Toward Economic Independence
of Persons with Disabilities:
Corporate Culture and Inclusion
into the Workforce
A comparative case study of
multinational enterprises
in Norway and the UK
Yuliya Kuznetsova
Norwegian Social Research
Research objectives and questions
Research objective:
To analyse the conditions under which the corporate
culture of enterprises (shared norms, values, beliefs
and behaviours of the enterprise) contributes to the
labour market inclusion of persons with disabilities
Research questions:
• Is there a trend towards more inclusive corporate
policies and practices in a sample of multinational
enterprises?
• What are the main factors behind such changes?
(e.g. policies – international (UN), European (EU) and national
(Norway and the UK), CSR, diversity management, HR policies,
etc. )
Norwegian Social Research
Research methodology
Theoretical background:
corporate culture and institutional
context
• UN CRPD
• EU (Disability, Employment,
CSR)
• National policies (Norway and
the UK)
Policies
Society
and
culture
• State, professionals,
interest groups, public
opinion, customers,
competitors
Organizations'
<inclusive>
corporate culture
• Shared norms, values,
beliefs and
behaviours: visible and
tacit
Methodology:
1. Comparative case study:
one - two multinational enterprises
operating in Norway and the UK
2. Qualitative methodology with
some elements of quantitative
analysis:
Multiple levels of the corporate
culture inside enterprises:
observations; document analysis;
interviews; focus groups with
employees.
Quantitative data (employment
statistics and interviews analysis).
Norwegian Social Research
Anticipated problems, issues and
research barriers
• Enterprises/employees willingness to
•
•
participate in the research
Access to the enterprises databases on
employment statistics
Real access to information
Norwegian Social Research
Research Timeline
Activities
1. Literature review
2011
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2. Data collection
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Contacting and meeting policy experts
(employers’ organizations)
Contacting and meeting enterprises
representatives (HR managers and/or other
management personnel)
Documents analysis
Interviews with selected participants
Focus groups with employees
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Participation and presentations at conferences
and network events
Submission and publication of articles in
academic journals
Final version of the project and final report
5. PhD thesis
2013
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3. Data analysis
4. Dissemination of project results
(current and final)
2012
2014
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Norwegian Social Research
Placement
• NOVA – Norwegian Social Research Institute
• NTNU – Trondheim Norwegian University of
•
Science and Technology – PhD in Social
Work (under process)
1st Secondment – SU/BBI – corporate culture
2nd Secondment – European Disability
Forum
Norwegian Social Research
Thank you for attention!
Yuliya Kuznetsova
[email protected]
Norwegian Social Research