Thesis (M.B.A.)--Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 206-214). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2005. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 43 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 37-38).

Thesis (M.S.)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2006. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Richard A. Cook. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [22]-[24]).

The South African government has placed great emphasis on SMMEs being the group that could assist in steering the economy. It reviewed the measure of introducing women to the mainstream economy, as a marginalised group that are a majority in numbers, but a minority in the economy due to circumstances surrounding their traditional role and especially due to the constraints of the previous regime. The current government has introduced sweeping reforms through regulations aimed at preferential procurement of female-owned companies, but regardless of all government's initiatives female owned companies still struggle to compete with their male counterparts in the construction industry. The research problem questions the processes and systems put in place to alter the social, political and economic climate in South Africa that created a new cycle of opportunities and threats for the different stakeholders. It gave rise to hidden occlusions based on gender and race that need to be addressed. Frustrations such as those found in the empowerment initiatives of BEE that resulted in the decline of standards and an increase in the disadvantaged groups trapped into worse liabilities are worth mentioning. The literature review has produced important recommendations that when implemented may resolve the flaws that tend to create opportunities for unintended parties. Issues such as motivational factors, collaboration between partners, sound partnering relationships and establishing an organisational culture will assist role players to take stock, enable them to make a turn-around, view challenges in terms of concealed manifestations and ultimately effectively address said challenges. / Thesis (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012

The study was undertaken to identify factors which lead to the selection of females as public school superintendents. Previous studies in current literature appeared to concentrate on negative aspects of female exclusion in administration. Four categories encompassing possible influential factors were studied. Those categories were, (1) family influence, (2) role models, (3) motivation, and (4) personal characteristics. In order to compare female perception of these factors, a random sample of male superintendents was selected to determine whether perceptions were similar or different from those of the female superintendents. In the family influence category, the male and female sample population considered themselves most like their fathers in character and personality while a smaller percentage of male and female respondents indicated a similarity to their mothers. In the Role Model category, both male and female superintendents generally attributed their career decisions to the influence of family and non-family role models, sponsors, and mentors. In the Motivation category, both sexes appeared to be highly motivated by the desire to influence policy, and to better themselves. The majority of both sexes also agreed that they have not yet reached their ultimate career goals in educational administration. In the category of Personal Characteristics, there was little, if any, difference between male and female respondents. The male and female superintendents, as separate and combined groups, ranked four personal characteristics in the same order of importance: (1) qualifications, (2) administration experience, (3) knowledge, and (4) education. On the whole, there does not seem to be a significant difference in any of the categories; however, in specific items within each category a significant difference can be observed. Several conclusions can be drawn following this study. Because existing literature on positive influential factors is limited, this can be considered a new area. The researcher is hesitant to generalize from the conclusions about the entire public school superintendent population. The literature reveals several studies have been done to find personal characteristics common to male and female administrators. Finally, one might conclude that most of the population of superintendents may be found to have the same characteristics.

Title also in Chinese. / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: leaves 46-47.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the supervisor's sex and leadership style on male subjects' cooperative behavioral responses and leader behavior descriptions. The study was designed to determine if male and female supervisors, demonstrating either high structure/high consideration or high structure/low consideration leadership styles, were evaluated equivalently by male subordinates. Power was investigated as an intervening variable.The subjects were 64 staff, technical, and master sergeants attending the United States Air Forces in Europe Noncommissioned Officers Academy. The volunteers were randomly assigned to experimental conditions and testing times, respectively.Four trained male and female experimenters portrayed the role of supervisor in the completion of two experimental tasks. Each supervisor portrayed both leadership styles. The first task required subjects to identify eight color-coded resistors and position them on a small electrical circuit board. The second task was introduced as a decision-making problem within time constraints. This task was actually the Prisoner's Dilemma game and provided a measure of subjects' cooperative behavioral responses toward the supervisor. Additional outcome measures were provided by use of a modified Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire--Form XII (LBDQ). This instrument produced two subscale scores--one representing subjects' assessments of their supervisor's consideration behavior and another assessing the supervisor's initiation of structure behavior.Multivariate analysis was used to test the main effects and interaction hypotheses, with significance set at the .05 level. The first hypothesis, which stated there would be no significant difference in subjects' responses due to the task supervisor's sex, was accepted. Responses of subjects on the Prisoner's Dilemma game and the LBDQ reflected no difference due to the supervisor's sex.The second hypothesis, which stated there would be no significant difference in subjects' responses due to the task supervisor's leadership style, was rejected. Further univariate analyses found that the LBDQ consideration score contributed to the significant difference. Thus, the two treatment groups experiencing high consideration together with high structure, regardless of supervisor sex, subsequently rated the supervisor significantly higher on the LBDQ consideration subscale than did the two groups experiencing low consideration and high structure.The third hypothesis, which stated there would be no interaction between leadership style and the sex of the supervisor in subjects' responses, was also accepted.Finally, statistical analyses showed there was no difference in subjects' mean scores on the three outcome measures as a result of prior supervision by a woman in their Air Force careers or lack of such exposure to women in leadership roles. Data also showed the LBDQ to be a more valid measure of subjects' responses than the Prisoner's Dilemma game.Results indicated that male and female supervisors were rated equivalently when demonstrating two distinct leadership styles. Subjects experiencing the high structure/high consideration style rated their supervisors similarly, as did subjects in the high structure/low consideration style. In other words, the considerate style was not rated more favorably for females and the structured style more favorably for males as has often occurred in past research. This finding was particularly important given the traditional, military environment in which the study was conducted and the masculine nature of the task. The study lent support to the idea that both women and men can introduce characteristics into their leadership styles which are contrary to expected, stereotyped behavior. Women are able to incorporate structure or task-orientation without negative perceptions by male subordinates, and men are similarly able to introduce consideration or people-orientation without negative evaluations. The results are positive in terms of the advancement of both sexes, particularly women, in the management field.

Organisations today operate under extreme pressures to be effecient and productive to meet the challenges of globalisation. The concern for best utilisation of available human resources is at the core of the movement for effeciency and productivity. There is a growing realisation that the quality of top managers, irrespective of gender, is critical to the success and survival of organisations. This has made the advancement of women managers to the top managerial hierarchy an organisational imperative rather than merely an equity issue. Recognising this need, career advancement of women managers, in recent years, has emerged as an important area of research in the field of gender and management. A number of studies have been conducted to examine the factors affecting women's advancement in management careers. Although these studies provide a useful insight into the phenomenon of scarcity of women in top management, they are parochial in nature and are limited in focus. These studies are largely based on the experiences of women managers in the western and industrialised countries and focus only on the personal and organisational factors overlooking the broader societal context. Hence, recently, the need for incorporating systemic dimension into theoretical discourse as well as empirical research on managerial advancement of women has been recognised to explore this phenomenon across cultures. This study develops a gender-organisation-system model of managerial advancement to study the factors affecting career advancement of women. The model is applied to the federal civil service of Pakistan, the largest single employer of women in a non-western, developing and Islamic country. The data are collected using triangulation of methods, self-administered questionnaire, face-to-face interviews and documentation. A sample of 300 civil servants was randomly selected for the study. The findings are based on the analysis of the results of 138 questionnaires received and 30 interviews and examination of the status of women in Pakistani society and the civil service through documentation. The study reveals an inventory of personal, organisational and systemic factors that may facilitate or impede advancement of women civil servants in Pakistan. At the personal level, dual commitment to family and career poses a great dilemma to women civil servants. While parental encouragement, spouse's support, socioeconomic background and educational achievements facilitate women civil servants, the potential barriers to their career advancement are spouse career, time away from family and difficulty in relocation. At the organisational level, women are denied equal career opportunities through indirect and subtle forms of discriminatory practices including gender streaming, work segregation, limited opportunities of training, mentoring and networking. These covert forms of discrimination often go unnoticed and are perpetuated due to a number of organisational factors such as gender-biased selection processes, regional and military quotas, absence of lateral entry, lack of women friendly policies and absence of women from important decision making bodies. The gender and organisational factors affecting career advancement of women civil servants are the mirror images of the role and status of women in Pakistani society. The cultural norms, values, and perceptions about the role of women in society, low level of gender development and gender empowerment, and absence of legal institutional framework for addressing issues of sex discrimination at work are the major systemic factors that adversely affect women's advancement in the civil service hierarchy. The study reveals similarities as well as differences between women administrators in Pakistan and western and non-western countries. Pakistani women administrators like women managers in the other countries are not in any sense less than their counterparts in terms of career commitment, managerial ability and self-confidence. They face barriers that arise from two major forces counteracting their career aspirations, work-family conflict and institutionalised discrimination. However these constraints in Pakistan are not only different in nature and forms but are more intense due to rigid sex-role demarcation and strong family orientation compared with western and industrialised countries. Hence, coping strategies at personal, organisational and systemic levels to deal with these pressures are also different. The study makes several policy recommendations to facilitate women aspiring for managerial careers in general and women civil servants in particular, which includes institutionalised child care, anti-discrimination legislation, flexible working practices, review of recruitment, selection and promotion system, affirmative action, a balanced representation of women in decisionary bodies and gender sensitivity training. Though traditional societal values are in conflict with women's work outside the private sphere, these recommendations if adopted may bring a positive change towards gender equality in managerial careers in Pakistan including the civil service.

Most of the five-star hotel chains from Western countries had adopted the typical style of human resource policies and practices from abroad, yet they ignored family friendly practices. Some policies such as child care and nurseries in the workplace need to be adjusted for Thai culture. All four hotels indicated that they provided valuable and supportive opportunities to develop all their managers. They believed that women managers will benefit from the training programs because women managers will develop their managerial skills to help them balance their work and family more professionally. Supportive development programs were offered to all women managers such as time management skills, coaching, mentoring, English language training, and team work. This is important because all organisations need to encourage their very best women managers to stay rather than quit to other careers. In addition, the hotel industry can play a leading role in assisting and supporting females in establishing and maintaining work and family balance. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2006.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of British Columbia, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-173). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.