Diverse human families and pet friendly work environments: Pawternity of dogs

Gonzalez-Perez, Maria Alejandra; Georgiadou, Andri

Abstract

• Purpose: This paper of exploratory nature aims to provide an account of the reviewed literature and presenting some empirical cases to come to conceptualize dogs as social actors with different legitimate roles in the working, social, private, economic and family life of human beings. • Design/methodology/approach: This paper is the product of a research inspired by the great interest of the authors on rising awareness of the importance of dogs in human working lives. For this, a purposive literature review took place; we consulted scientific studies databases, and also gathered information from market research agencies, and other general media resources. To have a more comprehensive view, and to responding to a specific question on dogs at the workplace, a selection of cases are used to illustrate. For the case studies, secondary data research was used, and individual, structured interviews were conducted and analyzed. • Findings This paper reviews the relationship between humans and people. It identifies attitudes and perception towards animals, highlighting the evolution of the intimate bond and the deep relationship between dogs and humans. It describes some cases of dogs as working beings at the service of human functions, and describes dimensions of the pet care markets. Finally, it presents some cases of pet-friendly work environments. • Originality/value The novel contribution of this paper is putting dogs in the management of diversity academic literature. In this study, we find that the role, meaning and purpose of dogs in people's lives (and in many cases in organizations) is being underestimated. Including and making visible the presence of dogs in the personal, work and well-being of people represents challenges to be addressed by managers. Additionally, it represents challenges to think about and investigate the welfare of dogs that interact with human beings in productive environments.

Citation

Gonzalez-Perez, M. A., & Georgiadou, A. (2019). Diverse human families and pet friendly work environments: Pawternity of dogs. In Diversity within Diversity Management: Types of Diversity in Organizations (273-293). Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1877-636120190000022014

• Online Publication Date: May 7, 2019
• Publication Date: May 7, 2019
• Deposit Date: Apr 23, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 24, 2020
• Publisher: Emerald
• Pages: 273-293
• Series Title: Advanced Series in Management
• Series Number: 22
• Series ISSN: 1877-6361
• Book Title: Diversity within Diversity Management: Types of Diversity in Organizations
• Chapter Number: 13
• ISBN: 9781789731729
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1877-636120190000022014
• Keywords: Pet-friendly work environment; diverse families; dogs at work; human-animal relationships; Pawternity
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4328916
• Publisher URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/S1877-636120190000022014/full/html
• Contract Date: Aug 1, 2018