Julie Hodges

Exploring Business Transformation: The Challenges of Developing a Benefits Realization Capability

The successful management of change continues to be a major issue for organizations. This article draws on rich qualitative data to provide evidence of issues faced by organizations as they try to realize benefits from investments in IT-enabled change, and as they try to develop and enhance their benefits realization capability. Several of these issues are not effectively covered by previous research, for example managing the overall portfolio of change initiatives and how to develop the capacity of the organization for benefits realization. The research also provides empirical evidence that supports the theoretical propositions from dynamic capability theory that routines (practices) are often similar across different organizations, and that organizations go through a number of stages in developing competences. A further contribution of the research is to develop an enhanced model of an organizational competence, which has important implications for the action required to develop competences.

The transition of midlife women from organisational into self‐employment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the transition of midlife women from employment in organizations to self‐employment. It examines how midlife women account for their transition from organizations to self‐employment; why they opted for self‐employment rather than simply changing organizations and their experience of self‐employment.Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on semi‐structured interviews (n=100), with women between the ages of 46 and 60 who have moved into self‐employment from organizational employment.Findings – Two themes emerged from the study. The first was the negative organizational experience of some of the women which had caused dissatisfaction and disenchantment and therefore self‐employment was seen as the only next step. The second theme was changes triggered by a positive proactive choice to move into self‐employment.Research limitations/implications – There are limitations to using individual perceptions and anecdotes. It cannot be assumed that the women...

Can leadership branding work in theory and practice to resolve the integration-responsiveness problems facing multinational enterprises?

Leadership branding has been proposed as a new approach for transforming the impact of leaders in organizations by developing a shared leadership identity. There has, however, been little empirical evidence to support the concept. In this paper, we combine new theories of leadership identity construction with dialogue theory to provide a more adequate explanation of why leadership branding might offer multinational enterprises (MNEs) with a useful conceptual framework and a set of practices to help resolve the integration-responsiveness problems they face. We do this by using data from a longitudinal case study of a UK-based MNE. Our findings support the claims that successful identity construction and dialogue help explain the process of leadership branding. They also show that a leadership-structure schema emphasizing shared values and dialogue can assist in resolving integration-responsiveness problems in MNEs, although strong corporate leadership brands are difficult to establish and may not be beneficial in the long term.

Cracking the walls of leadership: women in Saudi Arabia

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the obstacles to women’s advancement in Saudi Arabia. The paper addresses the question “what are women’s experiences of becoming leaders and what influences their leadership practice?” It does this by drawing on gender and Middle Eastern literature, as well as empirical evidence of the perceptions, experience and challenges of women in Saudi. Design/methodology/approach The study contributes a consideration of the academic literature, supported by empirical findings from 25 interviews with professional women in Saudi Arabia. The data identify the perceptions, experiences and challenges of professional women in Saudi. It concludes by outlining the practical need for the review and promotion of policies to eradicate inequalities in the workplace. Findings The data show that the challenges faced by professional women in Saudi Arabia are social, religious, cultural and organizational. The findings reveal that women’s relationship to self, others, place and work are key influencers in how they perceive and experience leadership. The findings also indicate the need for a review and promotion of policies to eradicate inequalities which prevent women from becoming leaders. Research limitations/implications The research limitations are that it focuses on a small number of professional women in Saudi Arabia (n = 25). However, Saudi Arabia is a country where research access is difficult; therefore, this research has significant implications for beginning to understand women and their experience of leadership in Saudi. It also addresses a gap in the scant research which does exist in this area. Practical implications The study highlights that unless significant barriers are removed, women will not progress to higher leadership positions in organizations. The future role of women as leaders in Saudi Arabia will require society, organizations and women themselves to change the traditional role-expectations of women. The paper considers what can be done to create a more levelled platform for women to operate in organizations at senior levels. Social implications The findings and recommendations will prove useful in raising awareness among policymakers and practitioners regarding the experiences and the obstacles faced by women in Saudi Arabia because of the social, religious and culture context in which they live. Originality/value This study contributes to enriching the gender and leadership literature in a country that has been poorly addressed so far. Its originality lies in the context of Saudi Arabia. The research is significant in that, in examining women’s perceptions of the challenges and opportunities of leadership in the workplace, it provides an understanding of women’s experience of leadership in Saudi that has not previously been considered in the literature on women in the Middle East. This study therefore contributes to understanding the how and why of leadership by listening to the ways in which women learn and practise leadership.

Building capabilities for change: the crucial role of resilience

This paper aims to discuss the importance of building internal capabilities for change. The main elements of building capabilities are highlighted, along with the benefits. In particular, there is focus on building resilience and how it can help people to respond to and cope with changes more effectively and efficiently. The paper concludes by emphasizing that developing resilience takes time but that research shows that it can impact on how individuals engage in organizational change.,The approach taken is a review of the literature. Data are also used from a group of executive MBA students who were asked what capabilities they thought were necessary to lead and manage change.,Findings show that resilience is a key capability for leading and managing organizational change. The components of resilience play a vital role in enabling people to cope with change.,The practical implications are that organizations need to develop the capabilities for change to ensure that change is sustained in organizations. Managers and HR staff should consider ways of building capabilities for change, especially resilience.,The value of this paper is that it emphasizes the importance of building capabilities for change, especially resilience.