An Outside-Inside Evolution in Gender and Professional Work
Harvard Business School NOM Unit Working Paper No. 13-051
Harvard Business School Organizational Behavior Unit Working Paper No. 13-051
61 Pages Posted: 4 Dec 2012
Date Written: November 30, 2012
Abstract
We study the process by which a professional service firm reshaped its activities and beliefs over nearly two decades as it adapted to shifts in the social discourse regarding gender and work. Analyzing archival data from the firm over eighteen years and representations of gender and work from the business press over the corresponding two decades, we find that the firm internalized the broader social discourse through iterated cycles of analysis and action, punctuated by evolving beliefs about gender and work. Outside experts and shifting social understandings played pivotal roles in changing beliefs and activities inside the firm. We conclude with an internalization model depicting organizational adaptation to evolving social institutions.
Keywords: Gender, professional service firms, social institutions, organizational learning
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