Time for change – HR’s role in eradicating workplace sexual harassment

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-90
Author(s):  
David Smedley ◽  
Andrew Rayment
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Step Change ◽  
News Story ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethical Reason ◽  
Public Figures ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Equality And Diversity

Purpose In the space of just a few months or so, there has been nothing short of a tectonic shift in the expected approach to sexual harassment allegations especially where the alleged harasser is in a position of power in relation to the accuser. The allegations against Harvey Weinstein, MPs and other public figures together with the #metoo campaign arguably mark a step change in public perception. HR professionals are no strangers to this issue. The authors look at what, if anything, has changed when handling sexual harassment complaints in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach The authors examine whether this is just a media news story or is it backed up by evidence. They look at statistics from a Trades Union Congress (TUC) survey and the Everyday Sexism Project. The authors define “what is sexual harassment” from a legal view point and provide advice to HR professionals in dealing with such complaints and in examining risk to their organisation. Findings There are solid business and ethical reason to stamp out discriminatory practices. Organisations with good equality and diversity practices are in a good position but should guard against complacency. Originality/value The allegations against Harvey Weinstein, MPs and other public figures together with the #metoo campaign arguably mark a step change in public perception. HR professionals are no strangers to this issue. Time spent examining your organisation’s vulnerability to such claim and refreshing your knowledge could be time well spent when considering the potential costs and reputational damage of a case.

What jokes about entrepreneurs tell us about how humour may shape and de-legitimise public perceptions of entrepreneurial identity

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Smith ◽  
Lorraine Warren
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Research Stage

PurposeHumour and, in particular, jokes have received little serious academic scrutiny in the entrepreneurship literature to date. To address this, the purpose of this paper is to examine publicly available jokes about entrepreneurs to establish what such jokes tell us about how humour, particularly entrepreneur jokes shapes public perceptions of entrepreneurial identity. This is important because humour may be an integral part of an individual's entrepreneurial identity. The authors thus contribute to understandings of the complex nature of entrepreneurial identity and how public perceptions of humour influence such by encapsulating negative public perception of entrepreneurs which may act as a de-legitimisation mechanism.Design/methodology/approachFrom a representative sample of entrepreneur jokes located on the web using netnographic techniques, the authors apply a multi-disciplinary framework to analyse the material and its messages to establish how such jokes shape public perceptions.FindingsThe findings suggest that jokes convey a pejorative message about how entrepreneurs are perceived by the public with the content and message of the jokes being negative and derogatory. Common themes contained in the punchlines include – criminality, greed, dishonesty, hubris, stupidity, misfortune, ridicule and deviousness – all of which may de-legitimise generic entrepreneurial identity. In the process, the authors uncovered liminal aspects of joke telling and consumption in that the perception of jokes about entrepreneurs relate to the time and context in which the joke is told given that situational cleverness is a key facet of such jokes. In addition, the authors discuss variations across jokes.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors discuss learning outcomes for future research and potential future studies into humour in an entrepreneurial context.Originality/valueThis study places humour and joking on the research stage, making an incremental contribution. The authors add to the literature on the use of entrepreneurial humour and in particular in relation to how jokes influence public perception of entrepreneurs. From the data collected, the authors develop some fresh insights into the variation and range of entrepreneurship related jokes accessible online.

scholarly journals Life, death, ethnography: epistemologies and methods of the quasi-event

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Posocco
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Cultural Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Contemporary Life ◽  
Anthropological Research ◽  
Modes Of Existence ◽  
Methodological Reflection

Purpose What difference, if any, does it make to appeal to the ordinary and the everyday, the situated and always-already-in-relation, the emergent and the quasi-event (Povinelli, 2011), as simultaneously sites, objects and frames? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Through a focus on epistemological and methodological reflection, this paper asks: what is the relation between the biopolitical and necropolitical terrain in and through which experience unravels and the conceptual apparatuses which hold the promise of analysis and critique? What analytics, methods and ethics do contemporary life and death formations and intersecting precarious modes of existence elicit? Findings In this paper, I approach these questions ethnographically, with reference to debates in social and cultural theory and drawing on long-term anthropological research in Guatemala. Originality/value This paper aims to make contribution to debates on biopolitical and necropolitical processes and dynamics, by reflecting on the implications for epistemologies, methods and infrastructures.

Sexual harassment at the workplace: how organizations can pro-actively reduce its incidence

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Smitu Malhotra ◽  
Arpita Srivastava
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Zero Tolerance ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Commitment ◽  
Top Management Commitment

Purpose This paper aims to describe the role of human resources in organizations in preventing sexual harassment (SH) at the workplace. Design/methodology/approach This paper explains how SH is detrimental to the organization and why creating awareness about SH is essential for both men and women in the organization. Findings Findings show how organizations can pro-actively prevent the incidence of SH by creating a zero tolerance for SH in organizations with top management commitment and the formulation and enforcement of a policy against SH. Originality/value The paper creates a case for proactive preventive measures such as sensitization, policy formulation and enforcement to combat SH in organizations rather than pursuing a reactive approach.

Traces of equality policy and diversity management in Finnish work organizations

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 415-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Ylöstalo
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Diversity Management ◽  
Corporate Image ◽  
Work Organizations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Race And Class ◽  
Everyday Work ◽  
Sector Work ◽  
Equality And Diversity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss how equality and diversity are experienced in everyday work within Finnish work organizations and how equality policy and diversity management participate in maintaining the inequality regimes of the organizations. Design/methodology/approach The empirical findings are based on 31 interviews, which were collected in two private sector work organizations. Inequality regimes, the interlocked practices, and processes that result in continuing inequalities in all work organizations, are used as an analytic tool. Findings There is an individualizing tendency of equality in Finnish work organizations, which is also the premise of diversity management. Accordingly, the organizations cannot address structural and historical discrimination based on gender, race, and class. Also, when diversity is intrinsic to the corporate image, the members of the organization downplay and legitimize inequalities in their organization. Originality/value The paper analyzes inequality regimes in a context that should be ideal for equality and diversity: Finland, where gender equality policies are relatively progressive, and organizations that strive for equality and diversity. This gives new insight on why inequalities are difficult to change.

Managers’ reactions to customer vs coworker sexual harassment

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 1211-1227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan M. Madera ◽  
Priyanko Guchait ◽  
Mary Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Organizational Climate ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Educational Implications ◽  
Hotel Managers ◽  
Hospitality Managers ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how managers react to sexual harassment as a function of the harasser role that includes a customer as a source of harassment and an organization’s climate for sexual harassment. Design/methodology/approach Using an experiment with a 2 (harasser role: coworker or customer) × 2 (organizational climate of sexual harassment: tolerates or does not tolerate) between-subjects design, 162 hotel managers were randomly assigned to read one of four conditions. Findings Both the harasser role and organization’s climate for sexual harassment influenced the managers’ sexual harassment reactions, specifically whether they label the incident as sexual harassment and attribute responsibility to the organization. The managers’ gender was found to moderate these relationships. Practical implications The results underscore the importance of understanding reactions to sexual harassment because, regardless of who harasses (coworker or customer) and the organizational climate (tolerates or does not tolerate sexual harassment), sexual harassment of any form can be harmful for the well-being of hospitality employees. These results also provide educational implications. Originality/value This is the first known experimental study to examine how hospitality managers react to sexual harassment when the harasser role includes a customer versus a coworker. The results illustrate that the same sexually harassing behavior was perceived less negatively – in regard to both the labeling and attribution of organizational responsibility – when it was done by a customer than by a coworker.

The persistence of accountant beancounter images in popular culture

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1395-1422
Author(s):  
Mark Christensen ◽  
Sébastien Rocher
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
French Language ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Period ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Artistic Freedom ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

PurposeIn analysing the beancounter image's trajectory, from its birth to its persistence, in European French language comics between 1945 and 2016, this paper explores why artists continue beancounter image usage in popular culture.Design/methodology/approachBeancounter characters have been studied in an application of Iconology (Panofsky, 1955) in order to unravel how individuals make sense of cultural artefacts and how, in turn, the visuals shape cultural belief systems at a given time.FindingsThis study reveals that comics artists usage of the beancounter image results from their critical reactions to management and capitalism whilst at other times the usage is an indication of authenticity. Motivation for the usage is not constant over time nor is the impact of the beancounter image. Both appear dependant of the level of artistic freedom experienced by the artist.Research limitations/implicationsBased on a single media (comics) with a unique characters (European French language) this study deepens exploration of the ways in which accounting becomes entwined with the everyday and implies that further research is needed.Originality/valueExtends the work of Smith and Jacobs (2011) and Jacobs and Evans (2012) by focusing on a genre of popular culture over a long period, and by adopting a critical viewpoint. Also expands the possible applications of Panofsky's (1955) Iconology in accounting studies.

Assessing sonic affects in everyday life: looking for metacognition and metaemotion

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Paiva
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Everyday

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how material gathering and elicitation can induce metacognition and metaemotions in interviewees and its usefulness for the study of affective phenomena. Design/methodology/approach – The author will draw on the exploratory study on sound affects conducted with five individuals in Lisbon’s metropolitan area in order to discuss these aspects. After presenting the methodology, the author will address the concepts of metacognition and metaemotion. Afterwards, the author will explain how these occur during the gathering of data by ordinary people and the use of elicitation of materials during interviews. Findings – Metacognitive and metaemotional experiences can be triggered through material gathering and their elicitation during interviews with the purpose of identifying aspects of the everyday experience that are usually unnoticed. Furthermore, they are instrumental to obtain empirical data that illustrates subjects in their everyday lives as simultaneously affective-reactive and reflexive, meaning-making individuals. Originality/value – The interview has often been disregarded as a method for interpreting affective phenomena. However, the author argue that this method remains very useful to address the distinct interpretations that subjects make of themselves and their emplaced experiences, by calling for attention to the role of metacognition and metaemotions, an instrumental yet unrecognized tool for interpreting affective phenomena.

Never apologize and never explain

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Buell Hirsch
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Executives ◽  
Public Apologies

Purpose – To assess whether the current trend for public apologies will continue or fade away Design/methodology/approach – Review of selected public apologies to assess their impact on public perception. Findings – In spite of some apology “fatigue,” well-executed apologies have an appropriate role in helping to rebuild reputation. Originality/value – Corporate executives can learn what makes an effective apology

Mapping the everyday life information needs of Catholic clergy

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 549-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Dankasa
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Catholic Clergy ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Everyday Life Information Seeking ◽  
Model Apply

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the pattern of everyday life information needs of a group of people in an area with limited access to information, and to investigate how the major dimensions of the everyday life information seeking (ELIS) model apply to information needs in the contexts of the Catholic clergy. Design/methodology/approach – The study applied the concurrent triangulation strategy of mixed-methods research. Data from 15 episodic interviews and surveys of 109 Catholic clergy in Northern Nigeria were collected and analyzed. Findings – A map of the everyday life information needs was developed. Three types of everyday life information needs were identified: essential needs; circumstantial needs; and occasional needs. The information needs of these clergy did not fit into the two major dimensions of Savolainen’s ELIS model. Research limitations/implications – The study was conducted only with Catholic clergy serving in the Northern Catholic dioceses of Nigeria. Originality/value – Although the ELIS model has been applied in several studies, not much attention has been given to comparing how the major dimensions of the model apply to information needs of a group of people in a variety of contexts. This study contributes to the ELIS model by pointing to other contextual situations where seeking orienting and practical information may not be sufficient to account for the everyday life information needs of some types of users.

Uncomfortable truths? ML=BS and AML= BS2

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald F. Pol
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Step Change ◽  
Rounding Error ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Financing Of Terrorism ◽  
Reasonable Prospect ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
New Strategies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance debate and prompt new strategies substantially to improve the capacity to disrupt serious profit-motivated crime. Design/methodology/approach Using interdiction rates (the proportion of criminal funds seized or forfeited) as an interim proxy effectiveness indicator, this article challenges elements of the dominant anti-money laundering/counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) narrative, and reflects on policy effectiveness and outcomes. Findings Interdiction rates in jurisdictions surveyed hardly constitute a rounding error in the accounts of profit motivated criminal enterprises. The current AML/CFT model appears almost completely ineffective in disrupting illicit finances and serious crime. Research limitations/implications With such research at an early stage, some data are poorly substantiated and methodological inconsistencies rife. Practical implications For policy interventions with a reasonable prospect for crime not to pay, beyond rhetoric, frank evaluation of results and a potential step-change in policy, regulatory and enforcement vision and capability, may be required. Originality/value Scholars have exposed a paucity of meaningful links between AML/CFT controls and crime and terrorism prevention, yet the dominant narrative persists largely unchecked. This paper examines components of that narrative in the context of scholarship on “bullshit”.

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