diversity management, looking at the business case for gender equality within the CSR and HRM contexts, before engaging with relevant work on gender equality in the Arab Middle East. It concludes by offering recommendations on advancing the equality agenda at the macro- and meso-levels, within a framework which recognises the centrality of agency of women, as well as the potential of positive changes through corporations being seen as ‘agents of change’. The chapter advocates for organisational and governmental policies to promote gender equality in the Arab Middle East

The state of HRM in the Middle East:Challenges and future research agenda

Based on a robust structured literature analysis, this paper highlights the key developments in the field of human resource management (HRM) in the Middle East. Utilizing the institutional perspective, the analysis contributes to the literature on HRM in the Middle East by focusing on four key themes. First, it highlights the topical need to analyze the context-specific nature of HRM in the region. Second, via the adoption of a systematic review, it highlights state of development in HRM in the research analysis set-up. Third, the analysis also helps to reveal the challenges facing the HRM function in the Middle East. Fourth, it presents an agenda for future research in the form of research directions. While doing the above, it revisits the notions of “universalistic” and “best practice” HRM (convergence) versus “best-fit” or context distinctive (divergence) and also alternate models/diffusion of HRM (crossvergence) in the Middle Eastern context. The analysis, based on the framework of cross-national HRM comparisons, helps to make both theoretical and practical implications

The global refugee crisis and the career ecosystem

© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce this special issue about the “Impact of the Global Refugee Crisis on the Career Ecosystem” and summarise the key contributions of the included practitioner and scholarly papers which examine refugee business and labour market experiences. The paper also examines the impact of media reports to provide a broader understanding of the context within which the current refugee crisis is evolving. Design/methodology/approach: The authors begin with a delineation of the concept of a career ecosystem in the context of refugee crises. The authors then employ this framing as a backdrop to engage in a basic analysis of business media coverage of the most recent Syrian refugee crisis, and a summary of the practitioner and scholarly papers. Findings: The findings of the media analysis suggest major coverage differences between different groups of countries in the number of documents identified, the proposed aim of business engagement with refugees, and substance of the extracted statements generally. Research limitations/implications: The analysis of business media coverage is rudimentary and intended only as a prompt for further conversations about how contemporary media commentary impacts on career opportunities for refugees and relevant stakeholder practices. Practical implications: This paper demonstrates the importance of including broader considerations of refugee careers that explore the interaction and intersection with transnational and local ecosystem of labour markets while paying attention to the sociocultural and political refugee-host community dynamics. Originality/value: This paper presents a more systems-oriented perspective and provides both practice and scholarly perspectives on the composite and dynamic nature of the refugee crisis on career ecosystems more broadly

The Use Of Zero-Valent Iron And Ultrasonic Energy For In-Situ Groundwater Remediation

Contamination in groundwater in general and drinking water in particular has become a major concern in the twentieth century. EPA strictly regulates the amount of acceptable contamination to extremely low levels for chemical industries. Old techniques, such as pump-and-treat, has proven to have some limitation in dropping the concentrations to acceptable levels thus forcing research groups to look into other alternatives for groundwater remediation. A new technique is to implement an in situ treatment of groundwater depending mainly on the natural water flow through a treatment wall. This active wall would consist of zero-valent-iron, with high surface area to mass ratio, in order to accelerate the kinetics of the dehalogenation of chlorinated organic molecules, mainly trichloroethylene TCE, into environmentally acceptable hydrocarbons that can be consumed by microorganisms underground. In addition, ultrasonic chemistry is co-applied in order to replenish the oxidized metal surface area i.e. to help in maintaining wall activity which theoretically should increase the wall lifetime. Data from both batch and column reactions show the feasibility of such a procedure. Kinetic data will be presented

An Environmentally Friendly Multispectral Screening Material Produced From Conductive Polymers

Fibrous material a being developed that has a conductive polymer coating to achieve effective millimeter wave (MMW) screening performance in an aerosol cloud, and then degrade to a conductively inactive form after settling out Designing degradability into the material addresses the problem of environmental persistence that is present in the current MMW screening fiber. Synthesis and processing of the candidate fibers is guided by an obscuration modeling program which identifies predicted electromagnetic characteristics as calculated from the interplay of material properties and fiber dimensions. Experimental results are presented comparing the conductivity and the coating quality for doped polypyrrole that is polymerized onto various fiber substrates by a solution process using various solvents and a nonsolution vapor phase process. A new, self automated, vapor process was developed that produced coated fibers that exhibit higher conductivity values when compared to coated fibers produced by other methods. Single fiber conductivity measurements for the coated fibers are used to assess the quality and the potential screening performance of the conductive polymer coating. Studies have also been conducted on the degradability of the doped polypyrrole coating under outdoor sunlight and humidity conditions. In addition, attenuation studies using a 35 GHz transmissometer have been conducted to measure the dissemination and obscuration of the coated fibers

Informal Networks: Dark Sides, Bright Sides, and Unexplored Dimensions

Informal networking can be seen as a positive activity with beneficial outcomes for individuals, firms, and society as a whole, but informal networking can also lead to collusion, cliques, nepotism, and other forms of unethical or corrupt conduct – largely related to research on emerging markets. To date, the construction of informal networks and their cultural intertwinement and development have not been a focus of international management and organization studies, a gap that this special issue seeks to address. This special issue contributes to a better understanding of the dynamics of informal networks and their ambivalence, in which the same networks have different modes of operation and have positive and negative sides intermittently or simultaneously. We demonstrate the context in which informal networks operate, highlight their complexity, and encourage dialogue among scholars studying informal networks in a variety of countries. Using a context-based and comparative perspective allows us to conceptualize informal networks in a more integrated and balanced way. Understanding the workings of informal networking – known variously as guanxi, yongo, jentinho, wasta, and blat – in culturally specific settings, places Western values, social structures, and ideals of behavior in perspective and tests Western-centered assumptions, narratives, and theories. Because informal networking is a conventional way of conducting business in many countries, as depicted in this special issue, defining the bright (positive) and the dark (negative) sides of informal networks is critical for responsible management and business success at multinational corporations