Janne Tienari
Biographic Data
| ID | 204963 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Janne Tienari |
| GIVEN NAMES | Janne |
| FAMILY NAME | Tienari |
| SIGNATURE | TIENARI J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Hanken School of Economics |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2605-2760 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 54 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 367 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 54 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 11 |
Spacing Resistance in a Business School Relocation
In this paper, we offer an in-depth longitudinal study of a business school relocation. Focusing on the relationship between spatial practices and resistance over time, we show how faculty appropriated, reappropriated, and disappropriated their business school space, and how this “spacing” built, modified, and diluted resistance to the managerially driven relocation. Our contribution is threefold. First, we theorize resistance to managerialism in…
Authenticity and Authorship Beyond the Algorithm: Action, Institution, and Epistemic Responsibility under Generative AI
This paper examines whether generative artificial intelligence can be considered an authentic author. While large language models (LLMs) demonstrate advanced linguistic competence and produce coherent academic discourse, they foreground unresolved questions concerning the ontology of authorship and the status of authenticity in scholarly authorship. The article is concerned with authorship rather than writing as such; writing is treated as the pr…
Through the Magic Lens: Management, Language, and AI
In this essay, we explore management, language, and artificial intelligence (AI). We highlight how management performs generative AI as magic and argue for the continued crucial role of humans under conditions of AI hype. We view language as an essential part of management to impress, to weave the illusion of expertise, and to manufacture our consent. We argue that performing AI as magic brings this into sharp relief, showing how power and ideolo…
Academic systems, career models, and experienced performance pressure—a comparative study of Sweden and Finland
As universities compete for higher standings in global rankings and implement performance management measures, performance pressure is imposed on scholars. This paper explores the influence of academic systems and career models on scholars in Sweden and Finland, with a focus on experienced performance pressure. Comparable qualitative and quantitative data from these Nordic countries were collected. Despite their numerous similarities, the externa…
What do you mean? Linguistic sensitivity and relational reflexivity in scholarly writing
We argue that privileged forms of scholarly writing in the English language perpetuate inequalities in academia. While writing and language, on the one hand, and marginalization and exclusion, on the other, are subject to critique, we propose that these are considered together as interrelated elements of an unequal academic system. We call for linguistic sensitivity to challenge the systemic inequalities that condition our writing in English and …
Leadership and Humor, the Moomin Way
Drawing on an ethnographic study in the Moomin business we explore how a discourse on humor enables organizational members to enact a particular form of leadership. While the Moomin heritage and philosophy steers leadership towards supporting and caring for people and respecting their differences, the relational and contextual nature of organizational interactions renders leadership and humor subject to friction and tensions. We elucidate how hum…
A colleague named Max: A critical inquiry into affects when an anthropomorphised AI (ro)bot enters the workplace
We offer a critical inquiry into the faltering entry of an anthropomorphised AI (ro)bot, an algorithm without physical or visual form, into the workplace in a media consultancy company. While living a digital life in the virtual world, the ro(bot) was given a human name. We highlight the unexpected consequences the humanisation of an early form of artificial intelligence (AI) has on the affects circulating between people and the new technology an…
Feminist theorizing in organization studies: A way forward with Marta Calás and Linda Smircich
The founders of Organization include Marta Calás and Linda Smircich who are among the most influential feminist theorists in organization studies. We take inspiration from their work to outline ideas for feminist and other critical scholars studying organizations and organizing. We draw especially on their consistent interest in transnational feminism, engagement with feminist new materialisms, and emphasis on epistemological and ontological ques…
Shaped by resistance: Discursive politics in gender equality work
While existing research offers an understanding of the antecedents, forms, and consequences of resistance to gender equality work in organizations, studies primarily regard resistance as a challenge to be overcome or as something that can at times be beneficial for change. In this paper, we argue that resistance shapes gender equality work. We focus on covert forms of resistance and give voice to experts in Finland and Sweden who work for gender …
Anticipating resistance: Teaching gender and management to business school students
Gender perspectives and feminism are rarely considered legitimate in business school education. Existing research tells us that those who teach in business schools do so in conditions where feminist theories and pedagogy evoke resistance and where their work is paved with discomfort caused by tensions between feminist and neoliberal idea(l)s. We argue that for those challenging the status quo in the business school through teaching, the impact of…
The power and burden of representing diversity in a performing arts organization: A recognition‐based approach
This paper explores tensions related to using representation to signal diversity and inclusion on and behind the stage in a performing arts organization in Sweden. Drawing on a recognition‐based approach to inclusion, we analyze how minority and majority organisational members negotiate tensions related to representing, and being made to represent, diversity. Our ethnographic study illustrates how increased representation gives rise to conflictin…
Artificial intelligence and rationalized unaccountability: Ideology of the elites
In this Connexions essay, we focus on intelligent agent programs that are cutting-edge solutions of contemporary artificial intelligence (AI). We explore how these programs become objects of desire that contain a radical promise to change organizing and organizations. We make sense of this condition and its implications through the idea of ‘rationalized unaccountability’ that is an ideological state in which power and control are exerted algorith…
Brothers and broken dreams: Men, masculinity, and emotions in platform capitalism
How platform companies act as intermediaries between precarious workers and consumers has received critical attention in terms of the way companies exploit those who work for them and the ambiguity they create in the labor market. We study how male drivers, or “brothers,” in an intermediary platform that provides ride‐hailing services in Vietnam discuss their work and lives on social media. We analyze how men experience getting stuck, not achievi…
Idea work online: Shelters and Crutches in Remote Collaborative Autoethnography
PurposeThe three authors of this paper are intrigued by ideas and how they are created. The purpose of this paper is to explore idea creation and work by means of remote collaborative autoethnography.Design/methodology/approachDuring the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, the authors sent texts to each other, followed up on each other's thoughts and discussed them in online meetings. They shared, analyzed and eventually theorized their lived experiences …
Lemmy Kilmister and milk from Finland: On remembering, online spaces and corporate branding
In this article, we show how new (social) media dynamics condition the way remembering and mourning play out online. We analyse commenting with regard to the Finnish dairy-product company Valio’s advertisement-turned-tribute to rock idol Lemmy Kilmister, who had passed away some days earlier. Our study shows that ambiguous and fluid power relations in online spaces can sustain facile and simplified corporate messages. We offer an example of how t…
Writing resistance together
This piece of writing is a joint initiative by the participants in the Gender, Work and Organization writing workshop organized in Helsinki, Finland, in June 2019. This is a particular form of writing differently. We engage in collective writing and embody what it means to write resistance to established academic practices and conventions together. This is a form of emancipatory initiative where we care for each other as writers and as human bein…
What are men's roles and responsibilities in the feminist project for gender egalitarianism
The #MeToo and the Time's Up movements have captured the urgency to address systemic manifestations of sexism, patriarchy, and misogyny in all aspects of society. Among the myriad discourses that have been catalyzed by these contemporaneous movements includes one related to the role of men in achieving gender egalitarianism. Men are allocated unearned privilege associated with being a man in a culture that is inherently phallogocentric. This fact…
Social media and hyper‐masculine work cultures
In this article, we aim to contribute to research on social media as an arena for gender relations and inequality by elucidating how social media and hyper‐masculine work cultures are interconnected. We focus empirically on the fiery social media commentary #MeToo sparked on Wall Street in New York. While the possibility of this movement backfiring has received relatively little research attention, we argue that online reactions illustrate the un…
Passion, care, and eros in the gendered neoliberal university
In this article, we respond to Emma Bell and Amanda Sinclair’s call for reclaiming eros as non-commodified energy that drives academic work. Taking our point of entry from institutional ethnography and the standpoint of junior female academics, we highlight the ambiguity experienced in the neoliberal university in relation to its constructions of potential. We elucidate how potential becomes gendered in and through discourses of passion and care:…
Feminism and men: Ambivalent space for acting up
Feminism, historically and today, provides challenges and opportunities to men. In this essay, we present a dialogue that highlights different positions on men’s activism and thought in relation to feminism. We argue that it is essential for men to engage with feminism as activists and in theory, although this may present risks subjectively, professionally and interpersonally. To illustrate our argument, we provide examples of engagement and dist…
Becoming academics: Embracing and resisting changing writing practice
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze how global and local changes in higher education impact upon writing practices through which doctoral students become academics. The study explores how norms and values of academic writing practice are learned, negotiated and resisted and elucidates how competences related to writing come to determine the academic selves. Design/methodology/approach The study uses memory work, which is a group metho…
New masculinities in universities? Discourses, ambivalence and potential change
In this article, we explore forms and possible implications of new masculinities in universities, and elucidate how they relate to hegemonic masculinity. ‘New masculinities’ coins a particular tradition of naming in Nordic masculinity studies. In the Nordic context, gendered social relations are shaped by State policies and equality discourses, which are increasingly embracing father‐friendly initiatives. New masculinities refers to the increased…
Time’s up! Feminist theory and activism meets organization studies
Feminism is a long established, often neglected empirical and theoretical presence in the study of organizations and social relations at work. This special issue provides a space for research that focuses on contemporary feminist practice and theory. We suggest that now is a new time for feminism, noting very recent examples of sexist oppression in social relations to illustrate why this rejuvenation is happening now. We then reflect on the proce…
The body, identity and gender in managerial athleticism
We argue that the healthy, fit and athletic body plays an essential role in the way contemporary managerial identities are construed. Drawing on insights from Judith Butler, we study these bodily identities as a form of regulation in organizations. We identify the cultural basis of regulation, show how it operates through specific norms, and detail how it implies gender. Based on an empirical study of men and women in management who are passionat…
Mastery, submission, and subversion: On the performative construction of strategist identity
While research on strategy-making has begun to focus attention on identity construction, we nevertheless lack a critical understanding of the ways in which socio-historical understandings of strategy are (re)constructed at the level of identity. In this article, we draw on Judith Butler’s theorizing on performative subject formation—first to explore identity constructions grounded in the simultaneity of submitting to and mastering the socio-histo…
Hidden contexts and invisible power relations: A Foucauldian reading of diversity research
This article joins recent critical diversity studies that point to an urgent need to revitalize the field, but goes further by showing the inherent contextual issues and power relations that frame existing contributions. Based on a theoretical reading inspired by Michel Foucault, diversity is presented as discourse that is not independent of the particular research exercise of which it is part but, rather, remains contingent on the prevailing for…
Ethos at stake: Performance management and academic work in universities
Higher education has been subject to substantial reforms as new forms of performance management are implemented in universities across the world. Extant research suggests that in many cases performance management systems have disrupted academic life. We complement this literature with an extensive mixed methods study of how the performance management system is understood by academics across universities and departments in Finland at a time when n…
Time’s up! Feminist theory and activism meets organization studies
Feminism is a long established, often neglected empirical and theoretical presence in the study of organizations and social relations at work. This special issue provides a space for research that focuses on contemporary feminist practice and theory. We suggest that now is a new time for feminism, noting very recent examples of sexist oppression in social relations to illustrate why this rejuvenation is happening now. We then reflect on the proce…
Writing resistance together
This piece of writing is a joint initiative by the participants in the Gender, Work and Organization writing workshop organized in Helsinki, Finland, in June 2019. This is a particular form of writing differently. We engage in collective writing and embody what it means to write resistance to established academic practices and conventions together. This is a form of emancipatory initiative where we care for each other as writers and as human bein…
The International Match: Metaphors as Vehicles of Social Identity-Building in Cross-Border Mergers
This article focuses on cultural identity-building in the cross-border merger context. To provide an alternative to the dominant essentialist analyses of cultures and cultural differences, cultural identity-building is conceptualized as a metaphoric process. The focus is on two processes inherent in the cross-border merger context: construction of images of Us and Them and construction of images of a Common Future. Based on an analysis of a speci…
The body, identity and gender in managerial athleticism
We argue that the healthy, fit and athletic body plays an essential role in the way contemporary managerial identities are construed. Drawing on insights from Judith Butler, we study these bodily identities as a form of regulation in organizations. We identify the cultural basis of regulation, show how it operates through specific norms, and detail how it implies gender. Based on an empirical study of men and women in management who are passionat…
Roles and identity work in "at-home" ethnography
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on carrying out "at-home" ethnography by building and extending the notion of roles as boundary objects, and to elucidate how evolving roles mediate professional identity work of the ethnographer. Design/methodology/approach In order to theorize about how professional identities and identity work play out in "at-home" ethnography, the study builds on the notion of roles as boundary objects co…
Gender and National Identity Constructions in the Cross‐Border Merger Context
In this article we explore ways in which vertical gender inequality is accomplished in discourse in the context of a recent chain of cross‐border mergers and acquisitions that resulted in the formation of a multinational Nordic company. We analyse social interactions of ‘doing’ gender in interviews with male senior executives from Denmark, Finland and Sweden. We argue that their explanations for the absence of women in the top echelons of the com…
Gender, Management and Market Discourse: The Case of Gender Quotas in the Swedish and Finnish Media
In this article we present a comparative study of media texts in Sweden and Finland, two societies traditionally viewed as Nordic welfare states. Focusing on the controversial question of introducing gender‐based quotas on the boards of companies, we analyse how representations of gender and management are affected in Sweden and Finland by contemporary market discourse. We argue that market discourse takes different forms in the two societal cont…
Brothers and broken dreams: Men, masculinity, and emotions in platform capitalism
How platform companies act as intermediaries between precarious workers and consumers has received critical attention in terms of the way companies exploit those who work for them and the ambiguity they create in the labor market. We study how male drivers, or “brothers,” in an intermediary platform that provides ride‐hailing services in Vietnam discuss their work and lives on social media. We analyze how men experience getting stuck, not achievi…
New masculinities in universities? Discourses, ambivalence and potential change
In this article, we explore forms and possible implications of new masculinities in universities, and elucidate how they relate to hegemonic masculinity. ‘New masculinities’ coins a particular tradition of naming in Nordic masculinity studies. In the Nordic context, gendered social relations are shaped by State policies and equality discourses, which are increasingly embracing father‐friendly initiatives. New masculinities refers to the increased…
And then there are none: On the exclusion of women in processes of executive search
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which gender is "done" in executive search. The authors uncover how the ideal candidate for top management is defined in and through search practices, and discuss how and why women are excluded in the process
Self‐reflexivity scrutinized: (Pro‐)feminist Men Learning That Gender Matters
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate on reflexivity in organization and management studies by scrutinizing the possibilities of self‐reflexivity. Design/methodology/approach By means of auto‐ethnography, the authors analyze their own experiences as (pro‐)feminist men in the field of gender studies. Findings The authors argue that self‐reflexivity is partial, fragmentary and transient: it surfaces in situations where th…
Transplanting tenure and the (re)construction of academic freedoms
In a radical change to modes of academic employment in Finland, a newly merged university is introducing a tenure track system based on examples from the United States. Analyzing texts produced by university strategists, on the one hand, and interviews with staff affected by the system, on the other, we explore how notions of academic freedom are (re)constructed when tenure is transplanted into a new context. Our exploratory study builds on Margi…
Struggles in organizational attempts to adopt new branding logics: The Case of a Marketizing University
Recent research underlines that strong branded identities are created through co-creational processes in which multiple stakeholders are actively involved and brand identities are matched with cultural, political, and economic forces in society. However, there is a lack of in-depth research into how organizations attempt to adopt new branding logics. To address this research gap, we conduct a study of a university that is rebranding itself in acc…
What are men's roles and responsibilities in the feminist project for gender egalitarianism
The #MeToo and the Time's Up movements have captured the urgency to address systemic manifestations of sexism, patriarchy, and misogyny in all aspects of society. Among the myriad discourses that have been catalyzed by these contemporaneous movements includes one related to the role of men in achieving gender egalitarianism. Men are allocated unearned privilege associated with being a man in a culture that is inherently phallogocentric. This fact…
Social media and hyper‐masculine work cultures
In this article, we aim to contribute to research on social media as an arena for gender relations and inequality by elucidating how social media and hyper‐masculine work cultures are interconnected. We focus empirically on the fiery social media commentary #MeToo sparked on Wall Street in New York. While the possibility of this movement backfiring has received relatively little research attention, we argue that online reactions illustrate the un…
Organizational death
Death is an integral part of organizational life, not only in talk and symbolism but also in a very real physical sense. Despite numerous examples which illustrate the importance of organizational death as a meaning-making construct, scholars of organization have only rarely treated death as an explicit focus of study. Examples such as those above illustrate the pervasiveness of notions of death in constructing visions of an organization’s past i…
Making Sense of a Transnational Merger: Media Texts and the (Re)construction of Power Relations
In this study of symbolic power relations in a transnational merger, we suggest that the popular media can provide a significant arena for (re)constructing national identities and power in this kind of dramatic industrial restructuring, and are an under-utilized source of empirical data in research studies. Focusing on the press coverage of a recent Swedish-Finnish merger, we specify and illustrate a particular feature of discursive (re)construct…
Becoming an international man: Top manager masculinities in the making of a multinational corporation
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address gender and management in contemporary globalization by focusing on the ways in which male top managers in a multinational corporation (MNC) construct their identities in interviews with researchers. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative analysis based on interviews with virtually all top managers in the Nordic financial services company Nordea (53 men and two women). Findings It is found that beco…
The boardroom gender paradox
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to research on gender and corporate boards of directors by focusing on how female board professionals construct particular notions of accessing and succeeding in boards. Design/methodology/approach A discursive perspective is offered, based on conceiving gender as something that is “done” in social interaction. In the spirit of critical discourse analysis, the talk of female board professionals, …
The First Wave Washed up on Shore: Reform, Feminization and Gender Resegregation
The purpose of this paper is to specify the longitudinal relationship between organizational reform and feminization of a managerial position, and thereby elaborate on the nature of gender (re)segregation. Four complementary explanations for increased female representation in middle management in large, established firms are derived from the existing literature. This is done to identify paths for distinguishing the intertwining set of triggers an…
A colleague named Max: A critical inquiry into affects when an anthropomorphised AI (ro)bot enters the workplace
We offer a critical inquiry into the faltering entry of an anthropomorphised AI (ro)bot, an algorithm without physical or visual form, into the workplace in a media consultancy company. While living a digital life in the virtual world, the ro(bot) was given a human name. We highlight the unexpected consequences the humanisation of an early form of artificial intelligence (AI) has on the affects circulating between people and the new technology an…
Between West and East: A social history of business journalism in Cold War Finland
The Cold War era was characterized by ideological struggles that had a major impact on economic decision-making, and also on management practice. To date, however, these ideological struggles have received little attention from management and organizational scholars. To partially fill this research gap, we focus on the role of the media in these ideological struggles. Our starting point is that the media both reflect more general societal debates…
Men in context: Privilege and Reflexivity in Academia
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on self-reflexivity and, in particular, explore the notion of context in relation to men's reflexivity in academic work. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a commentary on an earlier paper published in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion addressing the issue of reflexivity in organization studies and commented on by three different scholars. Findings – Relating specifically to men doing ge…
The First Wave Washed up on Shore: Reform, Feminization and Gender Resegregation
The purpose of this paper is to specify the longitudinal relationship between organizational reform and feminization of a managerial position, and thereby elaborate on the nature of gender (re)segregation. Four complementary explanations for increased female representation in middle management in large, established firms are derived from the existing literature. This is done to identify paths for distinguishing the intertwining set of triggers an…
Justification, Legitimization and Naturalization of Mergers and Acquisitions: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Media Texts
This article concentrates on the discursive construction of mergers and acquisitions in the media. Drawing on critical discourse analysis, the article focuses on justification, legitimization and naturalization processes in three historically significant cases in the Finnish media. The analysis reveals four distinctive discourse types- `rationalistic', `cultural', `societal' and `individualistic'-and elaborates their structural characteristics. T…
Making Sense of a Transnational Merger: Media Texts and the (Re)construction of Power Relations
In this study of symbolic power relations in a transnational merger, we suggest that the popular media can provide a significant arena for (re)constructing national identities and power in this kind of dramatic industrial restructuring, and are an under-utilized source of empirical data in research studies. Focusing on the press coverage of a recent Swedish-Finnish merger, we specify and illustrate a particular feature of discursive (re)construct…
The International Match: Metaphors as Vehicles of Social Identity-Building in Cross-Border Mergers
This article focuses on cultural identity-building in the cross-border merger context. To provide an alternative to the dominant essentialist analyses of cultures and cultural differences, cultural identity-building is conceptualized as a metaphoric process. The focus is on two processes inherent in the cross-border merger context: construction of images of Us and Them and construction of images of a Common Future. Based on an analysis of a speci…
Critical Discourse Analysis as a Methodology for International Business Studies
This innovative Handbook draws together and reflects on the specific methodological challenges that an international business scholar is likely to face when undertaking a qualitative research project.
Management Consultant Talk: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Normalizing Discourse and Resistance
In this article, we explore the discursive possibilities available to men and women when they construct their professional self as ‘knowledge workers’ in multinational management consultancies. We argue that this professional identity construction is embedded in a normalizing, gendered discourse of what it means to be an ‘ideal’ consultant. However, representations of an alternative discourse, which constructs different spheres in an individual’s…
The Merger Storm Recognizes No Borders: An Analysis of Media Rhetoric on a Business Manoeuvre
Despite the central role of the media in contemporary society, studies examining the rhetorical practices of journalists are rare in organization and management research. We know little of the textual micro strategies and techniques through which journalists convey specific messages to their readers. Partially to fill the gap, this paper outlines a methodological framework that combines three perspectives of text analysis and interpretation: crit…
Gender and National Identity Constructions in the Cross‐Border Merger Context
In this article we explore ways in which vertical gender inequality is accomplished in discourse in the context of a recent chain of cross‐border mergers and acquisitions that resulted in the formation of a multinational Nordic company. We analyse social interactions of ‘doing’ gender in interviews with male senior executives from Denmark, Finland and Sweden. We argue that their explanations for the absence of women in the top echelons of the com…
Pulp and Paper Fiction: On the Discursive Legitimation of Global Industrial Restructuring
Despite the central role of legitimacy in social and organizational life, we know little of the subtle meaning-making processes through which organizational phenomena, such as industrial restructuring, are legitimated in contemporary society. Therefore, this paper examines the discursive legitimation strategies used when making sense of global industrial restructuring in the media. Based on a critical discourse analysis of extensive media coverag…
Between West and East: A social history of business journalism in Cold War Finland
The Cold War era was characterized by ideological struggles that had a major impact on economic decision-making, and also on management practice. To date, however, these ideological struggles have received little attention from management and organizational scholars. To partially fill this research gap, we focus on the role of the media in these ideological struggles. Our starting point is that the media both reflect more general societal debates…
Hegemonic Academic Practices: Experiences of Publishing from the Periphery
Drawing on a reflexive account of a British—Finnish joint publishing experience, we suggest that institutions of academic publishing are constantly reproduced through hegemonic practices that serve to maintain and reinforce core-periphery relations between the Anglophone core and peripheral countries such as Finland. The wider academic milieu with its taxonomies of academic performance and journal quality serves to perpetuate these practices. Thi…
United in Diversity? Disciplinary Normalization in an EU Project
Managing diversity has emerged as a timely issue in organizations operating in the global economy. We contribute to the critical literature on diversity and its management in transnational organizations by exploring ways in which diversity is discursively (re)constructed in a European Union Framework Programme project. We draw on Michel Foucault’s insights on the specificity of the relations and mechanics of power, and the connections between dis…
The boardroom gender paradox
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to research on gender and corporate boards of directors by focusing on how female board professionals construct particular notions of accessing and succeeding in boards. Design/methodology/approach A discursive perspective is offered, based on conceiving gender as something that is “done” in social interaction. In the spirit of critical discourse analysis, the talk of female board professionals, …
Gender, Management and Market Discourse: The Case of Gender Quotas in the Swedish and Finnish Media
In this article we present a comparative study of media texts in Sweden and Finland, two societies traditionally viewed as Nordic welfare states. Focusing on the controversial question of introducing gender‐based quotas on the boards of companies, we analyse how representations of gender and management are affected in Sweden and Finland by contemporary market discourse. We argue that market discourse takes different forms in the two societal cont…
On the relative nature of adequate measures: Media representations of the EU energy and climate package
Becoming an international man: Top manager masculinities in the making of a multinational corporation
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address gender and management in contemporary globalization by focusing on the ways in which male top managers in a multinational corporation (MNC) construct their identities in interviews with researchers. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative analysis based on interviews with virtually all top managers in the Nordic financial services company Nordea (53 men and two women). Findings It is found that beco…
Becoming “world-class”? Reputation-building in a university merger
Purpose This study of a university merger seeks to shed new light on reputation-building, which has remained unexplored in the mergers and acquisitions (M&As) literature. It aims to study how key actors seek to build the reputation of the new university and how issues related to reputation become (re)constructed in different forums and vis-à-vis different stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach The paper offers a longitudinal critical discourse…
And then there are none: On the exclusion of women in processes of executive search
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which gender is "done" in executive search. The authors uncover how the ideal candidate for top management is defined in and through search practices, and discuss how and why women are excluded in the process
Organizational death
Death is an integral part of organizational life, not only in talk and symbolism but also in a very real physical sense. Despite numerous examples which illustrate the importance of organizational death as a meaning-making construct, scholars of organization have only rarely treated death as an explicit focus of study. Examples such as those above illustrate the pervasiveness of notions of death in constructing visions of an organization’s past i…
Self‐reflexivity scrutinized: (Pro‐)feminist Men Learning That Gender Matters
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate on reflexivity in organization and management studies by scrutinizing the possibilities of self‐reflexivity. Design/methodology/approach By means of auto‐ethnography, the authors analyze their own experiences as (pro‐)feminist men in the field of gender studies. Findings The authors argue that self‐reflexivity is partial, fragmentary and transient: it surfaces in situations where th…
Transplanting tenure and the (re)construction of academic freedoms
In a radical change to modes of academic employment in Finland, a newly merged university is introducing a tenure track system based on examples from the United States. Analyzing texts produced by university strategists, on the one hand, and interviews with staff affected by the system, on the other, we explore how notions of academic freedom are (re)constructed when tenure is transplanted into a new context. Our exploratory study builds on Margi…
What's happening to international business: University structural changes and identification with a discipline
Purpose – This paper aims to outline different views on international business (IB) as an academic discipline and looks into how IB scholars can cope with challenges to their disciplinary identity when stand-alone IB departments are merged with other departments such as management, marketing or strategy in business schools and universities. Design/methodology/approach – The article offers a critical reflection on the development and future of IB …
Hidden contexts and invisible power relations: A Foucauldian reading of diversity research
This article joins recent critical diversity studies that point to an urgent need to revitalize the field, but goes further by showing the inherent contextual issues and power relations that frame existing contributions. Based on a theoretical reading inspired by Michel Foucault, diversity is presented as discourse that is not independent of the particular research exercise of which it is part but, rather, remains contingent on the prevailing for…
Men in context: Privilege and Reflexivity in Academia
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on self-reflexivity and, in particular, explore the notion of context in relation to men's reflexivity in academic work. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a commentary on an earlier paper published in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion addressing the issue of reflexivity in organization studies and commented on by three different scholars. Findings – Relating specifically to men doing ge…
Struggles in organizational attempts to adopt new branding logics: The Case of a Marketizing University
Recent research underlines that strong branded identities are created through co-creational processes in which multiple stakeholders are actively involved and brand identities are matched with cultural, political, and economic forces in society. However, there is a lack of in-depth research into how organizations attempt to adopt new branding logics. To address this research gap, we conduct a study of a university that is rebranding itself in acc…
Sociology (48 works) · Political science (39 works) · Law (31 works) · Social science (28 works) · Gender Diversity and Inequality (24 works) · Management and Organizational Studies (24 works) · Gender Studies (21 works) · Politics (20 works) · Epistemology (19 works) · Law (18 works)