S. Arzu Wasti

The Role of Gender Stereotypes in Perceptions of Entrepreneurs and Intentions to Become an Entrepreneur

In this study we examine the role of socially constructed gender stereotypes in entrepreneurship and their influence on men and womens entrepreneurial intentions. Data on characteristics of males, females, and entrepreneurs were collected from young adults in three countries. As hypothesized, entrepreneurs were perceived to have predominantly masculine characteristics. Additional results revealed that although both men and women perceive entrepreneurs to have characteristics similar to those of males (masculine gender–role stereotype), only women also perceived entrepreneurs and females as having similar characteristics (feminine gender–role stereotype). Further, though men and women did not differ in their entrepreneurial intentions, those who perceived themselves as more similar to males (high on male gender identification) had higher entrepreneurial intentions than those who saw themselves as less similar to males (low male gender identification). No such difference was found for people who saw themselves as more or less similar to females (female gender identification). The results were consistent across the three countries. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Organizational commitment, turnover intentions and the influence of cultural values

The moderating influence of idiocentrism and allocentrism on the relationship between organizational commitment and turnover intentions was examined. The investigation evolved over two phases. In Study 1, emic (culture-specific) items were generated through in-depth interviews with Turkish employees, and the commitment scales by Meyer, Allen, and Smith (1993) were revised to make them more appropriate for the Turkish context. In Study 2, turnover intentions were predicted as a function of an individuals affective, continuance, normative commitment, and social factors, operationalized as the approval of the family. The results indicated that affective commitment was an important predictor of turnover intentions irrespective of idiocentric or allocentric values. However, normative commitment and social factors were weaker predictors for individuals who endorsed idiocentric, values and social factors were a stronger predictor for allocentrics. These findings underline the importance of a normative perspective on organizational commitment, especially for collectivistic contexts.

The influence of cultural values on antecedents of organisational commitment: an individual-level analysis

On s’est demande dans cette recherche si les valeurs culturelles que sont l’individualisme et le collectivisme evaluees au niveau individuel avaient un impact sur le poids des differents facteurs de l’implication organisationnelle. Il est apparu que la satisfaction due au travail et a l’avancement etait le determinant primaire de l’implication affective et normative des salaries qui adherent a l’individualisme. Pour ceux qui s’orientent ver des valeurs collectivistes, etre satisfait du superieur etait le facteur essentiel de l’implication, devant la satisfaction relative au travail et a la promotion. Des resultats analogues ont ete obtenus pour l’implication a long terme. Bien que certains des antecedents de l’implication organisationnelle soient commun aux deux groupes, l’orientation vers la tâche ou vers les relations varie avec les individus relevant d’orientations culturelles differentes. This study investigated whether cultural values of individualism and collectivism measured at the individual level influence the salience of different antecedents of organisational commitment. The findings indicated that satisfaction with work and promotion are the primary determinants of affective and normative commitment for employees who endorse individualist values. For employees with collectivist values, satisfaction with supervisor was found to be an important commitment antecedent over and above satisfaction with work and promotion. Similar results were obtained for continuance commitment. The results indicate that although some antecedents of organisational commitment are common across the two groups, the emphasis placed on task versus relationships differs across individuals with varying cultural orientations.

Affective and continuance commitment to the organization: test of an integrated model in the Turkish context

Abstract The present study investigated organizational commitment in Turkey, a predominantly collectivist society. A model of antecedents and consequences of organizational commitment was tested, where commitment was conceptualized as composed of two dimensions, affective and continuance. Affective commitment was hypothesized to develop from positive work experiences and to predict desirable outcomes. Continuance commitment, on the other hand, was argued to be culture-bound. In line with Becker (Am. J. Sociol. 66 (1960) 32), it was proposed that in a collectivist culture like Turkey, the normative nature of the employment relationship would generate expectations for loyalty to the organization, and the perceived costs of violating these expectations would be reflected in increased continuance commitment. In particular, it was expected that the endorsement of generalized norms for loyalty to ones organization and informal recruitment would lead to higher levels of continuance commitment. The investigation involved two phases. In Study I, in-depth interviews were conducted with Turkish employees to develop emic items for the scales of interest. In Study II, the proposed model was tested using structural equations modeling. The results not only confirmed the cross-cultural generalizability of the antecedents and consequences of affective commitment, but also indicated that loyalty norms and ingroup approval increased continuance commitment. The influence of norms and the ingroup was stronger for allocentrics. Furthermore, for allocentrics, continuance commitment was related to more positive job outcomes. The results underline the importance of normative concerns in understanding employee attachment in collectivist contexts and also point to a need for a better measurement of calculative commitment.

Organizational Individualism and Collectivism: Theoretical Development and an Empirical Test of a Measure

An empirical test of the organizational individualism and collectivism constructs and measures was conducted using survey responses from 916 employees from 46 Turkish organizations. Analyses indicated that fit between individuals’ values and perceptions of the organizational culture predicted job attitudes, and that organizational individualism was related to the use of individualistic human resources practices at the organizational level. The utility of this approach for understanding the relationships between individuals, organizations, and societies is discussed.

Profiles in coping: Responses to sexual harassment across persons, organizations, and cultures

This study explicates the complexity of sexual harassment coping behavior among 4 diverse samples of working women: (a) working-class Hispanic Americans, (b) working-class Anglo Americans, (c) professional Turks, and (d) professional Anglo Americans. K-means cluster analysis revealed 3 common harassment coping profiles: (a) detached, (b) avoidant negotiating, and (c) support seeking. The authors then tested an integrated framework of coping profile determinants, involving social power, stressor severity, social support, and culture. Analysis of variance, chi-square, and discriminant function results identified significant determinants at each of the 4 levels of this ecological model. These findings underscore the importance of focusing on whole patterns of experience--and considering influences at the level of the individual employee and multiple levels of the surrounding context--when studying how women cope with workplace sexual harassment.

Test of the cross-cultural generalizability of a model of sexual harassment

Sexual harassment research has been primarily limited to examination of the phenomena in U.S. organizations; attempts to explore the generalizability of constructs and theoretical models across cultures are rare. This study examined (a) the measurement equivalence of survey scales in U.S. and Turkish samples using mean and covariance structure analysis and (b) the generalizability of the L. F. Fitzgerald, F. Drasgow, C. L. Hulin, M. J. Gelfand, and V. J. Magley (1997) model of sexual harassment to the Turkish context using structural equations modeling. Analyses used questionnaire data from 336 Turkish women and 455 women from the United States. The results indicate that, in general, the survey scales demonstrate measurement equivalence and the pattern of relationships in the Fitzgerald et al. model generalizes to the Turkish culture. These results support the usefulness of the model for explaining sexual harassment experiences in a variety of organizational and cultural contexts.

Coping in context: sociocultural determinants of responses to sexual harassment.

The authors investigated coping responses to sexual harassment across 4 samples of working women from 3 cultures and 2 occupational classes. Complete-link cluster analyses provide preliminary support for D. E. Knapp, R. H. Faley, S. E. Ekeberg, and C. L. Z. Duboiss (1997) coping framework, suggesting that avoidance, denial, negotiation, advocacy seeking, and social coping are universal responses to sexual harassment. Further, L. F. Fitzgeralds (1990) internal-external dichotomy appears to capture higher order relationships among coping responses. In addition, regression analyses suggest that Turkish and Hispanic American women engage in more avoidance than Anglo American women, and Hispanic women also use more denial but less advocacy seeking. No differences emerged in social coping. The authors discuss these results in the context of coping theory, individualism-collectivism, power distance, and patriarchal gender norms.

Preaching, Teaching and Researching at the Periphery:Academic Management Literature in Turkey, 1970—1999

Internationally accessible academic literature in management has been dominated very largely by contributions originating from the USA. Although this state of imbalance has attracted some discussion, little systematic research exists on scholarly activity in a large majority of countries that have limited presence in international academic outlets. To this end, we investigated the academic literature produced in Turkey over the last three decades, as an example of a country located at the periphery of management scholarship and where the management discipline developed under strong US influence. Based on a content analysis of articles published in local and international academic journals, cluster-analytic results indicated that the predominant form of scholarly output comprised a practice-oriented, nonempirical, de-contextualized literature, which served to transport American theories and practices to domestic audiences. The limitedly adopted scientific model manifested marginally greater interest in the local context. Further analysis showed that the type of university in which scholarly activity was carried out was highly significant. Academics working in American-modeled public and private universities were more likely to base their work on the scientific model imported wholesale from the USA. The post-1980 change in the institutional regime geared towards bringing Turkish higher education closer to American models and driving international publications, however, did not appear to have altered the overall panorama of scholarly activity in management, at least over a period of 15 years.

Oceans and notions apart? An analysis of the US and European human resource development literature

A systematic content analysis of the human resource development (HRD) research articles published between 1990 and 2003 revealed notable differences in the underlying orientations and methodological approaches across the US and Europe. The US literature, in comparison to Europe, was observed to be more practice-oriented as reflected in a prescriptive and less critical approach to the study of human resource development (HRD). In terms of science orientation, the US literature was characterized to be more nomothetic and universalistic. While a subtle tendency towards becoming more prescriptive emerged in the US, over time the European literature had become less practice-oriented and more empiricist, although the latter trend did not reflect itself in the quantity but quality of quantitative research.