Browsing by Author "Doldor, Elena"

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13
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    Accidental activists: headhunters as marginal diversity actors in institutional change towards more women on boards
    (Wiley, 2016-05-06) Doldor, Elena; Sealy, Ruth; Vinnicombe, Susan
    We present a qualitative study that examines the role of headhunters as actors in a broader institutional change process aiming to increase gender diversity on corporate boards. We draw on institutional and diversity management theories to conceptualise their change agency in the broader field of women on boards. We describe their role as ‘accidental activists’ and theorise two micro-processes that define their change agency in this field: voluntaristic framing of intentionality and role redefinition by drawing on competing logics. This conceptualisation does not match the heroic image of the institutional entrepreneur driving institutional change, or that of the tempered radical championing diversity, but rather casts light into a marginal and previously neglected change role. We demonstrate the opportunistic and precarious nature of this role with regard to both institutional change and diversity management and discuss its possibilities and perils.
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    Conceptualizing and investigating organizational politics: A systematic review of the literature
    (Cranfield University, 2007-08) Doldor, Elena; Singh, Val; Vinnicombe, Susan
    In the last decades, there has been a growing academic interest for the concept of organizational politics. Although this body of literature is expanding, the research remains fragmented in terms of theoretical and methodological approaches, and several conceptual ambiguities persist despite the accumulation of empirical data. Using a systematic review methodology, this paper analyses the existent literature in the field of organizational politics by exploring two main sources of information: journal articles and books. The process of searching and assessing the literature is described in detail and the decisions made with respect to the inclusion/exclusion of the sources are accounted for at every stage. Overall, fifty one journal articles and seven books were systematically reviewed. In the conceptual analysis of the core sources, the focus was on the way the concept of organizational politics is conceptualized and investigated in the existent literature. In a first part, the strengths and the shortfalls of various theoretical frameworks are discussed, in an attempt of conceptual integration. The findings are organized around three umbrella-concepts: organizational politics, political behaviours and political skill. In a second part, the research methods used in this field are carefully examined. Qualitative approaches were found to be less frequent than quantitative ones. Moreover, these last ones have been grouped into a methodological taxonomy. This in-depth analysis of the literature points out the implications that methodological choices have for the conceptual clarity of the field. Finally, several limitations of this systematic literature review are acknowledged. Opportunities for future research in the field of organizational politics are discussed, as related to the progress of the doctoral project.
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    Examining Political Will, Political Skill and their Maturation among Male and Female Managers
    (Cranfield University, 2011-08) Doldor, Elena; Vinnicombe, Susan; Anderson, Deirdre A.
    This thesis explores engagement in organizational politics among managers. There is increasing recognition that organizational politics are ubiquitous in organizational life and critically important in managerial roles. Drawing on micro perspectives in extant literature on organizational politics, this research attempts to better understand managerial engagement in politics by focusing not only on managers’ ability to engage in politics, but also on their willingness to do so. As such, the research examines what managerial political will and political skill entail, as well as how political will and skill develop. In doing so, special consideration is paid to gender, an aspect largely ignored in extant research on organizational politics. Adopting a qualitative exploratory approach, the empirical study consisted of semi-structured interviews with 38 managers (20 women and 18 men) in two global companies. The thesis makes four key theoretical contributions. First, it conceptualizes and identifies three dimensions political will, a previously neglected factor pertaining to managerial political engagement. Second, the study reconciles and refines the dimensionality of political skill, as related to existing models in field. Third, the thesis introduces a novel developmental perspective on political will and skill, proposing an initial model of political maturation. This model outlines three stages of political maturation by mapping out developmental patterns in managers’ political will and skill. The model also identifies triggers of political maturation. Finally, the thesis unpacks the role of gender in managers’ political will, skill and their maturation, demonstrating the importance of making gender visible and voiced when investigating managers’ engagement in organizational politics. In articulating these contributions, the study thoroughly accounts for the impact of organizational context on the political will, skill and maturation journey of male and female managers.
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    The Female FTSE Board Report 2009: Norway and Spain join our census to benchmark corporate boards
    (2009-01-01T00:00:00Z) Sealy, Ruth; Vinnicombe, Susan; Doldor, Elena
    2009 marks our eleventh annual report with a small incremental increase in the percentage of women on boards. Overall, there are 12.2% women directors on the FTSE 100 boards. There is a discouraging decline in the number of companies with female executive directors to 15 (from 16). Also disappointing is a decline in the number of boards with multiple women directors to 37 (from 39). In addition there is a decline in the overall number of companies with women on boards, and once again one in four companies have exclusively male boards.
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    The Female FTSE Board Report 2010: Opening up the Appointment Process
    (Cranfield University School of Management, 2010-12) Vinnicombe, Susan; Sealy, Ruth; Graham, Jacey; Doldor, Elena
    2010 saw another year of barely perceptible change in the representation of women in leadership positions of UK PLC’s top 100 companies. The incremental increases include three additional women on FTSE 100 boards taking the total to 116; one additional female executive director (ED); four more companies with women on their boards; and two more companies with more than one woman on the board, returning to 2008 levels. Overall, the percentage of women on FTSE 100 boards is 12.5%, showing a three year plateau. The number of companies with no female directors has decreased to 21 and the number of companies with more than one woman on the board has returned to the 2008 figure of 39. Only 13% of new appointments went to women.
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    The Female FTSE Board Report 2014: Crossing the finish line
    (2014-03-26T00:00:00Z) Vinnicombe, Susan; Doldor, Elena; Turner, Caroline
    This year we have seen three major breakthroughs in FTSE 100 boards: the percentage of women in them has broken the 20% level (20.7%), the number of women on them has exceeded the 200 mark (205) and the number of all male boards has dropped to two. In the past six months the pace of change in appointing women to FTSE boards has increased to 35.5% an FTSE 100 and 33.3% on FTSE 250 boards. Turnover on FTSE 100 boards has risen to the 2012 level of 17% and on that basis our trajectory shows that we should reach 26.7% women on boards by 31 December 2015. Calculating our trajectory on 14% turnover (average pre 2011 turnover) we should still reach the Davies target by 31 December 2015 (25.3%)
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    The Female FTSE Board Report 2015: Putting the UK Progress into a Global Perspective
    (2015-03-25T00:00:00Z) Vinnicombe, Susan; Doldor, Elena; Sealy, Ruth; Pryce, Patricia; Turner, Caroline
    This year we have seen significant progress on FTSE 100 boards. All-male boards have totally disappeared with Glencore, the last, appointing a woman to its board. The percentage of women on FTSE 100 boards is 23.5%, almost exactly where we predicted in last year's report. This puts us on track to hit the 25% target by the end of 2015. The percentage of women in executive directorships on FTSE 100 boards is at an all time high of 8.6% with 24 women holding such roles.
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    Female FTSE Board Report 2016: Women on boards - taking stock of where we are
    (2016-12-31) Sealy, Ruth; Doldor, Elena; Vinnicombe, Susan
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    The Female FTSE Board Report 2020: Taking Targets Seriously
    (2020-09-24) Vinnicombe, Susan; Doldor, Elena; Battista, Valentina; Tessaro, Michelle
    This year we see a positive picture in terms of the number of women on corporate boards. The percentage of women on FTSE 100 boards is 34.5% and the equivalent figure for FTSE 250 boards is 31.9%, so hopefully all FTSE 350 boards should hit the Hampton-Alexander target of 33% by the end of 2020. In total 324 women hold 355 FTSE 100 directorships. The percentage of female non-executive directors (NEDs) is at an all-time high of 40.8%, whilst the percentage of female executive directorships has risen slightly this year to 13.2%. There has been more progress recorded on the FTSE 250 boards, where the percentage of female NEDs is 37.6% and the percentage of female executive directors (EDs) is 11.3%. There is quite a lot of variance across boards indicating that only 63% FTSE 100 and 53% FTSE 250 have reached the target of 33% women in their boards.
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    Increasing diversity on public and private sector boards - Part 2 What is being done to improve diversity on boards and how effective is this?
    (2009-11-01T00:00:00Z) Sealy, Ruth; Doldor, Elena; Vinnicombe, Susan
    The project was commissioned by the Government Equalities Office in order to examine the issue of diversity on boards of directors in the private and public sectors.The project addresses two main questions: Why are there so few women and other under-represented groups on public and private sector boards? and What is being done in order to increase diversity on boards? The report is published in two parts: Part I considered the available evidence on diversity on boards. It examined academic and non-academic literature in the field, in the UK and internationally, and reviewed available evidence concerning the factors accounting for the absence of diversity on boards.This second part maps out current practices aimed at increasing board diversity. It is based on interviews with several international experts in the field, giving case studies of various initiatives in four country contexts (UK, Norway, Spain and the Netherlands). In drawing together the report’s conclusion, some recommendations are formulated for further action to increase board diversity in the U
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    Increasing diversity on public and private sector boards, Part 1 - How diverse are boards and why?
    (2009-10-01T00:00:00Z) Sealy, Ruth; Doldor, Elena; Vinnicombe, Susan
    The Government Equalities Office (GEO) commissioned Cranfield School of Management to examine the issue of diversity on boards of directors in the private and public sectors.The project sought to addresses two main questions: Why are there so few women and other under-represented groups on public and private sector boards? and What is being done in order to increase diversity on boards? The report is published in two parts: Part I considers the available evidence on diversity on boards. It examines academic and non-academic literature in the field, in the UK and internationally, and reviews available evidence concerning the factors accounting for the absence of diversity on boards. Part II maps out current practices aimed at increasing board diversity based.The review of evidence reviewed revealed a persistent under-representation of groups such as women, ethnic minorities and disabled people on both public and private sector boards. However, most evidence in the UK and internationally focused on gender rather than other underrepresented groups.
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    The Female FTSE Board Report 2018: Busy going nowhere with the female executive pipeline
    (2018-03-31) Vinnicombe, Susan; Doldor, Elena; Sealy, Ruth
    This year we see two different pictures emerging in terms of women’s representation on FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 corporate boards. Since October 2017 the percentage of women on FTSE 100 boards has increased from 27.7% to 29%, meaning that if the current pace continues it is possible to reach the targeted 33% by the end of 2020. In total 264 women hold 305 directorships on FTSE 100 boards. The percentage of female Non-Executive Director (NED) positions is at the all-time high of 35.4%, whilst the percentage of female executive positions has flatlined at 9.7%. On a positive note, seven women hold a Chair position and 18 hold Senior Independent Directorships. A further 85 women hold 95 Chair roles on the various committees across FTSE 100 boards. In contrast, the percentage of women on FTSE 250 boards has only increased marginally from 22.8% in October 2017 to 23.7%, the percentage of female executive directorships has dropped from 7.7% to 6.4% and the number of all male boards has increased to ten. These present challenging conditions for meeting the 33% target in 2020.
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    Why work it when you can dodge it? Identity responses to ethnic stigma among professionals
    (Sage, 2020-01-21) Doldor, Elena; Atewologun, Doyin
    Professionals commonly seek to repair stigmatized identities by constructing more positive and relatively coherent self-views. This study draws on interview, observation and diary data from Romanian professionals in the UK, in order to understand how they construct their identities when faced with ethno-cultural stigma. We find that these professionals engage in counterintuitive identity responses which consist of simultaneously denying and acknowledging personal stigmatization (doublethink), and evading engagement with the stigmatized identity (dodging). Unlike the restorative identity work highlighted by previous studies, these atypical responses require less effort, provide less coherence and do not attempt to restore the blemished ethnocultural identity. Our analyses further indicate that being professional and being White confer individuals privileges that sustain doublethink and dodging. We contribute to scholarship by underscoring the need to consider both stigmatized and privileged identities, when investigating reactions to stigma. We also reflect on the practical implications for organizations of what it means for stigmatized individuals to deny stigmatization or to dodge engagement with stigma