Maternity management in SMEs: a transdisciplinary review and research agenda

This paper provides a transdisciplinary critical review of the literature on maternity management in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), embedded within the wider literatures on maternity in the workplace. The key objectives are to describe what is known about the relations that shape maternity management in smaller workplaces and to identify research directions to enhance this knowledge. The review is guided by theory of organizational gendering and small business management, conceptualising adaptions to maternity as a process of mutual adjustment and dynamic capability within smaller firms’ informally negotiated order, resource endowments and wider labour and product/service markets. A context sensitive lens is also applied. The review highlights the complex range of processes involved in SME maternity management and identifies major research gaps in relation to pregnancy, maternity leave and the return to work (family-friendly working and breastfeeding) in these contexts. This blind spot is surprising as SMEs employ the majority of women worldwide. A detailed agenda for future research is outlined, building on the gaps identified by the review and founded on renewed theoretical direction.

Published version: © 2017 The Authors. International Journal of Management Reviews published by British Academy of Management and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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Final Accepted version: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Stumbitz, B., Lewis, S. and Rouse, J. (2017), Maternity Management in SMEs: A Transdisciplinary Review and Research Agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20: 500-522. doi:10.1111/ijmr.12143, which has been published in final form at http://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12143. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.