Women in grassroots leadership: Barriers and biases experienced in a membership organization dominated by men

Among governing boards traditionally dominated by men, the presence of women is becoming more common. However, these women may face prejudices and discrimination that prevent them from feeling and ultimately being successful. This qualitative study focused on the experiences of women who participated in a grassroots organization's leadership training program. Interviewees revealed that they believed gender‐related obstacles were preventing them from being effective leaders. Four significant themes emerged: persisting stereotypes and bias, separation and isolation, desire for change, and potential for added value. In response, the authors recommend organizations and practitioners engage in more intentional and complete implementation of path‐goal theory throughout the leadership development process.     

Utilization of family-friendly policies in Hong Kong

Employees in Hong Kong, like those in many other industrialized societies, face the competing demands of work and family. Long working hours and the associated problem of work–family conflict is a serious problem for the workforce. Although a number of family-friendly policies, such as the five-day working week, paternal leave and so on, have been introduced, they are not necessarily used to their fullest extent. This paper examines the utilization of family-friendly incentives using a telephone survey of 661 employees in Hong Kong with access to such measures. Its major strength is the use of a well-established model of health care utilization, the Andersen model, to conceptualize the factors associated with the uptake of family-friendly policies. The results indicate that the Andersen model works very well in this context, and further demonstrate that access to family-friendly policies in Hong Kong is not equitable. The study makes a number of significant contributions to the literature on work–life balance and the uptake of supportive measures, and shows that enabling (such as perceived effectiveness) rather than need factors explain most of the variance in such use.     

The human resource barriers to managing quality in China

China has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The challenge for the future is likely to be the extent to which Chinese operations can utilize modern management techniques to improve product and service quality. This paper explores some of the problems that were affecting the management of quality within two foreigninvested enterprises (FIEs) based in the Shenzhen region of China. The paper argues that the provision of new factories and machinery was not sufficient in itself to ensure the maintenance of quality standards. Quality management in the West has become synonymous with increased employee involvement and developing customer-orientated cultures (Rees, 1998). The success or otherwise of quality management initiatives therefore depends upon the co-operation and enthusiasm of employees (Wilkinson et al ., 1998; Oliver and Wilkinson, 1992). Quality management within the case companies was hampered by the prevailing work ethic and was hindered by inadequate human resource and management systems. The study highlighted poor standards of training, dissatisfaction over levels of remuneration, and poor communication within the case companies. The paper argues that the problems experienced by the companies were inextricably linked to aspects of China's historical development. This history has helped to engender employee attitudes and behaviours that are poorly understood. Models of quality management are needed which are sensitive to the Chinese operating context.     

The challenges of global capitalism: unemployment and state workers' reactions and responses in post-reform China

As China enters the twenty-first year of reform, the success of its economic policies has been widely recognized. But what is also true is that economic reforms initiated in the past decades, particularly the restructuring of state-owned enterprises, have inevitably marginalized state workers - the 'masters of socialist China'. Workers in private and non-state sectors might have benefited from the economic reforms but state workers of most state-owned enterprises feel bitterly left behind. The aim of this article is to examine the perception of state workers of the causes of organizational difficulties, their worries in face of redundancy and their coping strategies. Observations made in this study are based on field interviews and questionnaire survey of 649 state workers in Beijing, Shenyang and Zhejiang from 1996 to 1999.     

The transformation of industrial authority and paternalistic capitalism in the global economy: case studies of Taiwan's textiles industries

Abstract This paper is an attempt to theorize changing employment relations in capitalist development, drawing upon Taiwan's experience of industrialization within the context of global economic competition and undertaking case studies in the textiles industries. It aims to investigate changes in the nature of employment relations, with special reference to authority relations, by examining how they have been shaped by changes in Taiwan's textiles industries. It argues that a transformation of paternalistic capitalism is under way in Taiwan. The study also examines how changes in economic activities have profoundly affected people's lives and experiences. It is suggested that the underpinnings of traditional authority are being shaken. Loosened personal ties and claims for statutory working rights have led to the emergence of different sources of industrial authority. Here is a crucial 'ideological break' in terms of workers' consciousness. Moreover, the 'communal paternalism' or 'enterprise paternalism' of labour regimes in Taiwan propounded by Deyo (1989, 1998) is now called into question.     

A Gender Analysis of Bank Loan Negotiations in Uganda

This paper highlights the differences between men and women in bank loan negotiations. It presents findings of an ex post facto design study that involved administering questionnaires to 289 respondents who had ever applied for a loan from a Ugandan commercial bank from 1999 through 2005. Results showed that male and female respondents differed in their negotiation behavior and outcomes. Female respondents scored higher than male respondents on self-enhancement and yielding. Male respondents scored higher than female respondents on inaction. Results further showed that female respondents receive lower payoff than male respondents from bank loan negotiations, and that both male and female respondents encounter problems in mixed gender negotiations.     

Directors' attributes and corporate governance effectiveness in Hong Kong

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of Hong Kong (HK) legal practitioners on how the major attributes of knowledge, continuous education, and qualification among directors in HK relate to their board of directors' corporate governance effectiveness. The results revealed that the respondents perceived directors' attributes in HK to be not good enough for discharging their legal obligations to their companies. The results also suggested that a company was more effectively governed if its directors were more qualified for their jobs and more familiar with company law and/or corporate governance.     

Small Firm Marketing in China: A Comparative Study

This paper examines the influence of Chinese cultural values on marketing practices in different socio-cultural settings and business contexts, for example the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and China. 20 Chinese small firms in China were selected and their owner-managers were interviewed. Findings of interviews undertaken by Brooksbank et al. (1992) with 20 British small firm chief marketing executives, and Siu (1997) with 26 Chinese owner-managers in Hong Kong, were collated to form a database for comparison purposes. The research results suggest that the specific marketing practices of Chinese small firms in mainland China are different from those of their counterparts, for example, British and Hong Kong Chinese small firms. A tentative model is developed explaining the factors that appear likely, on the basis of this research, to affect the marketing performance of small firms in China.