Iiris Aaltio

Ageing employees and human resource management – evidence of gender-sensitivity?

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify the different research strands concerning studies related to human resource management (HRM) and ageing employees. More specifically, the paper analyses how age and gender are understood and conceptualized in these studies. Design/methodology/approach – An integrative literature review concerning ageing employees and HRM with special reference to gender is the approach taken in this paper. Findings – Recent studies relating to HRM and ageing employees were categorized and analysed. The paper concludes that there is a need for a more holistic understanding of the concept of age in studies related to ageing employees and HRM and also argues that the intersection of age and gender is under-researched in the field of HRM. Practical implications – Based on literature review the paper outlined directions for how gender-neutral age management studies may be extended. A pluralist understanding of age and gender would help to understand the different needs and exp...

Exploring Gendered Organizational Cultures

In ‘‘Organizational Culture and Identity’’ (2000), Martin Parker quotes Raymond Williams’ statement that culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language. The amount of interest generated by the conceptualization of organizations as cultural phenomena is evidenced by the rapid spread of cultural studies and the epistomological debates that have surrounded what culture is and what it is not. By 1952, 164 different definitions of culture had been identified by Kroeber and Kluckhorn. The publication of popular business books by Peters and Waterman and Deal and Kennedy in 1982 made organizational culture a metaphor for organizational success or failure while adding a new dimension to organizational analysis. Although there are many different ways to conceptualize culture, Clifford Geertz’ (1973) view of culture as the network of meanings through which humans interpret their experiences and guide their actions, provides a generally agreed upon definition of culture that allows researchers some leeway in interpretation. Geertz notes that, through culture, individuals are influenced by a collectively created history, even though the social process behind these collectively born concepts is concealed. So culture, which is developed over a long period of time, serves as a frame of reference for human beings and provides parameters for their behaviours and attitudes. In the study of organizational culture, institutions are understood as expressions of the culture of the organization and organizational actors, who are taking part in organizational acitivities and simultaneously become socialized into adopting structures of thought, which are cultural by nature. Instiututions, organizational localities and human behaviour overlap. Much of the early cultural studies’ research was focused on understanding what constituted culture (Schein, 1985; Smircich, 1983), and how this knowledge could be used to improve organizational effectiveness (Peters and Waterman, 1982). As such, cultural studies were, at best, ‘gender neutral’ (Hearn and Parkin, 1983). More recently, culture has become a heuristic for understanding the gendering of organizations (Aaltio and Mills, 2002), and feministically orientated theorists have used organizational culture as a means of making sense of environments that connect people (Smith, 1998). Nowadays, although it is clearly acknowledged that culture is an heuristic for studying organizations, our knowledge of empirical cultural realities in organizations is still scarce. Conceptual, methodological and

Cooperation and teamwork in technology start-ups: reflected in some Italian, British, Dutch and German findings

Cooperation and teamwork is often a challenge for technology start-ups. Cooperation is usually needed in order to combine the variety of expertise and it requires trust between partners. The idea of national locality is changing in European enterprises because of the new shared markets and possibilities for cooperation. In this article we explore technology start-ups taking an Italian sample (N = 20) from the Torino-Milano area as a benchmark. Survey findings as well as case-study interviews are used as data. Italians are reputed to be communitarian and family minded as part of their national culture. Such start-ups would prefer to cooperate locally. A questionnaire and in-depth interviews are used to shed light on this issue. The samples from other EU countries, such as the United Kingdom (UK), The Netherlands (NL) (both N = 5) and Germany (N = 24) are used for comparison. Italy still seems to prefer family values and local cooperation, but with an openness to build teams within and between start-ups. The trend is similar in the UK and Germany, but not in the NL. Results also suggest that cooperation often happens informally and randomly even if benefits of it are widely recognised.

From Social Movements to Identity Transformation: Comparison of Estonian and Finnish Management Students’ Values

Students studying management in universities hope to acquire the knowledge and skills required in the positions they will hold later on. Countries characterized as transition economies face especially important questions of identity transformation, because their business life is being shaped in close connection with the political and intellectual developments in society. Estonia is one of the countries currently in transition; its former leaders and managers are giving way to their younger counterparts. The decisions made and the values adopted by the latter will not only affect organizations but also society as a whole. The discussion concerning values is gaining increasing attention in the media and academic journals. Value change is a topic of current interest also among the managers themselves. Education and training are seen to be fundamental means by which values can be affected.

Ageing, Organisations and Management

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Introduction: Why to Study Ageing in Organisations?

price are net prices, subject to local VAT. Prices indicated with * include VAT for books; the €(D) includes 7% for Germany, the €(A) includes 10% for Austria. Prices indicated with ** include VAT for electronic products; 19% for Germany, 20% for Austria. All prices exclusive of carriage charges. Prices and other details are subject to change without notice. All errors and omissions excepted. I. Aaltio, A.J. Mills, J.H. Mills (Eds.) Ageing, Organisations and Management

Ageing, Gender and Leadership: A Study Based on Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings

Questions related to ageing are shared widely in and between organizations. People are living longer and working longer than they used to earlier (Levinson 1978). The percentage of people over 60 years of age is growing rapidly worldwide, with one report estimating that by mid-century the number of people over 60 will triple to nearly two billion people. This tendency is evident especially in Europe and North America, which countries face the retiring of the baby-boom generation (Aaltio et al., International Journal of Work Innovation, 1(4), 323–329, 2016). The growing phenomenon of ageing has had and will have a major impact on the economy, and on social and work life (Davoudi et al., Futures, 42(8), 794–803, 2010). Age is widely used to judge workplace tenure and suitability for certain types of work. For example, there are age restrictions on pilots and surgeons in a number of countries (Bridges et al., Absent aviators: Gender issues in aviation. London: Ashgate, 2014). Historically, a number of countries have had retirement ages in place but recent debates have led to the ending or extension of the age at which individuals are required to stop full-time work. For instance, in Canada, the retirement age was 65 years of age until recently when the practice was legally ended in most jurisdictions.

On the way to creativity: engineers as intrapreneurs in organizations

Based on current research on ageing in organizations, this chapter focuses on ageing, its gendered nature, and its relations to what is valued in organizational settings in terms of careers and leadership. Stories about ageing are present in mythology, archetypes, and the societal collective unconsciousness, often followed by heroism and charismatic figures. Myths of ageing are manifold but may also represent a “Grand Story” of ageing, present for everyone as an ideal without gender or other dimensions. Using Tolkien’s mythology and Peter Jackson’s guided film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, the gendered relations between ageing, leadership, and leadership charisma are explored and interpreted.