This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lewisl, J. Articles by Morgan, D. H. J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Gendering Organizational Change: The Case of Relate, 1948-1990

Department of Social Science and Administration, The London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE.

David H. J. Morgan

Department of Sociology, University of Manchester, Manchester, England

In this paper we argue for the need to develop a gendered understanding of processes of organizational change. However, this should not simply be seen as a question of the proportions of women and men at different levels in the hierarchy. Organizational culture and the gendered metaphors and rhetorics that are used within the organization are also shown to be significant. Our analysis focuses upon a single case, a historical and sociological study of Relate, formerly the National Marriage Guidance Council. This case is especially interesting in that issues of gender inevitably enter into its primary task, the treatment of matital difficulties, and that as a voluntary organization it has employed a high proportion of unpaid women in the key activity of counseling, while the managerial positions have been dominated by men. This organization experienced a period of crisis in the 1980s culminating in the commissioning of a report from a firm of management consultants. We argue that the analysis of organizational difficulties at this time was considerably weakened by the failure to develop an understanding of complex issues of gender.

Key Words: marriage • marriage guidance • gender • voluntary organizations • organizational change

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Tienari, S. Quack, and H. Theobald Organizational Reforms, `Ideal Workers' and Gender Orders: A Cross-Societal Comparison Organization Studies, March 1, 2002; 23(2): 249 - 279. [Abstract] [PDF]