Calling in Black: a dynamic model of racially traumatic events, resourcing, and safety

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 767-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney L. McCluney ◽  
Courtney M. Bryant ◽  
Danielle D. King ◽  
Abdifatah A. Ali

Purpose Racially traumatic events – such as police violence and brutality toward Blacks – affect individuals in and outside of work. Black employees may “call in Black” to avoid interacting with coworkers in organizations that lack resources and perceived identity and psychological safety. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach The paper integrates event system theory (EST), resourcing, and psychological safety frameworks to understand how external, racially traumatic events impact Black employees and organizations. As racially traumatic events are linked to experienced racial identity threat, the authors discuss the importance of both the availability and creation of resources to help employees to maintain effective workplace functioning, despite such difficult circumstances. Findings Organizational and social-identity resourcing may cultivate social, material, and cognitive resources for black employees to cope with threats to their racial identity after racially traumatic events occur. The integration of organizational and social-identity resourcing may foster identity and psychologically safe workplaces where black employees may feel valued and reduce feelings of racial identity threats. Research limitations/implications Implications for both employees’ social-identity resourcing practice and organizational resource readiness and response options are discussed. Originality/value The authors present a novel perspective for managing diversity and inclusion through EST. Further, the authors identify the interaction of individual agency and organizational resources to support Black employees.

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 220-225
Author(s):  
Erin Wilson Burns ◽  
Dave Ulrich

Purpose In this paper, the authors share answers to the following questions based on data collected from 183 global companies in the most recent round of Aon Hewitt Top Companies for Leaders®: Does diversity and inclusion matter? What is diversity? What practices build more diverse workforces and more inclusive cultures? Design/methodology/approach Much of the research cited in this paper comes from the Aon-Hewitt Top Companies for Leaders® data set. In the latest round of data collection, completed in late 2014, 183 companies participated from around the world. Each completed a detailed online questionnaire of leadership practices. From those submissions, finalists were identified and hundreds of interviews were conducted with senior line and executives of human resources. A panel of expert judges determined the global and regional winners based on their responses to the survey questionnaire and interviews, as well as financial and other publicly available information. Findings Whether it is a causal relationship or merely a correlated finding, companies that have diverse, inclusive talent strategies appear to out-perform their peers on both talent and financial outcomes. Practical implications This paper highlights the differences between top companies in managing diversity compared to other companies in the research data. It also highlights some best practice methods to build diversity. Originality/value This paper documents the evolution of the definitions of diversity and considers diversity as a means to business ends rather than an end in itself.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon M. Smith ◽  
Steve Butler

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the Diversity Project’s Build Back Better report, which considers leadership practice while maintaining the fight for equality through and beyond COVID-19, through the lens of ambidextrous leadership. Design/methodology/approach The authors succinctly present findings from the Build Back Better report that explores an industry response of investment and savings practitioners to managing diversity and inclusion through and beyond COVID-19. Ambidextrous leadership is applied to the discussion to offer greater theoretical discussion and practical consideration for HR leaders and their strategic approaches to the subject at hand. Findings The Build Back Better report offers numerous recommendations for leadership practice within these unprecedented times. An ambidextrous leadership approach can assist in supporting many of the recommendations, as they are complex and potentially paradoxical. Originality/value The Build Back Better report offers a practitioner’s immediate response to supporting business leaders shape their strategies as national lockdown periods ease while also ensuring the fight for equality is not lost within the COVID-19 crisis.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeeshan Ahmed Bhatti ◽  
Ghulam Ali Arain ◽  
Hina Mahboob Yasin ◽  
Muhammad Asif Khan ◽  
Muhammad Shakaib Akram

PurposeDrawing on social identity theory and prosocial behaviour research, this study explores how people's integration of their offline and online social activities through Facebook cultivates their Facebook citizenship behaviour (FCB). It also offers further insight into the underlying mechanism of offline and online social activity integration - FCB relation by investigating people's social identification with their offline and online social groups as possible mediators.Design/methodology/approachBased on social identity theory (SIT) literature, community citizenship behaviour and offline-online social activity integration through Facebook, we developed a conceptual model, which was empirically tested using data from 308 Facebook usersFindingsThe results confirm that the participants' offline-online social activity integration via Facebook is positively linked to their FCB. Further, the integration of offline and online social activity through Facebook positively affects how a person identifies with their offline and online social groups, which in turn causes them to display FCB. In addition, offline/online social identification mediates the integration – FCB relation.Practical implicationsIn practice, it is interesting to see people's tendency towards altruistic behaviours within groups they like to associate themselves with. Those who share their Facebook network with their offline friends can use such network to seek help and support.Originality/valueFrom a theoretical perspective, unlike past research, this study examines how individuals' offline-online social activity integration via Facebook helps them associate with groups. In addition, this study investigates social identification from an offline and online perspective.


2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 448-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyanko Guchait ◽  
Juan Madera ◽  
Mary Dawson

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how diversity climate in service organizations influence employee learning behavior. Additionally, the study examined the mediating effects of psychological safety and communication satisfaction between diversity climate and learning behavior. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 128 hotel and lodging managers by administering survey questionnaires. The dual mediational model was tested using the mediation test suggested by Preacher and Hayes (2008). Findings – Results indicated that when managers perceived a positive diversity climate they also reported high engagement in learning behavior. Additionally, the study found the mediating effects of psychological safety and communication satisfaction. Originality/value – The importance of learning behavior has been noted by researchers and practitioners because of its influence on service performance. Learning behavior is especially important in complex, error prone, and fast changing businesses like the services industry. This research contributes to the existing body of research by examining the influence of diversity climate on learning behavior, which has not been investigated empirically in the literature. The current research not only makes a significant contribution to the learning and diversity literature, but also informs practitioners how learning behavior can be increased and how diversity climate can be created in within service organizations, in particularly hospitality.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 496-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Greeff

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to make a case for contextual interpretivism in managing diversity in organizational settings, specifically in its bearing on internal communication, going against the dominating functionalistic stance of venerated and ubiquitous approaches. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative and quantitative methodologies were employed to explore the potential of contextual interpretivism within the mining and construction industries of South Africa, due to the fecund diversity context of its employee population. Findings – This paper points to the enriched understanding that could result from following a contextual interpretivistic approach to internal communication for diversity management, and in so doing discusses the ways in which this could take hold in organizations through the application of germane theoretical assertions of revered internal organizational communication literature, specifically the excellence theory and communication satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation to this research is the restricted generalizability of its empirical research. Further research is required for the exploration of the central premise in other organizational contexts. Practical implications – The paper provides insights into the ways in which organizations could approach its diversity management so as to speak to more than just the functional aspects thereof, and rather to the importance of nurturing an understanding of employees’ interpretation of the organization’s diversity endeavors. Originality/value – The implications of applying a new approach to diversity management in organizational settings is discussed and argued, offering an empirical application thereof, which gives way to practical, data-driven recommendations for use in organizational settings.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 754-776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy J. Yanchus ◽  
Ryan Derickson ◽  
Scott C. Moore ◽  
Daniele Bologna ◽  
Katerine Osatuke

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore employee perceptions of communication in psychologically safe and unsafe clinical care environments. Design/methodology/approach – Clinical providers at the USA Veterans Health Administration were interviewed as part of planning organizational interventions. They discussed strengths, weaknesses, and desired changes in their workplaces. A subset of respondents also discussed workplace psychological safety (i.e. employee perceptions of being able to speak up or report errors without retaliation or ostracism – Edmondson, 1999). Two trained coders analysed the interview data using a grounded theory-based method. They excerpted passages that discussed job-related communication and summarized specific themes. Subsequent analyses compared frequencies of themes across workgroups defined as having psychologically safe vs unsafe climate based upon an independently administered employee survey. Findings – Perceptions of work-related communication differed across clinical provider groups with high vs low psychological safety. The differences in frequencies of communication-related themes across the compared groups matched the expected pattern of problem-laden communication characterizing psychologically unsafe workplaces. Originality/value – Previous research implied the existence of a connection between communication and psychological safety whereas this study offers substantive evidence of it. The paper summarized the differences in perceptions of communication in high vs low psychological safety environments drawing from qualitative data that reflected clinical providers’ direct experience on the job. The paper also illustrated the conclusions with multiple specific examples. The findings are informative to health care providers seeking to improve communication within care delivery teams.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torsten Schmidts ◽  
Deborah Shepherd

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use social identity theory to explore factors that contribute to the development of family social capital. Effects are investigated both for the family and the business. Design/methodology/approach – A single in-depth case study focussing on the family unit was coducted within a fourth-generation family business involved in the arts retailing. Findings – The findings suggest that social identity theory is a useful lens to explore the development of family social capital. The six themes identified highlight that there is a normative and an affective dimension, leading to family members’ desire to uphold the status of the business. Evidence suggests that the normative factors may be both positively and negatively related to the development of family social capital, due to their potentially restrictive nature. Originality/value – The paper’s findings imply that social identity can contribute to understanding family dynamics. Evidence highlights various factors for family members that are not involved in the family business to uphold its status. This is attributed to the emotional significance of the business to the family’s identity. Furthermore, this paper suggests that the strong focus on norms and values, which developed gradually, may have adverse effects on the identification with the business and the willingness to uphold its status. Propositions are offered to provide guidance for future research to investigate this controversial evidence regarding the impact of value orientation on family social capital.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaushik Ranjan Bandyopadhyay ◽  
Kasturi Das ◽  
Ritika Mahajan

PurposeThe paper makes an endeavour to explore the efficacy of service learning (SL) pedagogy in inculcating the value of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) with a focus on management education in India.Design/methodology/approachThe research methodology comprises a systematic survey of select relevant literature on SL and applying a novel approach to bring out certain key traits of SL initiatives. The paper also tries to decipher how the identified key traits could be regarded as contributing to the ethos of DEI among the learners. Based on insights from the systematic literature review and identified research gaps, an in-depth study of three SL initiatives in India, have been undertaken to demonstrate how implementation of the SL pedagogy in management education creates an impact on the attributes of DEI and inculcates an inclusive mindset.FindingsAlthough the design, process and learning outcomes of SL pedagogy varies depending on the context, there is commonality in the core attributes that emerges from the literature review which has a potential impact on inculcation of the values of inclusion and appreciation of diversity. The select case studies successfully expand on the list of these identified relevant attributes. The findings have also been corroborated by participants' reflection.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is, however, limited in its scope of assessing the impact in creating an inclusive mindset. To gauge whether such impact is pervasive and persists in the long run, one needs to examine if these values are carried forward by the participants in their professional and daily life. It would, therefore, be more meaningful to carry out a primary survey of the participants, who took part in such SL initiatives, to understand whether the values have really been assimilated in the real life. This is outside the scope of this paper but does open the scope for further research.Practical implicationsThe paper would be highly relevant for the accreditation agencies who are increasingly prescribing the role that business schools can and should play towards inculcating the ethos of diversity and inclusion among future business leaders and managers. For the administrators of business schools and other higher education institutions who may be considering how to incorporate the ethos of diversity and inclusion in the curriculum and pedagogy, the paper will provide some direction through the SL route. The detailed exposition of the three SL initiatives will enlighten the administrators or the faculty responsible for designing and delivering any SL programme in other business schools or higher educational institutions as to how to go about developing and delivering such an initiative. To the extent such SL initiatives succeed in leaving a lasting impact on the participants regarding ethos of inclusion and diversity, the business implications in the long run could be immense.Social implicationsThe purpose of the paper by itself establishes its social relevance. The very fact that the paper is focused on SL initiatives that involve social problem-solving approaches through hands-on working on social projects and working with communities the social implications are rather obvious.Originality/valueGiven the paucity of information and analysis on potential fit of SL for fostering DEI especially in developing countries, the present paper contributes to the existing body of literature and aptly fills the void. It builds a theoretical construct relating SL with the traits of DEI and then bridges theory and practice by demonstrating the efficacy of three SL programmes in Indian context to internalise the elements of DEI.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Maria Kanzola ◽  
Konstantina Papaioannou ◽  
Panagiotis E. Petrakis

PurposeThis study examines the relationship between rationality and creativity by means of social identity theory for the Greek society (2019–2020).Design/methodology/approachThe outline of the social identity was given through self-categorization via a distributed questionnaire. The types of behavior (rational, nonrational and loss-averse) were determined by using questions based on the Allais paradox. Principal components analysis (PCA) is used to extract the causal relationships.FindingsThe study findings demonstrate that rational individuals are more prompt to creative personality than nonrational individuals. Rational individuals are motivated to pursue creativity through life-improvement goals. Loss-averse individuals are driven through the contradictive incentive of adventure-seeking behavior without, however, being willing to easily give up their established assets.Originality/valueThis article contributes by explaining creativity among rational, nonrational and loss-averse individuals as a product of social identity theory. This contributes to the literature, by proposing that the application of social theories in economics could constitute a different foundation for economics. This refers to the notion of the social microfoundations of the political economy and macroeconomics.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyndal Hickey ◽  
Louise Hams ◽  
Lauren Kosta

PurposeThis paper examines the empirical research on police reassurance following a collective trauma event (CTE).Design/methodology/approachUsing a scoping review methodology, this paper sought to establish the extent, range and nature of published literature on policing responses to collective traumatic events, and to identify key features of this form of direct practice. Included papers needed to focus on police responses oeassurance with the public related to events (pre-or post) that could be regarded as collective trauma events by nature or scale. Searches were conducted using the Web of Science, SCOPUS and PsychINFO databases for literature published between January 2000 and December 2019.FindingsFourteen articles met the inclusion criteria. The key themes identified: (1) measuring the impact of reassurance and community policing; (2) community attitudes to policing and social disorder/critical events; (3) police workforce responses to traumatic events; and (4) interventions to support police to respond to their community.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research needs to examine the elements that create a robust organisational infrastructure that can withstand the demands of policing in ordinary and extraordinary times. Fundamental to the studies in this review is the relationship between the police agencies and the community. The nature of this relationship and how it can be strengthened to ameliorate the negative impact of CTEs in communities needs further exploration.Originality/valueThis paper provides important findings that can inform future reassurance policing practice and research.


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