MKT6001 Relationship Marketing: Women Empowerment in organizations

Essay: Gender equality and women empowerment in organizations

Answer:

Introduction 

In today’s environment of globalization, the market and workforce are getting more complex and diverse so, the companies are facing many challenges in terms of culturally and strategically environment to stay competitive in the market. It is important to adopt effective decision making process for the organizations. There are various organizational theories in support of gender equality and the strong role of the women in the organization (Kent, 2010).

Organizational theories have been anxious for the creation and development of the methods and concepts which are applicable to the organization. The general concepts are in the organizational theory are regarding geographical environment, personality and culture. In the modern business environment and atmosphere, each and every employee wants the equal opportunities and the rights where he or she is working. There are many organizations in the world which claim that they are adopting the policy of ‘Equal opportunity Employer’ (Taneja, Pryor & Humphreys, 2009). In earlier time, the organizational theories were only focused on the involving of men in the organization. So, the issue is related to gender equality in the organization. The purpose of this argumentative essay is to focus on the gender equality in terms of modernist and post modernist perspective. In this essay, the subject of gender equality within the organizations has discussed. Along with this, the essay has focused on how modernists and post-modernists evaluate the gender equality based on their ontological and epistemological positions. By analyzing two detailed journal papers, the essay has provided the deeper insight that how their perspectives and assumptions lead to their way of understanding of gender equality in the organization.

Discussion 

The two specific journal papers are “Reproduction of ‘Typical’ gender roles in temporary organizations—No surprise for whom, the case of cooperative behaviors and their acknowledgement” by Sieben, Braun, and Ferreira (2016) and “Trapped’ by metaphors for organizations: Thinking and seeing women’s equality and inequality” by Kemp (2016). The first article is written by Sieben, Braun, and Ferreira (2016) which provides the insight into how modernism perspective measures of gender role in the organization. On the other hand, the second journal is written by Kemp (2016) which shows that how post- modernism perspective uses their specific approaches to examine the equality and inequality of women in the organization.

The modernist theorists discover the reproduction of the typical gender roles in the temporary organizations. They have done research on the role of gender and project in the eternal organizations and applied it in the temporary organizations (Aaltio & Mills, 2002). This paper has the followed a structure based on the quantitative methodology. The authors in the article explain the theoretical background of the gender role in the temporary organization and after that hypothesis and gender research on the citizenship behavior has been done.

To validate that the article by Sieben, Braun, and Ferreira (2016) used the modernist approach to look at the gender role, the deeper analysis can be done that there are the modernist traits in the nature. Firstly, the authors have the belief that there are many temporary organizations which claims to be gender neutral than the permanent organizations because of having flattered structure, higher employee autonomy and decentralized decision making. The projects are the most important part in the temporary organizations and they have more predictable costs. Projects differ at time to time on the basis of requirements. The temporary organizations argued that they offer more employment and the job opportunities to the women for the different projects. But, the study shows that men are still conducting and managing project based work in the organizations (Moss-Racusin, Phelan & Rudman, 2010). It also has noted that the women work both as the project manager and employee having very low budget. The temporary institutes and the specific projects depend upon the supportive behavior of the employees. This reflects the modernism’s ontology that the gender equality has an objective. To justify the arguments, the authors used the various techniques and testing of rational theories. By the data collection technique, the authors of the journal are able to achieve the result about the gender role in the temporary organizations. Along with this, the authors are also able to use the proper empirical evidences by using the modified and adopted framework to identify the gender roles in the temporary organizations for project work which fits the epistemology of positivism of modernism (Ridgeway, 2009).

The modernism’s view of the gender role advocates that in the temporary organization, the gender equality affects the relationship of corporate behavior with the outcome of work in temporary basis. Based on the impact of gender in corporate behavior, the men and women get opportunities in the temporary organizations. The authors have used the concept of organizational citizenship behavior to study the present organizational behavior of individual in the temporary organization in which the project loyalty, helping behavior, project compliance, initiative of individual and relationship maintenance has been studied (Ridgeway, 2011). By analyzing and transforming the data into results, they developed knowledge about the role and corporate behaviors of men and women in the temporary organizations (Nahum-Shani & Somech, 2011). By seeing the accurate and inaccurate outcomes of the predictions, the authors compared the result that there is the need of reproduction of gender roles in the temporary organizations as well as need to recreate more helpful thinking of gender diversity in the organizations. The result says that the gender does affect the presentation of the organization and performance of the project. During the project, manager should rotate the tasks to every person to provide equal opportunity in the organization (Triana, 2011).

Looking from the modernism approach, it can be inferred that they are using experiential studies to support the recreation of gender role in the organization. This is because the every employee wants equal chance in the organizations and modernists can use the result to increase the performance of the organization by the concept of gender equality. To encourage and maintain the role of women in the organization, managers should adopt the strategy of empowerment to encourage the women so that they will be able to build their career for long term basis (Turner & Müller, 2003).

Further, the post-modernism approach focuses on the role of women in the organizations. In this approach, the data is collected by the various articles and journals. The study has done to explore the impact women’s equality and inequality in the organization. The result in this article regarding women’s equality and inequality is found via content analysis.

The paper written by the Kemp focuses on the role of only women in the organization. The issue of gender equality is increasing in the organizations continuously. The aim of this article is to discover the impact of the women’s equality and inequality by eight metaphors. The analysis has done on the basis of the book ‘images of organization’. The data collection method is used to take the sample from 70 different articles with the 30 leading academic journals. Those articles were analyzed to understand the eight metaphors and imageries of women in organizations. There are four themes of influences on women’s equality and inequality which were identified from those metaphors. This article provides practical value for the proposal of new images to release organizational praxis foe women’s equality in the organizations (Cornelissen, Kafouros & Lock 2005).

In this article, qualitative methodology has used for the collection of sample and data. There are eight metaphors i.e. brains, cultures, flux and transformations, instruments of domination, machines, organisms, political systems and psychic prison. These metaphors affect on the women’s equality and inequality in the organizations. Along with this, there are four themes which were found in the study. Those four themes also controls the women’s equality and inequality. As a result of content analysis, the author found four themes i.e. alignment between values of organizations and the value of women in organization (theme 1), similarities between women and men in the organizations (theme 2). These themes were categorized as the indicators of women’s equality. Further, clash between the values organization and values of women (theme 3), and differences between men and women (theme 4) are categorized as the indicator of women’s inequality (Andriessen & Gubbins, 2009). The author reviewed the literature on the metaphors by the organization-centric approach and followed the review of literature on the metaphors for the women’s equality and inequality. On the basis of literature, the author argued that the metaphors are genderless and they can be considered as the mask of reality regarding women’s equality and inequality. To investigate the result of metaphors, the content analysis has been used (Holli, 2003).

Post-modernist theory has the critical approach to see role of women in the organization as they post-modernism author believes that the metaphors impact the concept of the women’s equality and inequality in the organization. The research was motivated by the metaphors. There is the impact on women’s equality and inequality due to the images of women in the organization. But there is also negative imagery of women which affect the performance of the organization. Due to also negative imagery there is inequality in the organization. The result of the findings is that the impacts of those metaphors can be seen on women’s equality and inequality in organization. The study evidenced that women’s equality and inequality is continuing as the organizational facts. The result from the analysis is that those eight metaphors for the organizations failed to think and see the concept of the women’s equality and inequality in the organization. The author stated that these metaphors have blocked the theorists into fixed frameworks so they are not able to see the right place of the women in the organization (Basten, 2011). As a result, there are lots of issues related to women’s equality and inequality in the organization. These findings inspired the author to adopt new models and ways regarding the women’s equality and inequality. It is necessary to see and think the imagery of women in the twenty first century’s organizations’ to meet the goals and targets in the operating market. For the innovative management thinking, it is required to identify the new metaphors for the generative impact on the organizational behavior (Conklin, 2007).

The reason is that the theorists rely on those eight metaphors to target such phenomena. The metaphors can be used for the further study so that men and women can work together in future. But, it is clear by the analysis that the above stated eight metaphors blocked the way of theorists to think and see the concept of equality and inequality for women.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, it can be seen that the topic of gender role and equality can be viewed from various perspective. Approaches, the modernists and post-modernists have taken different stand regarding the ontology, epistemology while discussing the subject of gender equality. Modernists believe that in the organization, the corporate behavior of the individual i.e. men and women impact the performance of the project. So, for the temporary organizations, there is the need to recreate the gender role by rotating the task among the employees. On the other hand, Post-modernists argued that there are the various metaphors which impact on the idea of women’s equality and inequality in the organization. Apart from this, the modernism approach is based on the quantitative methodology and on the other hand, the Post-modernism approach is based on the qualitative methodology in which the various articles have been studied. It is believed that neither perspective is better than each other. When looking at the specified subject, be it gender role or women equality, the different perspective should be engaged and applied to help in the interpretation with a neutral stand. So, it is important for the researchers to analyze both of the approaches while providing justification and arguments on any of the subject.

References  

Aaltio, I. & Mills, A., (2002), Gender, Identity and the Culture of Organizations, London, Routledge

Andriessen, D., & Gubbins, C., (2009), Metaphor analysis as an approach for exploring theoretical concepts: The case of social capital: Organization Studies, 30(8): 845–863

Basten, M. R. C., (2011), Metaphor in action in an academic battlefield: Systems Research and

Behavioral Science, 28(2): 150–159

Century in Finland, Helsinki: Helsinki University Press

Conklin, T. A., (2007), Method or madness: Phenomenology as knowledge creator: Journal of Management Inquiry, 16(3): 275–287

Cornelissen, J. P., Kafouros, M., & Lock, A. R., (2005), Metaphorical images of organization: How organizational researchers develop and select organizational metaphors: Human Relations, 58(12): 1545–157

Holli, A.M., (2003), Discourse and Politics for Gender Equality in the Late Twentieth

Kent, M., (2010), "Women's Economic Empowerment ... Will Drive the World's Economy":  Vital Speeches of the Day, 76(12), 558

Moss-Racusin, C. A., Phelan, J. E., & Rudman, L. A., (2010), When men break the gender rules: status incongruity and backlash against modest men: Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 11(2), 140–151

Nahum-Shani, I., & Somech, A., (2011), Leadership, OCB and individual differences: idiocentrism and allocentrism as moderators of the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership and OCB: Leadership Quarterly, 22 (2), 353–366

Ridgeway, C. L., (2009), Framed before we know it: how gender shapes social relations. Gender & Society, 23, 145–160

Ridgeway, C. L., (2011), Framed by gender, New York: Oxford University Press

Taneja, S., Pryor, M. G., & Humphreys, J. (2009), Empowerment from the gender perspective: Delhi Business Review, 10(2), 1-10

Triana, M., (2011), A woman’s place and a man’s duty: how gender role incongruence in one’s family life can result in home-related spillover discrimination at work: Journal of Business and Psychology, 26, 71–86

Turner, J. R., & Müller, R., (2003), On the nature of the project as a temporary organization. International: Journal of Project Management, 21, 1–8