scholarly journals “A woman CEO? You’d better think twice!”

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yonjoo Cho ◽  
Jiwon Park ◽  
Soo Jeoung Han ◽  
Yedam Ho
Keyword(s):  
Women Leaders ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Career Success ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Supervisor Support ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Leadership Pipeline ◽  
Career Strategies ◽  
Women Ceos

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how multinational corporations’ (MNCs’) women leaders in South Korea (Korea) have overcome career challenges in the process of becoming CEOs. The two guiding questions for this study included: what career challenges have MNCs’ women leaders in Korea faced to become CEOs? How have they overcome their career challenges?Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a basic qualitative research design, the goal of which is to understand how people make sense of their lives and experiences. Qualitative data were collected by semi-structured interviews with 15 women CEOs at MNCs in Korea to capture their lived experiences (challenges and strategies) in their careers. The authors used NVivo 11, a qualitative data analysis software, to analyze the interview data.FindingsFrom data analysis, the authors identified five themes including: becoming a CEO, key success factors, MNC culture, career challenges and career development strategies. The authors found that in the process of becoming CEOs, 15 women leaders faced career challenges that are largely generated by traditional culture, work stress and work–life balance. The authors also found that the women leaders became CEOs through diverse on-the-job experiences (e.g. marketing and sales) and positions (e.g. managers, senior managers and regional directors) with organizational support (e.g. supervisor support).Research limitations/implicationsGiven research on organizational support for leadership, human resource practices and working conditions, this study’s findings have qualitatively confirmed the importance of organizational support for women CEOs’ career success. For theory building in women in leadership, the authors suggest that researchers investigate the complex process of becoming women CEOs, including their early experiences in their career in tandem with family background, organizational climate and national culture.Practical implicationsThe study findings on women CEOs’ career strategies can be used as a reference for women in the leadership pipeline who aspire to take leadership positions in organizations. A lack of role models or mentors for women leaders is one of the reasons why women give up on their career. Learning career strategies (e.g. global development programs, mentoring and networks) that women CEOs have employed to overcome their career challenges can help women in the leadership pipeline from their early career on.Originality/valueThe authors found that both internal and external factors combined were instrumental in the women CEOs’ career success. What stood out from this study was that the women’s desirable personality attributes might not have materialized without the MNC culture that has been supportive for these women. The women CEOs shared their company’s values and philosophy that is based on gender equality, received supervisor support that is crucial for their career success, experienced diverse jobs and positions along the way and were recognized for their work ethic. Given research on women leaders conducted largely in western contexts, this qualitative study on the lived experiences of women CEOs in MNCs contributes to emerging non-western research by capturing the importance of culture that is uniquely Korean.

Century plus journeys: using career crafting to explore the career success of pioneer women accountants

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohini P. Vidwans ◽  
Rosalind H. Whiting
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Career Success ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Pioneer Women ◽  
Insight Into

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the struggle for entry and career success of the early pioneer women accountants in Great Britain and its former colonies the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.Design/methodology/approachA career crafting matrix guides the analysis of historical information available on five pioneer women accountants in order to understand their success in gaining entry into the profession and their subsequent careers.FindingsDespite an exclusionary environment, career crafting efforts coupled with family and organizational support enabled these women to become one of the first female accountants in their respective countries. Their struggles were not personal but much broader—seeking social, political, economic and professional empowerment for women.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to utilize the career crafting matrix developed from current female accountants' careers to explore careers of pioneering female accountants. It adds to the limited literature on women actors in accounting and may provide insight into approaching current forms of difference and discrimination.

Overcoming risk for women in leader identity development

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuala F. Ryan ◽  
Michelle Hammond ◽  
Sarah MacCurtain ◽  
Christine Cross
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Leader Identity

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to advance our understanding of the role of risk in leader identity development for women by identifying processes women leaders employ to overcome perceived risk.Design/methodology/approachTwenty-five women leaders in the Irish healthcare sector took part in an 18-month long identity-based leadership development program. Qualitative data from interviews, focus groups, critical incident diaries and individual exit surveys and observations were analyzed using the constant comparative method.FindingsFour key processes are identified as women leaders work through risks associated with structural elements (perceiving and mitigating structural risk) and agency of the leader (accepting agentic risks and developing agency).Research limitations/implicationsLike many focused qualitative studies, generalizability to a larger population might be limited. The authors, therefore, recommend future research to consider these issues in other industries, levels and national contexts.Practical implicationsOrganizational members should pay attention to structural factors that affect women's perceptions of risks in internalizing a leader identity such as perceptions of organizational support for development, role models, mentoring and behavioral norms. Programs should aim to increase individual agency through personal reflection and freedom to experiment.Originality/valueThis paper offers an original and nuanced perspective on the role of risk in the leader identity development process for women.

The career advancement of the professional women in the UK construction industry

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirodha Gayani Fernando ◽  
Dilanthi Amaratunga ◽  
Richard Haigh
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Career Success ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Training And Development ◽  
Professional Women ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – This paper aims to explore and investigate the career success of professional women in the UK construction industry. Design/methodology/approach – The aim of the research was set following the literature review and synthesis, after which a multiple case study approach is adopted to conduct exploratory case studies among professional women in the UK construction industry. A mixed method design was used for data collection, whereby qualitative data were collected in the first study and quantitative data were collected in the second study. The researcher adopted this sequence in order to gather qualitative data and analysis of a relatively unexplored area of career success factors of professional women in the UK construction industry. The results from the qualitative method were used, along with a relevant literature review, to develop the focus and questions in the quantitative phase of the study. The individuals in the first stage of data collection were not the same participants as those in the second stage, because the purpose of the quantitative study was to generalise the results to a population. Findings – The results indicated that soft skills are very important for career success, while hard skills are essential thereafter for professional women in the UK construction industry. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop soft skills in order to advance the women's professional careers. Further, the results indicated that age and gender are the least important career success factors for women in construction. The ability to work with people, taking opportunities, confidence, adaptability, communication skills, dedication, competence, focus, supportive line management, integrity, leadership skills, ability to bring teams together, good mix of skills, honesty, networking, intelligence and logically approaching business problems identified as the critical career success factors. Research limitations/implications – The construction industry is limited to organisations that construct buildings and infrastructure, and those involved in property development. These organisations comprise client, contractor and consultancy organisations. Practical implications – The findings of the paper are useful to human resource development managers to understand and improve organisational training and development plans, which help to advance the career of professional women. By doing so, organisations could recruit and retain more professional women in the construction industry. Therefore, recruiting and retaining more professional women in the organisation helps to enhance productivity in the industry and to enhance their health and well being in society at large. Originality/value – The value of this paper is twofold. First, this study contributes to fill the knowledge gap in career success factors of professional women in the UK construction industry. Second, this empirical research will have implications in the identification of different training and development activities to advance the careers of women in the UK construction industry.

An empirical examination of the antecedents of training transfer in hotels: the moderating role of supervisor support

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (11) ◽  
pp. 3391-3417
Author(s):  
Osman Ahmed El-Said ◽  
Bashaer Al Hajri ◽  
Michael Smith
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Support ◽  
Supervisor Support ◽  
Training Transfer ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Learning Transfer System Inventory ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Motivation To Transfer

Purpose Currently, the global hotel industry is faced with the challenge of a growing skills gap. Contrary to expectations, the shortage of skilled employees persists despite improved access to training. This implies that the cause of the shortage is not the lack of training, but a general lack of understanding of how training is transferred to practice. Therefore, this study aims to use an empirical approach to test a transfer of training (TOT) model that can be applied to the hotel sector. Design/Methodology/Approach The setting of the study is the Sultanate of Oman, and 302 questionnaires were collected from 24 hotel properties, of four- and five-star categories. Findings The findings reveal, to a high and significant degree, that the antecedents of TOT are the opportunity to perform (OTP) and motivation to transfer (MTT), while supervisor support is a significant moderator. In addition, motivation to learn (MTL) is the most important predictor of MTT, while accountability is the leading predictor of OTP. Results also indicated that perceived organizational support (OS) has the strongest impact on MTL. Research Limitations Implications The proposed model needs to be tested under different contexts, especially different countries and with different hotel categories, to determine if the relationships between the factors remain similarly valid. Other factors that can predict the TOT need to be investigated. Practical Implications Practical recommendations for hotel operators have been presented, equipping industry practitioners with the tools they need to develop the competencies of their employees, thereby improving the performance of individual properties. Originality Value The current study emphasized the validity of the proposed training transfer framework which was adapted from the learning transfer system inventory model, highlighting the particular importance of factors such as perceived OS and accountability.

scholarly journals A career success model for academics at Malaysian research universities

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (9) ◽  
pp. 815-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Al-Mansor Abu Said ◽  
Roziah Mohd Rasdi ◽  
Bahaman Abu Samah ◽  
Abu Daud Silong ◽  
Suzaimah Sulaiman
Keyword(s):  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Research Universities ◽  
Career Success ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Success Model ◽  
Proposed Model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a career success model for academics at the Malaysian research universities. Design/methodology/approach – Self-administered and online surveys were used for data collection among 325 academics from Malaysian research universities. Findings – Based on the analysis of structural equation modeling, the proposed model explained 48 per cent of the variance of academics’ career success. Specifically, the result shows that there are positive significant effects between organizational support, extraversion personality, person-job fit and academics’ career success. A full mediation effect of proactive behavior was established on the relationship between organizational support and career success. Overall, the results confirmed that the proposed model succinctly explains career success among academics in Malaysian research universities. Research limitations/implications – The authors present a career success model for academics at Malaysian research universities. The study represents an important extension of previous research of which it tested the applicability of the career success theories and identified the key factors related to career success of academics based on the context of Malaysian research universities. Most current career success studies were conducted in the context of the Western culture or developed countries; therefore, the results based on the Malaysian sample provide strong evidence of cross-cultural comparability of the career success construct and model. Practical implications – The findings provide implications to both individuals and human resource development practitioners on career success among academics. Practical interventions are suggested to assist individuals and organizations toward achieving career success. This study sheds some light on the effective management of the academics. Originality/value – The authors propose a model of academics’ career success based on the context of Malaysian research universities.

Career barriers influencing career success

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina Gaio Santos
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Career Success ◽  
Career Barriers ◽  
Structural Level ◽  
Career Stage ◽  
Workplace Relationships ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Multi Level

Purpose – Few research has addressed the factors that undermine people’s subjective perceptions of career success. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to further illuminate the issue of career barriers in perceptions of career success for a specific group of professionals: academics. Design/methodology/approach – This study adopts an interpretative-social constructionist methodology. Complementarily, it was employed a phenomenological method in data gathering and analysis – with the use of in-depth interviews and a theme analysis. The research was undertaken with a group of 87 Portuguese academics of both sexes and in different stages of their academic careers. Findings – The findings pinpoint the existence of multi-level barriers encountered by the academics when trying to succeed in their careers. The interviewees mentioned particularly the organizational-professional career barriers pertaining to three general themes: poor collegiality and workplace relationships; the lack of organizational support and employment precariousness; and the career progression standards and expectations. At the individual life cycle level the interviewees referred to the theme of finding balance; at the same time, the gender structure was also a theme mentioned as an important career barrier in career success, particularly by the women interviewed. Research limitations/implications – One of the limitations of this research is related to the impossibility of generalizability of its findings for the general population. Nevertheless, the researcher provides enough detail that grants the reader with the ability to judge of its similarity to other research contexts. Practical implications – This research highlights the role played by distinct career barriers for a specific professional group: academics. This has implications for higher education policy-makers and for human resources managers in higher education institutions. Originality/value – The current study extends the literature on career success by offering detailed anecdotal evidence on how negative work experiences might hinder career success. This research shows that to understand career barriers to success it is useful to consider multi-level factors: organizational-level factors (e.g. poor collegiality and workplace relationships); individual-level factors (e.g. life-cycle factors such as age/career stage); and structural-level factors (e.g. gender).

To help or not to help: antecedents of hotel employees’ organizational citizenship behavior

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 1293-1313 ◽  
Author(s):  
You-De Dai ◽  
Yu-Hsiang Hou ◽  
Kuan-Yang Chen ◽  
Wen-Long Zhuang
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Citizenship ◽  
Organizational Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Perceived Organizational Support ◽  
Supervisor Support ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Supervisor Support ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Drawing on organizational support theory, this study aims to propose and test a moderated path analysis to explore the interactive effect of perceived supervisor support and supervisors’ organizational embodiment on organizational citizenship behavior, as well as the mediating effect of perceived organizational support. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses are tested using two-phase survey data collected from 398 dyads of employees and their immediate supervisors from 26 (three-to-five star) hotels in Taiwan. Findings The hierarchical linear modeling results suggest that perceived organizational support mediates the relationship between perceived supervisor support and organizational citizenship behavior. These findings indicate that supervisors’ organizational embodiment positively moderates the relationship between perceived supervisor support and perceived organizational support, which, in turn, mediates the interaction between perceived supervisor support and supervisors’ organizational embodiment on organizational citizenship behavior. Research limitations/implications This is the first study to examine the moderating role of supervisors’ organizational embodiment in hospitality domain. In high or low supervisors’ organizational embodiment context, hotels are supposed to assign representative managers that could strengthen the efficiency of perceived supervisor support. Finally, employees will perceive organizational support and then lead to employee organizational citizenship behavior. Originality/value Previous research indicates that perceived organizational support positively impacts various employee outcomes. However, the antecedents and psychological mechanisms of perceived organizational support are still not well understood. This research intends to fill these gaps in the literature.

Linking supervisor support to innovation implementation behavior via commitment

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 129-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiguo Yang ◽  
Qi Hao ◽  
Hongfeng Song
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Support ◽  
Affective Commitment ◽  
Supervisor Support ◽  
Causal Chain ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Mediating Effects ◽  
Innovation Implementation ◽  
Coworker Support ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how perceived supervisor support (PSS) affects employees' innovation implementation behavior (IIB), the psychological mechanisms of this relationship, and the role of perceived coworker support (PCS).Design/methodology/approachUsing a three-phase survey, data were collected from 307 employees of a state-owned coal company located in the central region of China. The study tests the hypotheses by using hierarchical regression analyses. The mediating effects and the moderated mediating effects are further examined by using bias-corrected bootstrapping methods.FindingsAffective commitment (AC) fully mediates the positive relationship between PSS and IIB, and this mediating effect can be moderated by PCS.Practical implicationsCompanies should foster supportive supervisors and colleagues by investing in appropriate training programs. In addition, managers should emphasize the psychological changes of employees and provide more supportive feelings for them.Originality/valueThe study explicitly tests the entire causal chain implied by organizational support theory in predicting IIB. It specifies the different role of two similar support constructs (i.e. supervisor support and coworker support) in affecting employees' attitudes and behaviors.

Role of social and organizational support in the adjustment of Tunisian self-initiated expatriates

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 171-190
Author(s):  
Hajer Khedher ◽  
Muhammad Ali Asadullah
Keyword(s):  
Host Country ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Advance Research ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to explore the lived experiences of Tunisian self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) for social and organizational support that they experienced during their international expatriation assignment in a host country. Design/methodology/approach This study is a qualitative research. The data were collected from Tunisian Expatriates through semi-structured interviews. Findings This study has revealed diverse some interesting insights about the lived experiences of Tunisian SIEs about the support which they received from their family members, social network and members of the host-country organization. This study has also introduced a scale that can be used for measuring the level of social and organizational support received by SIEs. Practical implications This study has offered some implications for the researchers and professionals to advance research and practice to regulate the lived experiences of SIEs. Originality/value This study has highlighted the lived experiences of SIEs for social and organizational support in the Tunisian context representing the collectivist Muslim society.

The job resources-engagement relationship: the role of location

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 681-695
Author(s):  
Michael Halinski ◽  
Jennifer A. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Supervisor Support ◽  
Job Resources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Office Employees ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Office Location

PurposeThis study investigates the moderating role of employee office location in the relationship between support-related job resources (i.e. organizational support for development, supervisor support) and work engagement among public sector employees.Design/methodology/approachAn online questionnaire was completed by 2,206 digital services branch of public service employees in Canada. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test office location as a moderator of job resources and work engagement.FindingsThe results indicate that office location moderates the relationship between organizational support for development and work engagement, such that this relationship is stronger for head office employees. Conversely, results show office location moderates the relationship between supervisor support and work engagement, such that this relationship is stronger for regional office employees.Research limitations/implicationsThe questionnaire was self-report in nature and from a single department. Future research should consider multiple sources of reporting and additional departments.Practical implicationsThe current study suggests that to increase work engagement, public sector organizations need to offer head office employees more organizational support for development and regional employees more supervisor support.Originality/valueThe literature on public sector work engagement tends to study job resources as having universal effects on work engagement regardless of employees' place of work. This study suggests that certain resources matter more depending on office location.

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