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Research on women in international business and management: then, now, and next

Amanda Bullough (Business Administration, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA)
Fiona Moore (School of Management, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham Hill, UK)
Tugba Kalafatoglu (ESADE Business School, Sant Cugat del Valles, Spain)

Cross Cultural & Strategic Management

ISSN: 2059-5794

Article publication date: 2 May 2017

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address the paradox that represents a shortage of women in management and senior leadership positions around the world, while research has consistently shown that having women in positions of influence leads to noteworthy organizational benefits, as guest editors for this special issue, the authors provide an overview of four key streams of cross-cultural research on gender – women in international management, anthropology and gender, women’s leadership, and women’s entrepreneurship – which have been fairly well-developed but remain underexplored.

Design/methodology/approach

Each author led the review of the scholarly literature stream that aligned most with personal research areas of expertise, while particularly focusing each literature review on the status of each body of work in relation to the topic of women and gender in international business and management.

Findings

The authors encourage future work on the role of women and gender (including gay, lesbian, and transgender) in cross-cultural management, and the influence of cross-cultural matters on gender. In addition to new research on obstacles and biases faced by women in management, the authors hope to see more scholarship on the benefits that women bring to their organizations.

Practical implications

New research could aim to provide specific evidence-based recommendations for: how organizations and individuals can work to develop more gender diversity in management and senior positions around the world, and encourage more women to start and grow bigger businesses.

Social implications

Scholars can lead progress on important gender issues and contribute to quality information that guides politicians, organizational leaders, new entrants to the workforce.

Originality/value

This is the first paper to cover these topics and review the body of work on cross-cultural research on women in international business and management. The authors hope it serves as a useful launch pad for scholars conducting new research in this domain.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Susan Gupta for her editorial leadership on this special issue and for her support of this idea at the Academy of International Business US Southeast Conference in 2015. The authors also thank Lorraine Eden for her helpful advice and guidance along with way, and Rosalie Tung, Editor-in-Chief of Cross Cultural and Strategic Management, for her encouragement of this Special Issue from the very beginning. The authors also thank Women in the Academy of International Business (WAIB) for promoting this work, and for these three women for their support and participation alongside WAIB.

Citation

Bullough, A., Moore, F. and Kalafatoglu, T. (2017), "Research on women in international business and management: then, now, and next", Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 211-230. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCSM-02-2017-0011

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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