Apologies for cross-posting
Call for short papers
Sub-theme 45: Reimagining Management Practices in Times of Rising Inequality along Socio-Demographic Lines
30th EGOS Colloquium, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, July 3-5, 2014
Convenors:
Patrizia Zanoni, Hasselt University, Belgium
patrizia.zanoni@uhasselt.be
Marieke van den Brink, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
mcl.vandenbrink@fm.ru.nl
Maddy Janssens, KU Leuven, Belgium
maddy.janssens@econ.kuleuven.be
Employees belonging to historically underrepresented socio-demographic groups have never been as present in the labour market. Still, as the crisis has painstakingly shown, inequalities remain solidly structured along socio-demographic identities (OECD, 2011). Women, ethnic minorities, the disabled, the youth and the elderly are often vertically and horizontally segregated into less protected and less well-paying jobs and sectors and have distinct career paths (Hermelin, 2005; ILO, 2012; Tomaskovic-Devey et al, 2009).
After over two decades of research documenting and theorizing power inequality between the majority and historically underrepresented groups in organizations (Linnehan and Konrad, 1999; Prasad et al, 2006), our current knowledge on how organizations can actually achieve more equality remains disappointingly poor. The advancement of research on equality-fostering diversity management has been hampered by the strong dominance of diversity management practices – e.g. formalized HRM procedures, diversity training, networking and mentoring programmes – that can be used as symbols of compliance with normative institutional pressures, in court cases and to meet criteria for subcontractor eligibility (Edelman, 1992), yet which are ineffective in fostering equality (Kalev et al, 2006; Kulik and Roberson, 2008).
Critically oriented diversity scholars have been largely unable to explore 'good' managerial practices which they see as ultimately enabling exploitation in contemporary capitalist organizations. The academic debate has thus remained focused around the opposition between a legal/social justice logic and a business logic (cf. Kelly and Dobbin, 1998; Lorbiecki and Jack, 2000; Noon, 2007; Prasad and Mills, 1997; Wrench, 2005), at safe distance from management practices. Aware of the inherent contradiction of building 'critical' diversity theory from diversity management practices in capitalist organizations (Fournier and Gray, 2000), we opt to temporarily bracket our fundamental critique to engage with such practices (cf.
Anthony, 1998). We refuse to leave diversity management to non-critical, functionalistic research paradigms (Foldy, 2002).
In this stream, we aim to advance contemporary thinking on how organizations can achieve more equality between the majority and minorities, despite (and even, possibly, by virtue of) their capitalistic nature. We welcome theoretically founded, ground-breaking empirical studies of innovative, equality-fostering diversity management practices, which are critically self-reflective of the (im)possibilities of such practices in
(capitalist) organizations. Studies might deal with the following topics, although the list is not exhaustive:
· Equality and non-conventional ways to manage diversity
· Managing diversity without 'diversity management' practices
· Equality and diversity management in social profit and
cooperative organizations
· Equality and diversity management for employees in low-rank jobs
· Equality as the joint effect of protective employment legislation
and diversity management practices
· Flexicurity regimes, employment relations and diversity
management practices
· The role of third parties (the state, customers, suppliers, trade
unions, civil society organizations, etc.) and equality-fostering diversity management
· Diversity management as sustainable management (CSR)
· New trends in HRM (job crafting, strength-based organization,
idiosyncratic deals, developmental approach) as possible equality-fostering practices
· Transformative strategies of organizational processes for
sustainable change towards diversity and inclusion
*References*
Anthony, P. (1998) Management education: Ethics versus morality. In M.
Parker (Ed.), Ethics and organization (pp. 269-281). London: Sage.
Foldy, E. G. (2002) 'Managing' diversity: Identity and power in organizations. In I. Aaltio and A. J. Mills (Eds.), Gender, identity and the culture of organizations (pp. 92-112). London: Routledge.
Fournier, V. and Grey, C. (2000) At the critical moment: Conditions and prospects for critical management studies. Human Relations, 53, 7-32.
Hermelin, B. (2005) Recruitment procedures in the construction of labour market relations - The ethnic divide in Sweden. Geografiska Annaler Series B-Human Geography 87B(3): 225-236.
ILO (2012) *Global Wage Report 2012/2013: Wages and equitable growth*.
Geneva: International Labour Office.
Linnehan, F. and Konrad, A. M. (1999) Diluting diversity: Implications for intergroup inequality in organizations. Journal of Management Inquiry, 8, 399-414.
Kalev, A., Dobbin, F. and Kelly, E. (2006) Best practices or best guesses?
Assessing the efficacy of corporate affirmative action and diversity policies. American Sociological Review, 71, 589-617.
Kelly, E. and Dobbin, F. (1998) How affirmative action became diversity
management: Employer response to Antidiscrimination Law, 1961-1996.
American Behavioral Scientist 41: 960-984.
Konrad, A. and Linnehan, F. (1995) Formalized HRM structures: Coordinating equal employment opportunity or concealing organizational practices?
Academy of Management Journal, 38, 787-820.
Kulik, C. T. and Roberson, L. (2008) Common goals and missed opportunities:
A research agenda for diversity education in academic and organizational settings. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 7, 371-375.
Lorbiecki, A. and Jack, G. (2000) Critical turns in the evolution of diversity management. British Journal of Management, 11, S17-S31.
Noon, M. (2007) The fatal flaws of diversity and the business case for ethnic minorities. Work, Employment and Society, 21, 773-784.
OECD (2011) *An Overview of Growing Income Inequalities in OECD Countries:
Main Findings*. http://www.oecd.org/els/socialpoliciesanddata/49499779.pdf
Prasad, P., Mills, A. J. (1997) From showcase to shadow: Understanding the dilemmas of managing workplace diversity. In: Prasad, P, Mills, A J, Elmes, M and Prasad, A (eds) Managing the Organizational Melting Pot. Thousand
Oaks: Sage, 3-27.
Prasad, P., Pringle, J. K., & Konrad, A. M. ( 2006) Examining the contours of workplace diversity: Concepts, contexts and challenges. In A. M. Konrad, P. Prasad, & J. K. Pringle (Eds.), Handbook of workplace diversity. (pp.
1-22). London: Sage.
Tomaskovic-Devey, D., Avent-Holt, D., Zimmer, C. and Harding, S. (2009) The categorical generation of organizational inequality: A comparative test of Tilly's durable inequality. *Research in Social Stratification and Mobility*,
27: 128-142.
Wrench, J (2005) Diversity management can be bad for you. Race and Class
46(3): 73-84.
Submissions of short papers should be uploaded through the EGOS website http://www.egosnet.org/2014_rotterdam/general_theme by Monday, January 13, 2014.
Patrizia Zanoni is Professor at Hasselt University, Belgium. Since 2009 she has led SEIN, the Institute for Identity, Diversity and Inequality Research. Drawing on various critical theoretical traditions, including critical discourse analysis and class theory, her research explores the interface between diversity and capital-labour relations. Her work has been published in *Organization Studies, Organization, Human Relations, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of World Business*, and the *British Educational Research Journal*. She is one of the promoters of the Flemish Policy Centre for Equal Opportunities and a founding member of the EU-region research network EqualDiv@Work.
Marieke van den Brink is Assistant Professor SHRM at the Radboud University Nijmegen. She studies the place and functioning of gender and diversity in organizations and the possibilities and impossibilities for organizational change. Her work has been published in a.o. *Organization Studies, Organization, Human Relations, Human Resource Management Journal, Gender Work & Organization*.
Maddy Janssens is Full Professor at the Research Centre for Organization Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium. Her research centres on ways in which differences in an organizational context are constructed and managed. She has published numerous articles on expatriate and global management, diversity management, language in MNCs, and interorganizational collaborations.