Three Selected Publications
Mother Leads with Her Heart: A Case Study of Women Worker Leaders in the Men-Dominated Forestry Sector
Merits 2023
The masculine image and the notions of manual work and physical strength have resulted in more men workers in forestry. This gender imbalance has influenced the sector’s leadership environment, a critical element in the workplace setting for meeting organizational goals. This study aims to investigate women’s leadership dynamics in Perhutani, the only state-owned enterprise responsible for managing forest resources in Indonesia. Utilizing in-depth interviews with 11 women leaders from middle to top management levels, we found that there is a perceived physical limitation barrier to being a woman leader in Perhutani. To climb the career ladder, a support system from family, colleagues, and supervisors is important. However, family can be two sides of a coin, as it is also acknowledged as an internal constraint to being a woman leader. Our respondents acknowledge leadership labyrinth theory in being able to reach top leadership positions and tokenism theory, pointing out that the benefits of women leadership for Perhutani include the realization of gender equality, referring to the key performance index from the Government of Indonesia. For our respondents, being in a men-dominated sector is considered one of the attractive aspects of being a woman leader. They felt constantly challenged, but in a positive way. With these circumstances, our respondents showcase leadership styles in line with the theories of heart leadership and mother leadership. Heart-led leaders draw on the qualities of empathy, love, and vulnerability, while mother leadership means not only leading with the heart of a mother, but also with the mission, vision, and actions of a mother.
COVID-19 Anxiety as a Moderator of the Relationship between Organizational Change and Perception of Organizational Politics in Forestry Public Sector
Forests 2022
In addition to an outstanding commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDG) agenda to good governance (goal no. 16), there is an argument that the SDGs can only be achieved through good governance with strong political institutions and processes. In Indonesia, a new era in politics has been marked with the new leadership of Joko Widodo (the current Indonesian President) who has a vision to reform the Indonesian bureaucracy. One of the bureaucratic reform implementations is the merging of the Ministry of Forestry and the Ministry of Environment into the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoE). In this kind of organizational change, employees may have increased perceptions of organizational politics and feelings of uncertainty and anxiety. This effect is suspected to be exacerbated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article, therefore, aims to investigate the effects of organizational change in the public sector. Based on a survey of 112 state civil apparatuses in the forestry sector in Indonesia, we found that organizational change is positively related to employees’ perception of organizational politics. Nevertheless, our most intriguing finding is that the COVID pandemic situation has decreased employees’ perception of organizational politics. This is because political behaviors are difficult to perform in virtual working settings due to reduced face-to-face interaction and limited non-verbal cues.
“From nude calendars to tractor calendars”: the perspectives of female executives on gender aspects in the North American and Nordic forest industries
Canadian Journal of Forest Research 2018
Increasing gender diversity is no longer just the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do. Although there is general literature about gender diversity and the perspectives of females in top management and leadership, there are, however, very few forest sector specific studies. This exploratory study utilizes interviews to better understand how female executives in North America and the Nordic countries of Finland and Sweden perceive the impact of the situation of gender diversity in the forest industry. Respondents also provide career advice for young females entering or considering entry into the industry. Female executives in both regions agree that although the forest sector is still seen as a male-oriented industry, there are signs of increasingly positive attitudes regarding industry and company culture towards the benefits of greater gender diversity; however, the described changes represent an evolution, not revolution. Interestingly, despite the status of Nordic countries as leaders in bridging the gender gap, respondents from this region believe that there is significant progress yet to be made in the forest industry, especially at the entry level. With respect to career development, North American respondents suggested that young females should consider sacrificing their social life and leisure time activities, whereas Nordic respondents instead emphasized personal supports or using exit strategy from an unsupportive company or boss.