Dima Jamali

Constraints and opportunities facing women entrepreneurs in developing countries: A relational perspective

Purpose: this purpose of the paper to examine the interplay of constraints and opportunities affecting female entrepreneurship in developing countries. The paper integrates salient micro- and macro-level perspectives and provides a rounded account of opportunities and constraints as part of a holistic interdependent system. Design/methodology/approach: the paper adopts an integrative multi-level research design and an interpretive research methodology, capitalizing on in-depth interviews with ten women entrepreneurs to explore their perceptions and interpretations of constraints and opportunities facing female entrepreneurship in the Lebanese context. Findings: the findings presented in this paper clearly illustrate the relevance of micro-, meso-, and macro-level factors in entrepreneurship research and the usefulness of integrating multiple lens and units of analysis to capture the complexity of the women entrepreneurship experience in any particular context. Originality/value: the value added of this research lies in adapting a framework recently popularized in the context of diversity management for use in entrepreneurship research, helping to capture in turn the dynamic interplay of multiple levels of analysis and objective/subjective factors influencing female entrepreneurship

Insights into triple bottom line integration from a learning organization perspective

Purpose – The notion of sustainability has been evolving and is increasingly understood to encompass considerations of economic viability, as well as environmental sustainability and social responsibility. The paper seeks to explore how linking these seemingly disparate pillars of sustainability may be facilitated through a management orientation supporting continual adaptability and learning.Design/methodology/approach – Literature review and critical analysis.Findings – The relevance of core organizational learning characteristics to different aspects of sustainability performance is outlined. The paper generally supports the view that a heightened propensity for learning ensures that organizations are better equipped for meeting the challenge of triple bottom line integration.Originality/value – Linking two traditionally separate and encapsulated areas of research, namely the area of corporate sustainability and the area of learning organizations/organizational learning.

Success and failure mechanisms of public private partnerships (PPPs) in developing countries: Insights from the Lebanese context

The concept of public private partnerships (PPPs) has attracted worldwide attention and acquired a new resonance in the context of developing countries. PPPs are increasingly heralded as an innovative policy tool for remedying the lack of dynamism in traditional public service delivery. However PPPs have also become mired in a muddle of conceptual ambiguities. This paper sheds light on the PPP concept and the rationale for invoking private participation in developing countries. It also identifies critical success factors and policy requirements for successful PPP implementation. Finally, the paper presents a case study assessment of a post-war PPP initiative in the Lebanese telecommunications sector and draws out lessons for improving the effectiveness and viability of PPP projects in the context of developing countries.

Constraints facing working women in Lebanon: an insider view

– The ascendancy of women to top management positions is a perennial problem plaguing organizations worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to present some insights relating to this pervasive phenomenon from a Middle Eastern context by exploring the constraints reported by Lebanese women managers throughout their careers., – Literature review and qualitative research methodology consisting of interviews with 62 Lebanese women managers in different fields of occupation., – The findings suggest that the constraints reported by Lebanese women managers are similar to those reported worldwide. The main differences revolve around the strongly felt salience of cultural values and expectations constraining women to traditional roles and a more accentuated sense of patriarchy., – The value added of this research is to present an insider view and fresh perspective into career constraints facing women from a non‐traditional context, namely Lebanon. In view of the Western‐centric nature of academic publication on the topic, there is a real need and added value in empirical research stemming from an Arab‐Middle Eastern context.

From bureaucratic organizations to learning organizations

Purpose – To track changes in management paradigms from the bureaucratic to the post‐bureaucratic to the learning organization model, highlighting core differentiating features of each paradigm as well as necessary ingredients for successful evolution.Design/methodology/approach – The article takes the form of a literature review and critical analysis.Findings – The complexity of the learning organization necessitates gradual evolution. The successful integration of the characteristics of post‐bureaucratic firms – empowerment, teamwork, trust, communication, commitment, and flexibility – coupled with an emergent systems perspective can provide improved understanding of how the learning organization disciplines may actually materialize.Originality/value – Linking two traditionally encapsulated areas of research namely post‐bureaucratic organizations and learning organizations, highlighting an interesting roadmap for successful convergence of post‐bureaucratic organizations towards learning organizations.

Changing management paradigms: implications for educational institutions

Purpose – The greatest competitive challenge facing companies today is said to be embracing change. The business environment is in constant flux and companies must grapple with a host of new realities. This backdrop of change has catalyzed a reassessment of traditional managerial concepts and practices. Aims to trace the evolution of a new management paradigm and identifies its main drivers.Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides narrative and analysis.Findings – Assesses the implications of the change in management paradigms for the educational system, highlights needed adjustments in orthodox management education and lingering challenges for management education providers.Originality/value – Provides help in understanding the perspectives of the various business stakeholders that can help academics allocate resources and design programs that cater for the needs of managers in the 21st century.

Drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility Attitudes: The Demography of Socially Responsible Investors

Demographic characteristics of socially responsible investors (SRIs) are likely to play a significant role in shaping their perceptions and behaviour concerning corporate social responsibility (CSR). This paper identifies demographic characteristics of SRIs and explores the relationship of these characteristics with their CSR attitudes. We analyse, using generalized ordered logistic regression, the questionnaire responses of 2464 SRIs from 20 countries. The results demonstrate that younger and female SRIs are more likely to believe that a companys social and environmental performance is as important as its financial performance. Female SRIs and those with high incomes are the most likely to believe that companies should be as responsible to their shareholders as to the broader society. In addition, younger SRIs, those with high incomes and those who have attained higher education levels regard socially responsible companies as at least as profitable as other companies. The benefits which companies can derive from understanding the demographic profile of SRIs are examined, including a potentially lower cost of capital, improved CSR rankings and business policy formulation and communication consistent with CSR views held by specific groups of SRIs.

Strategic partnerships, social capital and innovation: accounting for social alliance innovation

This paper focuses on innovation in the context of business–non-governmental organization (NGO) partnerships for corporate social responsibility (CSR). While different aspects of business–NGO partnerships have been studied, the role of innovation and its potential implications for partnership outcomes have so far not been systematically explored. The paper defines innovation in simple and concrete terms and synthesizes from the literature what can be considered as critical ingredients to foster social alliance innovation. The paper posits in turn that these ingredients correspond closely to the conception of social capital and offers a consolidated framework that helps in probing around these ingredients and social capital in accounting for innovative partnership outcomes. The empirical part consists of a comparative analysis of six case studies of business–NGO collaboration in the context of CSR in the United Kingdom. The evidence presented makes it clear that strategic partnerships are more readily capable of innovation and that social capital as an umbrella concept is very promising in explaining the differential success and performance of social alliances and central to understanding the dynamics of social alliance innovation and value creation.

Exploring Human Resource Management Roles in Corporate Social Responsibility: The CSR‐HRM Co‐Creation Model

Formulating and translating corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy into actual managerial practices and outcome values remain ongoing challenges for many organizations. This paper argues that the human resource management (HRM) function can potentially play an important role in supporting organizations to address this challenge. We argue that HRM could provide an interesting and dynamic support to CSR strategy design as well as implementation and delivery. Drawing on a systematic review of relevant strategic CSR and HRM literatures, this paper highlights the important interfaces between CSR and HRM and develops a conceptual model, the CSR‐HRM co‐creation model, which accounts for the potential HRM roles in CSR and identifies a range of outcome values resulting from a more effective integration of the role of HRM within CSR. The paper concludes with relevant theoretical and managerial recommendations that advance our understanding of the potential interfaces between HRM and CSR and how HRM can support a systematic and progressive CSR agenda.

A study of customer satisfaction in the context of a public private partnership

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an original satisfaction survey in the context of a new public private partnership (PPP) in the Lebanese postal sector, highlighting traditionally overlooked linkages between PPPs, quality management and customer satisfaction. The ascendancy of PPPs in recent years has been attributed to key drivers including greater value for money, and enhanced service quality. However, very few studies to date have investigated the success of service performance improvement in the PPP context, by gauging customer satisfaction.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a literature review and customer satisfaction survey.Findings – The findings in this paper suggest a good level of satisfaction with the quality of services received through the PPP in question but mixed results concerning the impact of consumer characteristics on satisfaction ratings.Originality/value – In the paper the relationship between customer satisfaction and quality is reviewed. Cus...