An exploration of female underrepresentation on executive boards in the Dutch hotel industry through an ethical lens

PurposeThis paper elucidates female underrepresentation on executive boards in the Dutch hotel industry through a “feminist” stakeholder perspective, which persists despite public opinion and government initiatives to resolve this enigma. It contributes to this discussion by examining Rhenish governance structures through a “feminist” stakeholder-focused rationale, complementing prevailing Anglo-Saxon shareholder-focused governance research.Design/methodology/approachEleven in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with hotel executive board representatives and five with sublevel management representatives. Saturation was achieved by interviewing all females on Dutch hotel corporate boards regarding their career experiences compared with those of female general managers and male counterparts.FindingsThis paper finds a prevailing “masculinist” perspective of an idealized shareholder-orientated executive and a “feminist” perspective of a humanized stakeholder-orientated executive expressed within the interviews. While the former sacrifices family for their career, the latter balances their family with their career. The former fosters presupposed gender norms, with females commonly sacrificing their careers while males sacrifice their families. Notably, most executives predominantly supported the humanized stakeholder-orientated executive, while recognizing that micro-, meso- and macro-structural barriers remain.Originality/valueThis paper addresses a lacuna in the ethical literature in exploring female executive representation in Rhenish stakeholder-focused governance structures, as opposed to Anglo-Saxon shareholder-focused ones. It found a “masculinist” perspective of an idealized shareholder-focused executive archetype and a “feminist” perspective of a humanized stakeholder-focused executive archetype. Notably, contrary to perceived business norms, several interviewees rejected the former as it is incompatible with family and work, instead seeking the latter which balances between family and work.

Does She Deserve It? The Influence of Gender and Meritocracy in Reactions to Affirmative Action Legislation

Gender equality is a matter for debate worldwide. In 2018, Portugal enacted legislation (Decree Law no. 62/2017) to balance gender representation on the executive boards of listed and public sector organizations with measures similar to those causing controversies in other countries. Thus, in accordance with previous research, a study took place to examine the attitudes towards the justice of this legislation and the role of merit in these attitudes. This study (n = 129 women and 94 men) deployed an experimentally manipulative type of affirmative action program to consider the role of individual perceptions of the justice of the legislation coupled with the influence of beliefs in meritocracy and participant gender. The results identify how the type of affirmative action impacted on the perceived justice, also influenced by merit, which seems normative and fundamental to evaluating the justice of such legally stipulated provisions. Nonetheless, objectively evaluating candidate merits revealed difficulties in disentangling this process from personality traits.

Celebrating CercleS: introductory notes to 30 years of professional activity in the field of language learning and teaching

and acknowledgements This introduction provides a glimpse of CercleS’ mission over the past 30 years, as clearly emerges in the contributions this issue contains. It is a Special Issue which celebrates the 30th anniversary of CercleS (1991-2021) and coincides with our being invited to become Editors-in-Chief of Language Learning in Higher Education, indeed a great honour for us. We would like to thank the present and past Executive Boards and Coordinating Committees for placing their faith and trust in us. We would also like to thank the authors who contributed to this special issue and the De Gruyter staff for their ongoing support. In this and future issues, we intend to carry forward the precious work of our predecessors, encouraging the CercleS community to continue to join forces in fostering best practices of modern language education both in Europe and the world at large.

The Governance of International Organisations

International organisations (IOs) are central players in the architecture of global governance—from international peace and security to global economic governance, humanitarian assistance, and sustainable development. They draw on their expertise and the legitimacy they derive from their global or regional representativeness to facilitate international cooperation to address collective challenges. In this chapter, we examine the means and mechanisms through which IOs are governed. We begin with an introduction to IOs, focusing on the three foundational bodies that constitute the governance components of most IOs: member states, secretariats, and executive boards. We examine oversight and accountability mechanisms and consider four governance design features that vary across IOs: their mandate, financing, decision-making, and engagement with non-state actors. Finally, we reflect on some of the contemporary governance challenges IOs face today and describe different ways they are adapting and reforming to address some of the challenges.

Legislative Power Weakened

This chapter explains how legislative power was weakened after the courts agreed with Attorney General Bill Allain that it was unconstitutional for legislators to serve on executive boards and commissions. This chapter discusses the most important separation of powers case in the state’s history, Alexander v. State of Mississippi by and Through Allain (1983). The court decision in the Alexander case resulted in the passage of the Mississippi Administrative Reorganization Act of 1984, which created a new budget making process. The reorganization act created the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) and the Fiscal Management Board (FMB).

Gender makes the difference: the moderating role of gender on the relationship between management structure and performance in banking

Purpose This study aims to explore the factors moderating possibly indirect relationships between gender diversity and its effect on bank performance. The causality of this relationship remains unclear. Design/methodology/approach The sample consists of all banks (n = 27) operating in Serbia. Findings The gender diversity-performance relationship is indirect. The gender diversity of executive boards positively impacts bank performance, over a threshold level. This is observed only in banks where gender diversity is extended to more than one level of executive authority. Research limitations/implications Gender diversity should be fostered, particularly in small and competitive markets. The gender diversity-performance link is based on gender-related social interactions, which are interdependent and should not be taken into account as isolated factors. Originality/value To the knowledge, this is the first study to provide insight into indirect, gender related, moderatory interactions effecting gender diversity – performance link, in banking.

Polish Regional Elite Career Paths and the Impact of a Multilevel System

This paper aims to investigate the multilevel careers of members of Polish regional executives from the first direct election to regional parliaments in 1998 until the end of 2014. Formation of self-government in regions is assumed to have started the process of formation of the multilevel system in Poland. Consequently, political career paths began to be diversified and to take place at more than one level. Among the factors with a critical impact on the specificity of Polish regional careers was the fact that regionalisation was preceded by local government reform (1990), and it was assumed that the local elite would become its natural recruitment base. On the one hand, the challenge to the development of the multilevel system has to be recognised. First, regional politics has undergone rather limited professionalisation (only positions in regional executives are full-time political jobs). Second, the legacy of communist centralisation resulted in lukewarm regional decentralisation in 1998. However, one can observe a certain increased prominence of self-government due to access to EU funds and increased financial autonomy. Positions in regional executive boards, especially as heads of regional boards [marszałkowie], have been seen as increasingly attractive career choices for professional politicians. Therefore, modification of the traditional career model is expected, e.g. some inflow of national politicians into regional boards (from positions in the legislature to executive posts).