Managing professional service firms in a multi-ethnic context: an ethnographic study
Title:
Managing professional service firms in a multi-ethnic context: an ethnographic study
Author:
Ram, Monder
Appeared in:
Ethnic and racial studies
Paging:
Volume 22 (1999) nr. 4 pages 679-701
Year:
1999-07-01
Contents:
Whether ethnic minority enterprise is a distinctive phenomenon markedly different from the general small firm population continues to be a major point of interest. However, there are two curious omissions within existing debates. First, the management of social relations within the workplace is rarely an explicit focus for research. Second, the increasingly significant small professional or business service sector remains neglected despite its growing importance. This article addresses these issues through an ethnographic study of two firms from different ethnic groups (African-Caribbean and Pakistani) engaged in the provision of specialist business and computer services. Despite the prevalence of a discourse predicated on notions of 'professionalism', ethnic ties were found to be a significant consideration upon issues relating to recruitment, workforce composition and community linkages. To some extent, ethnic identity predicated on religion was an important influence on business outlook for the Pakistani firm. And the African-Caribbean firm also appeared cognizant of the position of the wider co-ethnic community. However, ethnic considerations were not decisive influences within the workplace. Rather, they interacted with market and employment-related issues, thus creating a 'relatively autonomous' labour process.
Journal description