Competition, Gender and Management: Beyond Winning and Losing

by J. Dennehy

Overview

Investigates eight dimensions of competition which are active yet covert in the lives of managers. Explains in great detail the everyday experiences of men and women and the ways in which different cultures at work and in wider society, particularly exposure to sport and media, affect and reflect the relationship between gender and competition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780230389366
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	08/31/2012
Edition description:	2012
Pages:	221
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

JANE DENNEHY is a researcher and consultant with extensive commercial experience in organisations in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. In 2011, she established The Gender Hub, a network of specialists in applied gender theory which provide organisations with communications advice and programme evaluation based on active research and analysis.

Table of Contents

Preface x

Acknowledgements xi

1 Introduction 1

Gender and management standpoints 2

Preference Theory 3

Working lives 6

Contextualising competition 7

The fieldwork 11

Media and publishing 13

Feminist influences 15

Overview of book 17

Conclusion 19

2 Gender and Sport 21

Scarcity and challenge models 22

History of sport 23

Sense of fairness 26

Participation and access 28

Sport and media 30

Sport as a right 38

Sport in development 39

Sport and competition: an exemplar for managers 44

Conclusion 47

3 The Competition Cage 49

Introduction 49

Extracting dimensions of competition 50

The eight dimensional model 51

Perspectives on competition 54

Gender and management 58

Personal and interpersonal competition 61

Exploring internal competition 63

Symbolic and positional competition 66

Management identities 68

Typographies for competitors 71

The competition cage 74

Conclusion 76

4 Work-Based Relationships 78

Unlocking interdependence 79

Networking for knowledge 81

Women's networks 82

Connections and associations 85

Networking puzzles 86

Life expectancy of role models 89

Flattery or self-serving 89

Mentored to death 91

Mentoring in management 92

Multiple work identities 94

The career journey 96

Measuring performance 98

Organisations as friends and foes 100

Perspectives on external competition 102

Conclusion 104

5 Language and Images 106

Access to competitions 107

Gendered approaches 109

Distracted by healthy competition 114

Words with multiple meanings 120

Rules of the game 121

Overt and covert sexuality 125

Conclusion 131

6 Confidence and Success 133

Interpretations of success 134

Symbolic competition 138

Management and leadership styles 140

The art of experience 143

Building confidence and ambition 144

Taking stock of confidence 150

Women in the workplace 153

Policies, projections and propaganda 156

Conclusion 158

7 Collisions with Time 160

Introduction 160

Paid and non-paid work 161

Holidays and leisure 162

Working practices of temporal competition 166

Perceptions of busyness 168

Women and working time 172

Serving the long hours culture 173

Juggling commitments 176

Decisions and consequences 179

Flexible working or just family friendly 181

Conclusion 185

8 Beyond Winning and Losing 187

Communities of practice 196

Media and sport: communities of practice in competition 198

Next steps 202

Bibliography 203

Index 219