179 research outputs found
Sustaining entrepreneurial business: a complexity perspective on processes that produce emergent practice
This article examines the management practices in an entrepreneurial small firm which sustain the business. Using a longitudinal qualitative case study, four general processes are identified (experimentation, reflexivity, organising and sensing), that together provide a mechanism to sustain the enterprise. The analysis draws on concepts from entrepreneurship and complexity science. We suggest that an entrepreneurâs awareness of the role of these parallel processes will facilitate their approaches to sustaining and developing enterprises. We also suggest that these processes operate in parallel at multiple levels, including the self, the business and inter-firm networks. This finding contributes to a general theory of entrepreneurship. A number of areas for further research are discussed arising from this result
Writing materiality into management and organization studies through and with Luce Irigaray
YesThere is increasing recognition in management and organization studies of the
importance of materiality as an aspect of discourse, while the neglect of materiality in
post-structuralist management and organization theory is currently the subject of much
discussion. This article argues that this turn to materiality may further embed gender
discrimination. We draw on Luce Irigarayâs work to highlight the dangers inherent in
masculine discourses of materiality. We discuss Irigarayâs identification of how language
and discourse elevate the masculine over the feminine so as to offer insights into ways
of changing organizational language and discourses so that more beneficial, ethicallyfounded
identities, relationships and practices can emerge. We thus stress a political
intent that aims to liberate women and men from phallogocentrism. We finally take
forward Irigarayâs ideas to develop a feminist Ă©criture of/for organization studies that
points towards ways of writing from the body. The article thus not only discusses how
inequalities may be embedded within the material turn, but it also provides a strategy
that enriches the possibilities of overcoming them from within
Being a Self-Employed Older Woman: From Discrimination to Activism
This article presents an autobiographical account of an older womanâs lived experience of self-employment. Little is known about women who experience ongoing self-employment into their 50s and beyond. Shoshannaâs personal narrative describes her experiences and the challenges she has faced as she reflects upon her attempts to grow and sustain her business and the implications of ageism and gender inequality in laying a claim to entrepreneurship. The narrative proceeds to reflect on her activist work, as it is constructed through the creation of a social enterprise to support older people. Shoshannaâs narrative provides valuable insights into the intersection of age and gender in self-employment moving from discrimination to active support
The Menopause Taboo at Work: Examining Womenâs Embodied Experiences of Menopause in the UK Police Service
This article contributes to the growing body of knowledge about gendered ageing at work through an examination of the embodied experiences of women undergoing menopause transition in the UK police service. Drawing on 1197 survey responses, providing both quantitative and qualitative data gathered across three police forces in 2017â18, the findings highlight the importance of a material-discursive approach that considers contextual influences on womenâs bodily experiences. The article evidences gendered ageism and the penalty suffered by women whose ageing bodies fail to comply with an ideal worker norm. It makes an important contribution both to theorising embodiment, drawing in age as well as gender discourses, and to promoting a material-discursive approach that recognises the materiality of the body while also offering the potential for agency, reflection and resistance
Gender and work: representations of femininities and masculinities in the view of women brazilian executives
Crafting organization
The recent shift in attention away from organization studies as science has allowed for consideration of new ways of thinking about both organization and organizing and has led to several recent attempts to \u27bring down\u27 organizational theorizing. In this paper, we extend calls for organization to be represented as a creative process by considering organization as craft. Organizational craft, we argue, is attractive, accessible, malleable, reproducible, and marketable. It is also a tangible way of considering organization studies with irreverence. We draw on the hierarchy of distinctions among fine art, decorative art, and craft to suggest that understanding the organization of craft assists in complicating our understanding of marginality. We illustrate our argument by drawing on the case of a contemporary Australian craftworks and marketplace known initially as the Meat Market Craft Centre (\u27MMCC\u27) and then, until its recent closure, as Metro! ‡ Stella Minahan was a board member and then the Chief Executive Officer of the Metro! Craft Centre.<br /
Prosociality in business: a human empowerment framework
This study introduces a human empowerment framework to better understand why some businesses are more socially oriented than others in their policies and activities. Building on Welzelâs theory of emancipation, we argue that human empowermentâcomprised of four components: action resources, emancipative values, social movement activity, and civic entitlementsâenables, motivates, and entitles individuals to pursue social goals for their businesses. Using a sample of over 15,000 entrepreneurs from 43 countries, we report strong empirical evidence for two ecological effects of the framework components on prosociality. We find that human empowerment (1) lifts entrepreneursâ willingness to choose a social orientation for their business, and (2) reinforces the gender effect on prosociality in business activity. We discuss the human empowerment frameworkâs added value in understanding how modernization processes fully leverage the potential of social business activities for societies
Exploring the dynamics of gender, feminism and entrepreneurship: advancing debate to escape a dead end?
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