An outside-inside evolution in gender and professional work
By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Kathleen McGinn, Deborah Kolb
Contributors: McGinn, Kathleen L.; Kolb, Deborah; Harvard Business School
Series: Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 13-051; Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 13-051
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Boston ]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 59
Description: 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.
Notes: "November 2012" -- Publisher's website.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 42-50).