The Organizational Logic of Family: Gender and Management in a Large Organization in Thailand

This study applies Acker’s (1990) theory of gendered organizations to Thai Utility, a large domestic utility infrastructure and service organization in Thailand. Thai Utility was selected for the research because of its noticeable lack of female management and leadership participation, as its senior and executive ranks are dominated by men and it has never had a female Governor (and only one female Deputy Governor). The study investigated the gendered organization and its effects on women’s advancement prospects at Thai Utility, with a focus on formal and informal networking activities as a form of gendered interaction. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with junior, middle, senior and executive managers in different departments and in the regional and headquarters units (n = 72). The interviews investigated the career progression, relationship formation and experience within the organization. Personal networking maps were also produced that identified important relationships within the organization. Analysis revealed that there are gender divisions at Thai Utility, especially job-role and department-based divisions. Gendered symbols and image and gender identities are also identifiable. The gendered interaction processes, particularly in relation to networking, were an important focus of the analysis. were the focus of analysis. Here, it was revealed that interaction is highly gendered at Thai Utility, with male managers more rapidly moving away from their initial, limited networks and developing broad and deep organizational families and relationships with more powerful people. Women, however, were more reliant on their family of origin and marital family. Furthermore, these family relationships were used to deny women access to organizational family, with subtexts like ‘women’s place is in the home’ and ‘divided loyalties’ used to continually force women back to their family of origin and/or marital family. The implication of this is that Thai Utility, though nominally gender-neutral, is in fact heavily gendered, and women do not have equal access to the organizational families that are crucial for career advancement.