Experimenting with Supply Chain Learning (SCL): Supplier Diversity and Ethnic Minority Businesses

This paper reports on an innovative UK-based ‘Supply Chain Learning’ (SCL) initiative to encourage the corporate sector to consider supplier diversity in respect of ethnic minority businesses. This follows academic and policy interest in programmes to empower ethnic minority enterprises to achieve breakout to mainstream markets and business growth. The first phase of the initiative, entitled Supplier Development East Midlands (SDEM) is examined. By adopting an inter-organisational action learning approach, some of the key attributes of the programme are delineated, focusing on the recurrent action-reflection cycle taking place in a learning group comprising SDEM, LPOs (Large Purchasing Organisations) and small EMSs (Ethnic Minority Suppliers).     

A new US definition of ‘Minority Business’: lessons from the first four years

The purpose of this paper is to discuss current definitional issues regarding minority business in the USA and the policy-oriented implications of these issues with regard to European ethnic minority enterprise.

After an introductory discussion of the concept of ‘minority business’ and related terminology, this paper then examines a major change in the definition of such businesses made by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), the principal link between large US corporations and the minority business community. In line with US government minority assistance programme requirements, a ‘minority business’ previously had to be at least 51% minority-owned. Under the new NMSDC policy, a firm can have as little as 30% minority ownership and still be eligible for corporate minority-targeted contracts. This paper explains this re-definition and discusses the experiences of the first four years of this new policy and the lessons and implications for the USA. The discussion is then extended to the European context – the rise of immigration and the related increase in ethnic minority business enterprises, the current nature of public policy toward such enterprises in terms of programmes and legislation, and the implications of the US experience for Europe. Finally, future issues with regard to European ethnic minority enterprise are raised, along with areas for future research focus.     

Understanding the cultural consumption of a new wave of immigrants: the case of the South Korean community in South West London

The purpose of the study was to develop and test a model explaining the cultural consumption of a new immigrant ethnic group (South Korean) in terms of their highbrow, middlebrow, lowbrow, public/private and ethnic minority cultural pursuits. A core premise of the study was that due to the overall higher socio‐economic standing of the South Korean community (in comparison to many other ethnic minority groups residing in the UK), this particular immigrant group would more closely resemble the omnivore and not the univore cultural consumer. A model was developed on the basis of previous literature in the fields of audience development research, arts marketing and educational sociology and was tested, consequent to qualitative interviews conducted with relevant experts and with South Korean immigrants, on a sample of 351 residents of an area in South West London that contains a high density of South Korean immigrants. The findings indicated that bridging social capital, perceived barriers to the arts, passion for the arts and educational motivation were the strongest predictors of omnivorous consumption amongst this group. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Discrimination in hiring against immigrants and ethnic minorities: the effect of unionization

There has been a long debate concerning whether unions are exclusive or inclusive with respect to immigrants and ethnic minorities. In the exclusive view of unions, unionization is expected to increase the likelihood of employers asking questions that discriminate against immigrants and ethnic minorities and decrease the likelihood of employers asking Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) questions related to immigrant or ethnic minority status. The contrary is expected for the inclusive view. Our analysis, using New Zealand data for job applications, provides some support for the inclusive view of unions, as the higher the unionization rate, the more likely EEO information is sought, but no relationship is found between unionization rate and discriminatory questioning. This suggests that unions are probably helpful in promoting diversity but not yet in combating discrimination against immigrants and ethnic minorities in hiring.     

创业型中小企业发展瓶颈的战略管理分析

中小企业在社会经济发展中的战略地位说明不能忽视对中小企业的研究。站在战略管理的高度，采用理论与案例相结合、边提出问题边解决问题的方法，对创业型中小企业面临的发展瓶颈深入分析、研究，并试图提出有益对策，认为做正确的事情和正确地做事才是制胜的关键，以促进我国创业型中小企业健康快速发展、保持竞争优势。     

论文化强国战略下推动少数民族文化传承的重要意义

少数民族文化是中华文化的重要组成部分,建设社会主义文化强国必须重视民族文化的传承与发展。在建设文化强国的战略下,推动少数民族文化的传承不仅可以维护民族多样性、丰富世界文化的内容,而且可以有效推动文化大发展大繁荣,促进少数民族文化自身的发展,从而促进经济社会的发展,实现中华民族的伟大复兴。     

Managing diversity in the Netherlands: a case study of Rabobank

Managing diversity is a relatively new domain within HRM. Theoretical debates around the issue have not matured yet. This case study examines in detail the diversity management practices of Rabobank, a major bank in the Netherlands, which has applied diversity concepts in its management practices. Through interviews with managers and employees of the bank we contrast theoretical premises on diversity management with praxis at Rabobank. Findings show that diversity management has been used primarily to attract ethnic customers to the bank, rather than to advance the quality of working life and career prospects of ethnic minority employees. The latter remain segregated in lower positions and not allowed openly to express their culture and religion.     

以战略行动推动新创企业公司品牌构筑——以四川嘉熙实业有限公司及谭鱼头股份有限公司个案比对为例

公司品牌在如今的企业竞争中扮演着日益重要的角色,因此也亟须深入的有关企业战略行动与公司品牌关系的研究,尤其是新创企业如何通过战略行动来构建公司品牌已成为该领域的一个重要问题.本文通过对嘉熙和谭鱼头两家企业的案例研究,对比分析了新创制造企业和服务企业的公司品牌管理,发现企业战略行动会推动公司品牌建设,而新创企业公司品牌的...     

Alternative diversity management: Organizational practices fostering ethnic equality at work

Taking a critical, performative stance, this study aims to advance our understanding of diversity management enhancing ethnic equality at work. Relying on a multiple-case study, we inductively identify organizational practices that foster the valuing of multiple competencies and the ability to express multiple identities, two key organizational markers of ethnic equality advanced in the gender and diversity literature. Our analysis indicates that ethnic equality is fostered by practices that broaden dominant norms on competencies and cultural identities, and avoid reducing ethnic minority employees to mere representatives of a stigmatized social group. In contrast to ‘classical’ diversity management practices which focus on individuals’ cognitive biases toward out-group members, these practices redefine what is ‘standard’ in the employment relationship, hereby structurally countering ethnic inequality within organizational boundaries.     

Ethnic Solidarity and Black Business

A bstract This paper examines the development of a separate economic niche for black entrepreneurs in Chicago's ethnic beauty aids industry. It argues that this economic niche developed in response to advantages black entrepreneurs had in mobilizing ethnic resources in the black community. The paper's findings lend support to general theoretical arguments stating that ethnicity, race, and other symbols for identity function as low-cost screening devices for evaluating the likelihood that trading partners will honor economic contracts, particularly in a market setting where formal market mechanisms are not fully developed. The findings are based on a series of in-person interviews with Korean, Jewish and black distributors of ethnic beauty aids in Chicago. Although this paper focuses on a single market niche, its conclusions indicate that greater attention needs to be paid to the effects of social, political, economic and structural factors on minority business development.     

The structural,social, and strategic factors associated with successful business networks

Business networks, formal arrangements between independent businesses established to enhance member success, are generally accepted as an important strategy to help small businesses survive and prosper, and to promote regional economic development. However, knowledge about what contributes to the success of business networks themselves is less extensive and based primarily on case studies or reports of network directors. The purpose of this paper is to partially address this shortcoming. We consider the structural and social features identified in previous studies as likely correlates of business network success. Using a social constructionist definition of network success, we distinguish successful from less successful networks from among a sample of 29 industry and community business networks in the USA. Findings from interviews with 1122 members and 29 network leaders suggest that trust is central to understanding network success. Structural features have complex positive and negative indirect effects on success through trust and resource exchanges. The findings highlight the fact that business networks, while offering great potential as a way to enhance economic vitality of regions and industries, cannot be viewed as a simple remedy.     

Mixed embeddedness and new migrant enterprise in the UK

How can the phenomenon of new migrant enterprise be explained? The arrival of new migrants to the UK in significant numbers is prompting a new wave of business activity. This expression of ‘super-diversity’ poses challenges for existing modes of theorizing, or so it seems. We venture outside the cosmopolitan metropolis of London to examine the experiences of 165 new migrant business owners in the East Midlands region of the UK. Mixed embeddedness theory is used to illuminate the business activities of these new arrivals. We find that new migrants are indeed ‘diverse’ in many respects; but importantly, the onerous nature of structural constraints limit the scope of new migrant enterprise. There is more than a faint of echo of predecessor ethnic minority communities; and racism continues to cast influence on the business activities of new migrants.     

边缘企业成长的关键影响因素分析

文章通过对八家创业初期属于边缘企业性质的比较知名企业案例进行内容分析,找出了在不同发展阶段影响边缘企业成长的关键要素。研究发现:在初创阶段,与企业家个人相关的一些因素发挥了关键作用,如企业家的先验经验、管理才能、雄心壮志、风险承担能力和对事业的执著;到了成长阶段,这些因素的作用逐步降低,与企业相关的因素,像组织机制、员工素质、融资能力、成本控制、运营控制成为新的关键影响因素;而市场定位、创新、品牌、服务标准化和管理规范化这五个影响因素在初创阶段和成长阶段均发挥了非常关键的作用,是边缘企业成长过程中的几个关键点。     

Ethnic minority women: a lost voice in HRM

Strategic themes within HRM imply an organisational commitment towards the full deployment of all employees in order to meet business goals and objectives. The rhetoric of equality within HRM has been challenged but these discussions have typically focused on gender issues, ignoring ethnicity, culture and religion. Individuals' social group cultures and other cultural and religious aspects have been largely absent in HR literature. By examining ethnic minority women's struggles to fit into white Western organisations, this article seeks to provide a discussion on an area where limited research has been conducted. Our emphasis is placed on organisational expectations in relation to ethnic minority women's demonstrated behaviours and appearance, the latter being expressed through dressing, hairstyles and mannerisms. The empirical data show that ethnic minority women are often required to fit into the existing culture if they want to penetrate influential networks or be given opportunities for career development and advancement. Extending the critique of others who argue that organisations must move away from the existing male‐dominant culture rather than expecting women to move towards it, we contend that management must also acknowledge and better understand religious and cultural differences instead of requiring ethnic minority women to fit into a narrow mono‐culture. The article concludes with a discussion of human resource implications for organisations engaged in diversity management.     

品牌战略在我国物流企业管理中的应用

当今我国物流企业正处在快速发展阶段,在发展中存在很多问题，物流企业规模小，营销意识薄弱。要想在激烈的市场中取得长足的发展，只有科学地、合理地、有效地制定和实施品牌战略，才能使物流企业在国际竞争中占有有利地位，快速进入可持续发展的道路。     

It's a small world:managing human resources in small businesses

It has become widely acknowledged that, during the past decade or so, large mainstream companies in the UK have adopted a new agenda for managing people. Relatively little is known about the impact of this new agenda on small businesses. The small business sector has been long regarded as the natural home for ‘bleak house’ employment relations practices typified by direct management control, poor terms and conditions, high staff turnover and little training. In March 1993, however, a large survey of 560 companies in Leicestershire revealed a surprisingly high take-up and awareness of new management ideas among small business managers. These findings are at odds with a crude ‘bleak house’ scenario. This large-scale telephone survey was then followed up with detailed case study research. This article presents and reflects upon the evidence and reformulates ideas about people management in small businesses.     

Between a rock and a hard place: managing diversity in a shareholder society

This study examines whether the appointment of racial/ethnic minorities into top management positions has a different impact on share price than the appointment of Caucasians into equivalent positions. Our dependent variable is the degree of change in share price following the announcement of racial/ethnic minority and Caucasian men into senior management positions. Market reaction to the naming of racial/ethnic minorities into corporate leadership positions is significant and negative, while the market's reaction to the naming of Caucasians is significant and positive. However, the negative market reaction to the appointment of racial/ethnic minorities into top management positions is mitigated in those firms that have explicitly incorporated diversity into their strategic growth plan. Our findings suggest that to successfully introduce diversity into upper management, firm decision makers must first signal the importance of diversity to market actors.     

Guest editorial: Female and ethnic minority entrepreneurship

There has been an increasing level of interest in diversity in small business enterprises. This diversity has been largely focused on female and ethnic minority entrepreneurs. Although there is evidence that female entrepreneurship can have a positive impact on economic prosperity, levels of earnings remain low. The articles in this special issue further our understanding of female and minority entrepreneurs. They examine important topics such as the differences between male and female entrepreneurs in terms of confidence, growth expectations, entrepreneurial orientation and social capital, developing management skills in female entrepreneurs, their management competencies and refugee entrepreneurship.     

Ethnic diversity,corruption and ethical climates in sub-Saharan Africa: recognizing the significance of human resource management

Most experts agree that human resource management plays a critical role in furthering ethics. The human resource management function can play an instrumental role in creating an ethical culture. However, a literature review shows that researchers have mostly ignored ethics in the African context. Given the growing importance of Africa in terms of global trade, it is critical to study ethics on the continent. This paper documents an exploratory study of ethical climates in sub-Saharan Africa. We develop propositions linking key social institutional factors, i.e. ethnic diversity and corruption, with three types of ethical climate, i.e. self-interest, benevolence and principle. The propositions are empirically investigated using a qualitative case study approach in five companies in Nigeria and South Africa. The results provide varying support for these propositions and highlight the critical role that both the national context and the organizational context play in shaping ethical climates in companies. Furthermore, given the role of human resource management in managing both ethnic diversity and ethics, we discuss the implications of our results for this critical management function.     

Person–organization fit and the war for talent: does diversity management make a difference?

This study investigates the importance of diversity management in applicants' job choice decisions. According to the person–organization fit theory, individuals make assessments of fit between their personal values and the values of the organizations, and they make job choice decisions based on these assessments. A survey of 113 MBA job seekers concluded that women and ethnic minorities found diversity management to be important when accepting offers of employment. In addition, high achievers and new immigrants rated organizations with diversity management as more attractive as potential employers. The findings suggest a need to place a higher emphasis on diversity management in women and minority applicant attraction.