Beverly Dawn Metcalfe

Gender and human resource management in the Middle East

This paper contributes to the limited management knowledge of gender and HRM policies in the Middle East, specifically Bahrain. This involves an assessment of how Islamic values have affected womens work experiences and also how Islam has shaped gender and HRM policies. The study is based on an assessment of 53 survey responses and 27 semi-structured interviews collated from female professionals participating in career development workshops held in Bahrain. The analysis reveals the growing importance of womens employment in the Middle East, and outlines how governments are devising national development strategies within an Islamic framework, to support womens advancement in the public sphere. The empirical data show that women experience career and development constraints on account of equal but different gender roles, and that gender or equality issues are largely absent from HRM organization policy. It is suggested that HRM policy development at the organization level should specifically address the issue of womens management training. The research suggests issues of womens rights are a key aspect of understanding the relationships of globalization, Islam and HRM processes in the Middle East and argues that there is a need for international HRM scholarship to incorporate gender issues in policy planning and development.

Theorizing advances in international human resource development

Abstract In recent presentations at HRD conferences in Europe and Asia, various papers have identified ‘Globalization and HRD’ as a growing area of intellectual inquiry. Our paper contributes to these theoretical explorations by attempting to map out the terrain of IHRD theory and activity. Drawing on international HRM (IHRM), development economics and development sociology writings we propose that international HRD in the global arena can be categorized under three headings: ‘global HRD’, ‘comparative HRD’ and ‘national HRD’. We present a development model as a way of analysing HRD. It is argued that this model can be viewed as a heuristic device that may be used to break down the components of IHRD and, in doing so, contributes to IHRD theory formulation and a greater understanding of HRD organization policy and practice within an international context. Our theoretical discussion stresses the broader social development orientations of education and HRD.

Gendering Teamwork: Re-Writing the Feminine

Recognizing the neglect of gender in the prescriptive and critical fields of teamwork, this article explores the gendered processes of teams. The argument presented in this article challenges masculinist discourse inherent in team theorizing and empirical research. This masculinism, we argue, stems from the so-called gender-neutral performance criteria and practices of team organization and management. Analysing The Wisdom of Teams (Katzenbach and Smith, 1993) highlights the implicit gendering processes of the team rhetoric. To illuminate the latent gendered practices a case study, Nylons, is discussed. Both methods of analysis unveil the dominance of masculinist discourses that subjugates and suppresses femaleness and femininity. The article concludes by highlighting areas for furthering critical debates in the teamwork arena that centre on analysing the complex and ambiguous power relations that influence, and are influenced by, the construction and re-construction of gendered identities in teamwork and the gendered relations of power in teamwork practice.

Women, empowerment and development: A Critical appraisal of culture, governance and national HRD frameworks in Arab Gulf States

Current literature has not examined gender issues nor considered the governance regimes and institution cultures that shape national human resource development (HRD) systems. This is a key knowledge gap as many developing countries target womens learning in national HRD planning. This article addresses the following questions: what are the social and cultural factors that shape gender and HRD systems in three Arab Gulf States (Bahrain, UAE and Saudi Arabia), and how are they linked to womens current social and economic status in the Gulf? In addition, how can national and institutional HRD frameworks support womens empowerment and education development? The findings of the investigation lead to a new framework for conceptualizing a gender and national HRD model that facilitates womens empowerment. I discuss how the model can guide government national HRD skills strategies and empowerment for women. In contributing to new knowledge on gender and HRD, I suggest that national HRD interventions improve wo...Current literature has not examined gender issues nor considered the governance regimes and institution cultures that shape national human resource development (HRD) systems. This is a key knowledge gap as many developing countries target womens learning in national HRD planning. This article addresses the following questions: what are the social and cultural factors that shape gender and HRD systems in three Arab Gulf States (Bahrain, UAE and Saudi Arabia), and how are they linked to womens current social and economic status in the Gulf? In addition, how can national and institutional HRD frameworks support womens empowerment and education development? The findings of the investigation lead to a new framework for conceptualizing a gender and national HRD model that facilitates womens empowerment. I discuss how the model can guide government national HRD skills strategies and empowerment for women. In contributing to new knowledge on gender and HRD, I suggest that national HRD interventions improve womens livelihoods, but that partnership with civil society will be necessary to facilitate long-lasting social change. However, I also maintain that Arab women should be supported to develop feminist agency and create their own versions of Islamic feminism, relevant to their own empowerment agendas.

Is the force still with her? Gender and commitment in the police

Seeks to make a contribution to reviewing the position of policewomen by analysing the nature of attitudinal commitment and its possible gendered meanings and gendering effects. Using survey data, compares the different levels of commitment between men and women and considers if commitment is shaped by the same or different variables. Reviews the theoretical background to organisation commitment and gender and its relationship to police organisations. Then discusses the case data which reveals that there are few differences in the levels of men and women’s commitment, and that their commitment levels are shaped by the same managerial factors. Considers the implications for managing commitment and their relationship to equal opportunity developments within police forces. Concludes that the female police officer is committed to the force, but it is uncertain whether this is reciprocal.

Gender, work, and equal opportunities in central and eastern Europe

Purpose – This paper examines gender, work and equal opportunities in central and eastern Europe (CEE) countries. The worker‐mother contract in socialist systems is discussed and reveals how transition from a communist economic system to a market economy has eroded womens equality within the workplace claimed with the Communist and economic social legacy. The aim is to explore the opportunities and constraints on womens professional career advancement in post‐socialist societies.Design/methodology/approach – The paper consolidates research on gender and work within CEE countries and draws on international datasets including, the Gender Development Index and Gender Empowerment Index.Findings – The results show that womens high representation in management and professional occupations, once the hallmark of socialist employment structures, is now being threatened by the erosion of state childcare services and the increasing level of discriminatory practices in recruitment, selection and development. It is...

Gender, globalization and organization: exploring power, relations and intersections

Purpose – Current debates on neo‐liberal and universalistic globalization pay little attention to gender or to other marginalized groups, and fail to consider the complexity and diversity of the experiences of men and women in specific socio‐political contexts, especially those in the developing world. The paper challenges mainstream theories which present globalization and its associated forces as gender neutral. The main purpose of this paper is to advance theoretical debates on the gendered organizing dynamics of globalization.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on organization theory, gender and development studies literature, and feminist sociology, to advance critical understandings of contemporary debates of the intersecting qualities of globalization, transnational organizations and gender social divisions.Findings – The paper provides a critical synthesis of the complexity and interconnections between gender, organization and globalization. The paper identifies international development...

Exploring organisation commitment in the police

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s organisation and management consultants have researched the concept of organisational commitment and report that highly committed employees are likely to be more effective, and be concerned with contributing to organisational improvement. Given the number of police reforms in the UK that are encouraging forces to be more innovative, it is surprising that there have been few studies that have explored commitment amongst police officers. Using survey data (total uniform population 2,898, response rate 43 percent) the paper analyses the extent to which organisation commitment is shaped by: employees’ experiences of behaviour that encourages teamwork, participation, and personal development, provides feedback on role and performance, and avoids a defensive work climate. The results show that these factors strongly influence commitment in all ranks. Significantly the level of commitment varies according to position in the hierarchy, with the majority of constables demonstrating lower commitment, and senior officers (chief inspectors and above) showing higher commitment. Differences in commitment across police divisions are also explored. The paper discusses the limitations in management style and personnel procedures and suggests that strategic human resource management approaches should be adopted in order to increase organisation attachment. A major implication of the findings is that ForceCo needs to develop a long‐term strategy of culture change.

Writing materiality into management and organization studies through and with Luce Irigaray

There 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 Irigaray’s work to highlight the dangers inherent in masculine discourses of materiality. We discuss Irigaray’s 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, ethically-founded 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 Irigaray’s ideas to develop a feminist écriture 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.

Critical perspectives in diversity and equality management

Purpose – This paper aims to draw conceptual links between the papers in this special issue, arguing that diversity and equality research is located within varying socio‐political, socio‐demographic and geo‐political contexts and should therefore be seen as fluid and subject to ongoing reformation.Design/methodology/approach – This paper provides a thematic and analytical review of six papers from the Gender, Diversity and Management track of the European Academy of Management Conference, held at HEC, Paris in May 2007.Findings – The paper draws out themes that transcend organisation and nation boundaries, showing how socio‐cultural and political location has an important bearing on gender and diversity work identities, constructions and ultimately, organisation development priorities.Practical implications – The paper seeks to encapsulate contemporary thinking in the discipline of equality and diversity management with specific focus on its interaction with the externalities of region, power, politics an...