PurposeThis paper aims to present an empirically driven crisis management framework of complementary human resource management (HRM) bundles that can be utilized in simultaneously managing the health crisis, financial crisis and disruptions to business operations through lockdown and other government restrictions propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe framework is developed employing qualitative methodology, drawing from the successful HRM practices adopted by 26 Sri Lankan companies in battling the many crises of COVID-19 and using the soft HRM approach as the theoretical basis.FindingsThe findings report a framework that consists of three key HRM bundles (health and safety bundle, cost-saving bundle and employee motivation and engagement bundle) entailing an array of inter-related, internally consistent, complementary and mutually reinforcing HRM practices and HRM activities. These HRM bundles and the HRM practices as well as the HRM activities therein, indicate how a softer approach to managing employees can be used during a crisis.Practical implicationsThe framework will inform the HRPs of the HRM bundles, HRM practices and HRM activities that can be used to manage the multiple crises created by COVID-19 and other similar pandemics.Originality/valueThe study contributes to and expands the knowledge of HRM in crisis management generally and HRM in a global pandemic more specifically.

This paper is the guest editorial for this Special Issue on Gender (In)equality in South Asia of the South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management. This paper offers a perspective on the gender (in)equality issues as well as prospects in South Asia. The paper examines equalities and inequalities in national and regional labour markets, national legislative frameworks and within companies and organisations and recognises that women themselves are a heterogeneous group. Further, we introduce the papers included in this special issue representing India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

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Post-war Sri Lanka is heavily dependent on the promising future of the Information Technology (IT) industry to contribute considerably to the economic and social development of the country. Given the reported skill shortage and gender imbalance in the IT sector, female participation and retention is greatly advocated and promoted. In this milieu, we aim to understand what happens to female employees in male-dominant IT project teams, and the challenges and issues they face, as well as the related causes, using Kanter’s Theory of Group Proportions as the theoretical lens. Such understanding will provide a backdrop to develop ways and means of attracting and retaining females in the IT industry in Sri Lanka. Employing qualitative inquiry, we carried out in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions with 14 informants—10 female team members and four male team counterparts—from six IT companies. We identified four main challenges and issues females face in working alongside males where females strive to prove their technical and leadership capabilities, gain acceptance of the dominants in the team, overcome role entrapment and gain due recognition for their hard work. In facing these challenges females use various strategies and changes of behaviour which can ultimately lead to work pressure, strained relationships and anxiety for females. While these challenges are largely comparable to the main phenomena and experiences explained by Kanter, it appeared that gender-role stereotyping and sexist attitudes prevailing in the work setting, rather than the numerical minority status of females as mentioned by Kanter, gave rise to these situations.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how Sri Lankan women make sense of their experiences of sexual harassment at the workplace using Weickian's 'sense-making in organizations' as the theoretical lens. Drawing from three narratives of working women, the findings indicate how women seek to understand what is going on, through a complex and interrelated process of enacting, selection, action and reaction, where retrospection, focusing and extracting on cues, social processes and identity construction, takes place in an ongoing process of sense-making. The findings move beyond previous studies by providing an in-depth understanding of the multifaceted process of sense-making in its entirety from experiencing sexual harassment to responding to it, in a backdrop of cultural norms and beliefs. Keywords: narratives, sense-making, sexual harassment, Sri LankaKey points 1 Women interpret and make sense of their experiences of sexual conduct at work in a multidimensional, complex, and ongoing process of enacting, selection, action and reaction. 2 Sense-making occurs in a complex web of retrospection, extracted cues, relationships, emotions, identity construction, and social processes, embedded in various cultural ethos. 3 In making decisions about sexual harassment complaints, managers should understand and consider this complex process of sense-making and why a recipient would react in a certain manner, without considering the instances or reactions in isolation or in an objective manner.

This article aims to examine the experiences of human resource professionals (HRPs) in managing crises posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing qualitative research methodology, in-depth interviews with 24 HRPs of different industries were carried out. The findings indicate how the HRPs have navigated through five phases of the crisis as (a) anticipatory; (b) crisis; (c) adjustment; (d) rebounding; (e) continuance or reverting to old ways, struggling with many decisions and actions. The periods that companies took to navigate these different stages and the success of how they faced the crises posed by the pandemic mainly depend on factors such as the level of preparedness, nature of the industry, availability of resources, and role of the HRPs. The learning from the experiences of the HRPs and the phases they have navigated through will help to successfully manage similar crises in the future.

Purpose This study aims to explore the challenges and barriers encountered by Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) women entrepreneurs in an emerging country context – Sri Lanka – within a context of strict gender role stereotyping beliefs and norms. Design/methodology/approach Using qualitative research methodology, 15 in-depth, in-person, semi-structured interviews were conducted with STEM women entrepreneurs using the theoretical lenses of intersectionality and social role theories in tandem. Findings Findings revealed that participants were confronted with an array of structural/administrative and gender-related challenges at the intersections of gender, entrepreneurship and characteristics mapped with STEM fields. Accordingly, lack of access and reach to networks and opportunities, procedural obstacles, difficulties in staffing, difficulties in obtaining finances, lack of understanding and support from family and society, difficulties in managing work-life, and legitimacy obstacles appear to restrain the participants in starting and running their businesses. These challenges have their roots embedded in a complex web of ideologies and expectations related to gender. Originality/value This research contributes to the scant body of literature on STEM women entrepreneurship in general and specifically to the literature on challenges facing STEM women entrepreneurs from the perspective of a non-Western – emerging economy, which is built on strong cultural strictures and gender ideologies.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how the particular culture within which research is conducted and its norms and values can give rise to additional challenges and complications for the researcher when the research area is sensitive in nature. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on research on sexual harassment of working women in Sri Lanka, the researcher engages in self and methodological reflections to elucidate the many challenges faced. Findings Carrying out sensitive research in an Asian cultural context, with various stereotyping cultural norms, values and beliefs can give rise to additional culture-specific challenges for the researcher, even when the researcher is a cultural insider. How these cultural complexities influence the manner in which the participants respond to data collection and the manner in which the researcher is seen and understood by others are explained. Strategies to overcome these challenges are discussed in light of the cultural competencies propose by Deardorff and Sewyer et al. Practical implications The paper highlights the need for researchers engaged in sensitive research to carefully plan and conduct their research, being mindful not only to the sensitive nature of the topic, but also to the cultural edifices and ethos. Originality/value The influence of cultural context in conducting sensitive research is not sufficiently addressed. Culture-specific challenges that can arise in cultures outside the West, such as Asia, have specifically being neglected. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by focusing on the culture-specific challenges faced by researchers, whether they are cultural insiders or outsiders.