AOM In-Press Articles

BREAKING THE SILENCE ABOUT EXITING FIELDWORK: A RELATIONAL APPROACH AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THEORIZING

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:45:12 +0000

It is surprising that, to date, a discussion of exiting fieldwork is absent from the management and organization literature - an absence that we believe is unjustified. We argue that analyzing exit from fieldwork is important for theorizing. We combine two streams of research - ethnography in the broader social sciences, and business marketing on dissolving relationships - to propose a relational framework for conceptualizing and analyzing exit. The framework represents a first attempt to examine exiting in a systematic and nuanced manner, with the objective of understanding why and how breaking the silence about exiting fieldwork may advance theorizing. We develop a typology of four exit types that lead to four different approaches to theorizing. We suggest that exit may bring about a new beginning in theorizing rather than closure, and that it is not only high-quality relationships in the field but also those that are disruptive that may lead to interesting theorizing.

How Organizations Foster the Creative Use of Resources

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:40:14 +0000

Using a multi-year qualitative study, I explain how employees at a fast growing retail organization used creative resourcing—that is, the manipulation and recombination of objects in novel and useful ways to solve problems. I induce two core organizational processes (autonomous resourcing and directed resourcing) that explain how organizations foster ongoing creative activities in response to different perceived resource endowments. In doing so, I add clarity to a mixed literature that argues on one hand that limited resources foster creativity, and on the other hand, that abundant resources foster creativity. Instead, I reorient the questions scholars ask by shifting the conversation away from variance-explanation models and towards understanding organizational processes, specifically around how employees use resources in dynamic ways and how managers enable them to do so. My study unpacks how the link between resources and creativity is rooted deeply in the actions of managers and employees embedded in organizations over time. In elaborating theory around these actions, I contribute to scholarly and practitioner understanding around how organizations foster creativity in a variety of resource environments.

Studying the Origins of Social Entrepreneurship: Compassion and the Role of Embedded Agency

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:45:16 +0000

Arend's response to our paper furthers the discussion on the origins of social entrepreneurship by suggesting that our focus on the motivational origins of social entrepreneurship is misplaced. We address his critiques by highlighting the fact that the social entrepreneur in our model is an embedded agent. While societal forces may shape the role of social entrepreneur and the scripts associated with social entrepreneurship, our model recognizes that individuals must be motivated to assume that role. In clarifying our approach, we offer an agenda for future research that recognizes the need for a more, not less, comprehensive approach essential to understanding a phenomenon as complex as social entrepreneurship.

IS MICROFOUNDATIONAL THINKING CRITICAL TO MANAGEMENT THOUGHT AND PRACTICE?

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:20:13 +0000

This issue of the Academy of Management Perspectives is devoted to a compelling and controversial set of logics being debated within the management discipline: the microfoundations of management. Within these pages, five papers provide different perspectives on the meaning of microfoundational thinking and its importance to management scholarshi

Exploring the locus of invention: The dynamics of network communities and firms' invention productivity

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:10:14 +0000

Departing from prior research analyzing the implications of social structure for actors' outcomes by applying either the ego-network or the global-network perspective, this study examines the implications of network communities for the invention productivity of firms. Network communities represent dense and non-overlapping structural groups of actors in the social system. The network-community lens helps identify new ways to study firms' access to diverse knowledge inputs in a dynamic system of interorganizational relationships. Specifically, we examine how the membership dynamics of a network community affect the invention productivity of member firms by either enabling or constraining access to broad, diverse knowledge inputs. Our findings suggest, first, that a firm reaps the greatest invention benefits in a network community with moderate levels of membership turnover. Second, a firm attains the greatest invention productivity when its own rate of movement across different network communities is moderate. Third, we find that community members located in the core of their network communities can benefit more from membership dynamics and prior community affiliations than those on the periphery. In empirical analyses, we use the evolving community structure of the network of interorganizational partnerships in the global computer industry over 1981-2001 to predict firms' patenting rates.

Stimulating informal learning activities through perceptions of performance appraisal quality and HRM system strength: A two-wave study

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:25:19 +0000

Employees' participation in informal learning activities benefits their workplace performance, and ultimately their long-term career development. While research has identified several individual- and organizational-level factors that promote participation, to date, the role of human resource management (HRM) in facilitating informal learning activities is not well understood. We investigate the effects of perceptions of performance appraisal quality and HRM system strength on three informal learning activities: reflection on daily activities, knowledge sharing with colleagues, and innovative behavior. Using a sample of 238 employees from 54 work teams, we examine changes in levels of participation in the informal learning activities over a year. Performance appraisal quality was found to be positively associated with increased participation in each activity over time, and HRM system strength positively moderated these relationships. Implications of the findings for educational institutions and other organizations are discussed.

The past, present and future of cross-cultural management education: the educators' perspective.

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:25:19 +0000

In a series of interviews with leading Cross-Cultural Management (CCM) educators, we examine the state of the CCM field within business education. We invited eight prominent scholars and executive educators to consider the following main questions. What is the role of cross-cultural management in business curricula? What challenges do we face teaching this material? How can we create an engaged learning environment with the diverse audiences we encounter in our classrooms, and what theoretical frameworks best support these efforts? Finally, what is the future of cross-cultural management education? What changes and challenges can we expect? The learnings that emerged from our interviews are grouped around three main themes: the content of what we teach, our understanding of audiences with whom we work and their evolving expectations of cross-cultural management education, and the role, preparation, background and assumptions of the educators. This series of interviews contributes to highlight current trends in CCM education: a shift in content from knowledge to conditions of knowledge creation, a transition from monocultural audiences toward biculturals and global cosmopolitans, and finally, a changing responsibility of the educators from providing knowledge to developing and honing responsible, tolerant and resilient global citizens.

Balancing emic and etic: Situated Learning and Ethnography of Communication in Cross-cultural Management Education

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:25:19 +0000

This paper interrogates current approaches to cross-cultural management (CCM) teaching and learning, which have been criticised for delivering a curriculum modelled on 'cultural patterns'. Such approaches could be described as etic or culture-general. We argue for re-centering CCM teaching and learning around a stronger emic or culture-specific component balancing the current etic emphasis. This we call the 'situated cultural learning approach' (SiCuLA) focusing on the active role that the learner plays in the specific cultural contexts of learning. Firstly, we propose to look at emic-etic as a continuum, as others have argued, rather than an opposition. Secondly, we re-conceptualize CCM learning as situated learning (SL) and, thirdly, we put forward Ethnography of Communication (EoC) as a learning epistemology that bridges the gap between SL and the classroom and workplace as learning contexts. More importantly, we propose a novel 'situated curriculum' based on practical ideas to train students as culture learners. Finally, we discuss some of the implications for developing an EoC-based curriculum for future CCM education.

Older Adults and Technology-Based Instruction: Optimizing Learning Outcomes and Transfer

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:25:19 +0000

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the cognitive and socio-emotional changes associated with aging and to propose ways in which these changes can be accommodated in a technology-based training environment. We recommend that technology-based training for older adults should: 1) be highly structured, 2) provide feedback and adaptive guidance, 3) include meta-cognitive prompts, 4) incorporate principles derived from cognitive load theory and cognitive theory of multimedia learning, and 5) include a user interface that is simple and consistent throughout the course. With a focus on organizations as well as business schools, we then discuss contextual variables that are expected to enhance older learners' training motivation or improve their transfer of training. Finally, we will recommend areas worthy of exploration that might reveal age-specific differences in TBI design.

UNDERSTANDING WORK AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FROM A KNOWLEDGE-IN-PRACTICE PERSPECTIVE

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:25:12 +0000

This paper introduces a knowledge-in-practice framework for understanding the nature of work from a knowledge perspective and uses the framework to peer into the black box of knowledge management (KM) and explore the relation between KM activities and performance. The knowledge-in-practice framework describes knowledge characteristics of work practices along two dimensions: tacitness and learnability. We propose that adopting KM activities that match the tacitness and learnability of organizational work settings will have a positive effect on desirable performance targets for each work environment. We identify patterns of KM activity that are believed to be maximally effective within each work setting.

Do Interviewers Sell Themselves Short? The Effect of Selling Orientation on Interviewers' Judgments

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 21:15:13 +0000

Drawing on alternative perspectives about the automaticity of dispositional judgments, we examine whether the motivation to attract the other (i.e., selling orientation) in interpersonal first meetings (e.g., job interviews) helps or hinders the accuracy and validity of dispositional judgments. In a laboratory study (Study 1) we found that selling orientation reduced the accuracy of interviewers' judgments about applicants' core self-evaluations. Then, we investigated the real-world implications of selling orientation in a field study (Study 2) with two different samples (Samples A and B) and found that a selling orientation negatively influenced the predictive validity of interviewers' judgments. Specifically, when selling orientation was low, interviewers' judgments accurately predicted which applicants would be most (and least) successful as newcomers in the organization (in terms of citizenship, performance and fit). However, when selling orientation was high, interviewers' judgments no longer predicted applicant outcomes. Together, these results suggest that making dispositional judgments in interpersonal first meetings is an effortful process that is hindered by focusing on other goals (e.g., selling). We discuss the practical and theoretical implications of these findings.

HUMAN CAPITAL FLOWS: USING CONTEXT-EMERGENT TURNOVER (CET) THEORY TO EXPLORE THE PROCESS BY WHICH TURNOVER, HIRING, AND JOB DEMANDS AFFECT PATIENT SATISFACTION

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:45:12 +0000

The dynamic systems view of voluntary turnover rates advocated in context-emergent turnover theory is used to explore how and why human capital flows impact unit performance over time. We examine hiring rates and employee transfer rates as distinct system components that work alongside voluntary turnover rates to affect job demands, and ultimately patient satisfaction. Our work explores this dynamic system of interrelated constructs, and explains and compares their mutual causality over time. The sample examined consists of 12 nursing units in a large hospital over 72 monthly observations, with patient satisfaction as the measure of unit performance.

Corporate Governance and Investors' Perceptions of Foreign IPO Value: An Institutional Perspective

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:45:11 +0000

This paper investigates stock market responses to the different constellations of firm-level corporate governance mechanisms by focusing on foreign IPOs in the U.S. We build on sociology-grounded research on financial market behavior and suggest a "nested" legitimacy framework to explore U.S. investor perceptions of foreign IPO value. Using a fuzzy-set theoretic methodology, we demonstrate how different combinations of monitoring and incentive-based corporate governance mechanisms lead to the same level of investor valuations of firms. Moreover, institutional factors related to the minority shareholder protection strength in the foreign IPO's home country represent a boundary condition that affects the number of governance mechanisms required to achieve U.S. investors' high value perceptions. Our findings contribute to the sociological perspective on comparative corporate governance and the inter-dependencies between organizations and institutions.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTURES WITHOUT CLIENT LOSSES: THE ROLE OF MULTIPLEX TIES IN EXCHANGE PARTNER RETENTION

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:40:13 +0000

To reduce vulnerability to exchange relationship loss when executives leave, firms often form multiple ties to the same exchange partners. Despite the assumed importance of interorganizational multiplexity for relationship retention, theory and evidence for its effect are lacking. Analysis of a longitudinal sample of client ties of advertising firms confirms that in general multiplexity improves retention. However, only relationships that span intra-organizational units with convergent interests reduce the positive effect of advertising agency executive departures on client tie loss. The findings highlight the need to consider the implications of intraorganizational structure for theories of interorganizational relationship retention and suggest an additional rationale for the persistence of the holding company structure in professional services firms despite limited returns to scale.

Retelling Stories in Organizations: Understanding the Functions of Narrative Repetition

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:00:19 +0000

Narrative repetition—when a story is recalled and retold from another narrative—has yet to be explored for its rich conceptual depth. To build a case for this area, we analyze stories from scholarly research to identify the functions of narrative repetition. We distinguish three dualities produced through repetition, which are grounded in cultural issues of sameness and difference. These dualities—Control/Resistance, Differentiation/Integration, and Stability/Change—bring a more sophisticated understanding of the inherent complexity of narrative as a mode of interpretation and offer a transformative view of narrative that describes how the meaning of stories shifts over time. When stories are repeated, one individual may interpret a narrative of stability, whereas another may hear a hint of change. Furthermore, we offer narrative repetition as a new methodology for organizational research with the recommendation that scholars use the reoccurrence of a story as a starting point for inquiry into the cultural life of organizations.

SMALL ENTRANTS & LARGE INCUMBENTS: A FRAMEWORK OF MICRO ENTRY

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:25:15 +0000

Translating a diverse body of research, including industrial organization (IO) economics, strategy, and entrepreneurship, we present a framework of micro entry—i.e., how de novo entrants penetrate markets dominated by large incumbents—without intensifying rivalry. Entrant-incumbent relations received substantial attention, but with a few exceptions, prior research focuses mainly on hostile entry and on large or comparably similar players. We explain, however, that acute size differences create distinct entrant-incumbent dynamics. Normatively, we show how, when, and where micro entrants are most likely to penetrate markets dominated by large incumbents. Conceptually, we expand resource partitioning and mutual forbearance theories by relaxing their assumptions and then re-meshing their logic, thus offering nuanced insights on incumbent-entrant relations when size differences are very large. Contrary to the creative-destructive hypothesis, we evince that market penetration is more likely when micro entrants either solidify large incumbents' positions or target small niches that are inconsequential for large incumbents. Reactions to micro entry are also influenced by contextual factors—when large incumbents operate in value networks that expand through integration or modularity.

TUG OF WAR: CARING FOR OUR ELDERS WHILE REMAINING PRODUCTIVE AT WORK

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:40:14 +0000

As countries around the world experience the greying of their populations, longer life expectancies mean greater possibility of illness and incapacitation. At the same time, demographic trends are altering the traditional arrangements for eldercare. Given that a high percentage of caregivers are employed outside the home, the tension between employment and caregiving responsibilities is likely to increase. However, the relationship between eldercare responsibilities and work outcomes is understudied, especially in the management literature, and the results are inconclusive. This article analyzes 31 empirical studies on the relationship between eldercare and work published in peer-reviewed academic journals since 1995. Although methodological limitations exist in the current literature, a number of noteworthy advances have been identified that have implications for future research directions and the ways in which organizations respond to the eldercare needs of their employees.

No Pain, No Gain: An Affect-based Model of Developmental Job Experience and the Buffering Effects of Emotional Intelligence

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:45:17 +0000

Drawing on an overarching framework of transactional stress theory, this study develops and tests an affect-based model of developmental job experience (DJE) that explicates the affective mechanisms through which DJE is associated with both positive and negative individual outcomes - advancement potential and turnover intention - and the buffering role of emotional intelligence (EI) in the affective processes. In a sample of 214 early-career managers, we found that DJE was related to increased advancement potential by boosting employees' pleasant feelings, but it can also fail to do so by increasing their unpleasant feelings. Moreover, whereas it is not surprising that there was a negative relationship between DJE and turnover intention mediated by pleasant feelings, they also demonstrated a positive relationship via unpleasant feelings, depending on employees' levels of EI. Specifically, the results suggested that DJE was positively related to turnover intention only for low-EI employees, but not for high-EI employees.

Letting Go and Moving On: Work-related Identity Loss and Recovery

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:55:14 +0000

Transitions in work memberships, relationships, and roles can result in work-related identity loss. This paper contributes to a growing body of research that examines identity transitions by providing a dynamic model to explain these identity losses. Our model incorporates principles from identity research and grief research to predict how employees will react to the loss of a work-related identity. The transition period is conceptualized as a period of liminality, during which individuals engage in sensemaking and emotion regulation to determine who they were and who they are becoming. Specifically, the process involves cognitive and emotion processing in two domains—loss orientation and restoration orientation. We propose that emotions experienced (and their associated regulatory foci) are critical to determining whether individuals experience adaptive or maladaptive identity-related outcomes.

Corporate Social Responsibility, Noise, and Stock Market Volatility

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:40:13 +0000

In equity markets, organizational signals about corporate social responsibility (CSR) may amplify noise for two main reasons. First, CSR is not systematically correlated with companies' economic fundamentals. Second, opportunistic managers are incentivized to distort information provided to market participants about their firm's CSR. Either force, by itself, makes it difficult for market participants to interpret information about CSR accurately. More noise in financial markets often invites more noise trading, which in turn leads to excess market volatility (among all publicly traded firms) and, in a particular context of social-institutional processes and structures, to excess market valuations of firms that are widely perceived as socially responsible.

Microfoundations of Management: Behavioral Strategies and Levels of Rationality in Organizational Action

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:15:13 +0000

Behavioral strategies are a potentially promising microfoundation of management research. Strategies involving processes of momentum, feedback, inference, and anticipation are already being investigated by organizational scholars, and evidence is mounting for each one. They are interesting because they can be seen as expressions of the level of rationality in organizational action, taking the organization as a stylized decision maker, and they also serve as windows into decision making processes and sources of puzzles that can guide direct investigation of decision making processes. The combination of evidence, consequentiality, and generative power for future research argue for giving behavioral strategies a role in the microfoundations of management theory.

MICRO-FOUNDATIONS FOR STRATEGY: A GOAL-FRAMING PERSPECTIVE ON THE DRIVERS OF VALUE CREATION

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:00:21 +0000

Scholars increasingly seek to proffer microfoundations for macro management theory, notably strategic management theory. These microfoundations naturally revolve around human resources. We argue that proper microfoundations for strategic management theory must recognize that the management of motivation is first and foremost a matter of the management of cognitions of organizational members, an insight that we found in goal-framing theory, an emerging perspective based on cognitive science, behavioral economics, and social psychology. Building on this insight, we argue that a key reason why strategic goals matter to firm performance──that is, firm-level value creation and value capture and sustained competitive heterogeneity──is that such goals influence value creation rooted in employee motivations. Unfolding this idea allows us to generate new insight in the relations between value creation, strategic leadership and strategic goals.

Encountering Social Class Differences at Work: How "Class Work" Perpetuates Inequality

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:45:15 +0000

Using a micro-sociological lens, we develop a theoretical framework that explains how social class distinctions are sustained within organizations. In particular, we introduce the concept of "class work" and explicate the cognitions and practices that members of different classes engage in when they come in contact with each other in cross-class encounters. We also elucidate how class work perpetuates inequality, and the consequences of class work on organizations and those at the lower end of the organizational hierarchy. By examining micro-level interactions and how they become institutionalized within organizations as prevailing rules and practices, we contribute to both institution theory and the sociology of social class differences. We encourage future research on social class and discuss some of the challenges that inhere in conducting it.

POWER TO THE PRINCIPALS! AN EXPERIMENTAL LOOK AT SHAREHOLDER SAY-ON-PAY VOTING

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 17:55:12 +0000

With recent legislation mandating that publicly traded corporations submit their CEOs' compensation for a non-binding shareholder vote, a systematic understanding of shareholder preferences has never been so important. In spite of this, we know relatively little about what impacts shareholders' preferences and, subsequently, their ultimate voting behavior. We integrate two theories in order to help frame the question and to help predict shareholder behavior. Agency theory predicts that shareholders, as principals, will disapprove of high CEO rewards and poor firm performance, symmetrically assessing gains and losses. Prospect theory predicts that shareholders will be loss averse, responding much more strongly to being in a loss position than to being in a gain or neutral position. We combine these theories' predictions in two lab experiments in which we simulate a shareholder say-on-pay vote, hypothesizing that shareholders will be concerned with agency costs, but only from a loss position. The results of these simulated votes suggest that shareholders do value pay-for-performance, consistent with agency theory. However, shareholders exhibit this focus on agency-normative prescriptions asymmetrically, showing loss aversion consistent with prospect theory. This finding has significant implications for both theory and practice as shareholder votes become a regular and high-profile occurrence.

Making the Most of Where You Are: Geography, Networks, and Innovation in Organizations

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:50:13 +0000

The importance of geography for innovation has long been recognized. Regions like Silicon Valley help companies generate ideas in part by facilitating knowledge exchanges among local organizations. Despite the central place of geography in many explanations of innovation, existing theories remain limited in several respects. Importantly, because they have sought to explain knowledge acquisition, current perspectives do not account for how firms that are proximate to many industry peers internalize, process, and use the volumes of information available to them locally. Further, contemporary theories do not address how, despite lacking the advantages of proximity, some geographically remote firms produce important innovations. The author connects insights from macro and micro level theories of innovation to propose that geography can enhance or constrain firms' performance, but such effects are moderated by intraorganizational network structures. Data on collaborations among inventors and the geographic locations of 454 U.S. firms active in nanotechnology R&D between 1990 and 2004 are used to show that as proximity to industry peers decreases---and spillovers become less common---inefficient networks are beneficial because they create and sustain diversity internally. For firms with high proximity, more cohesive network structures that facilitate information processing are desirable.

Do they walk the talk or just talk the talk? Gauging acquiring CEO and director confidence in the value-creation potential of announced acquisitions

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 19:15:12 +0000

We explore whether acquiring CEOs and directors act consistently with the idea that their newly announced acquisitions will increase long-term firm value. Specifically, we examine post-announcement adjustments to CEOs' equity-based holdings and find acquiring CEOs tend to exercise options and sell firm stock following acquisition announcements. Moreover, positive short-term market performance exacerbates this effect. Further, we find directors tend to grant their acquiring CEOs stock options, post-acquisition announcement, presumably to more tightly align CEO-shareholder interests. These findings suggest CEOs and directors manage acquiring CEOs' equity-based holdings such that they do not appear to anticipate long-term value creation from their acquisitions.

Narcissism: An Integrative Synthesis and Dominance Complementarity Model

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:10:15 +0000

Narcissism has become an increasingly popular research topic in recent years. First, we describe why it is beneficial for organizational researchers to study narcissism and examine narcissism as it relates to two of its strongest organizational correlates: counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and leadership. We explore why narcissists perform CWB and offer advice regarding what organizations can do to prevent narcissists' CWB. Subsequently, we discuss narcissism's relationship with leadership effectiveness, and propose the Narcissistic Leaders and Dominance Complementarity Model, which examines the dynamic interaction of narcissistic leaders' characteristics with those of their followers to predict leadership effectiveness. Finally, we suggest four areas of Management that may benefit from incorporating narcissism as a determinant of their respective organizational outcomes of interest: international management, social issues in management/corporate social responsibility, entrepreneurship, and negotiation.

LUNCH BREAKS UNPACKED: THE ROLE OF AUTONOMY AS A MODERATOR OF RECOVERY DURING LUNCH

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:15:13 +0000

Work recovery research has focused mainly on how after-work break activities help employees replenish their resources and reduce fatigue. Given that employees spend a considerable amount of time at work, understanding how they can replenish their resources during the workday is critical. Drawing on Ego Depletion (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000) and Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), we employed multisource experience sampling methods to test the effects of a critical boundary condition, employee lunch break autonomy, on the relation between lunch break activities and end-of-workday fatigue. Although specific energy-relevant activities had main effects on end-of-workday fatigue, each of these effects was moderated by the degree of autonomous choice associated with the break. Specifically, for activities that supported the psychological needs of relatedness and competence (i.e., social and work activities, respectively), as lunch break autonomy increased, effects switched from increasing fatigue to reducing fatigue. To the extent that lunch break activities involved relaxation, however, lunch break autonomy was only important when levels of relaxation were low. We conclude that lunch break autonomy plays a complex and pivotal role in conferring the potential energetic benefits of lunch break activities. Contributions to theory and practice are discussed.

TRIANGULATING ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE: WHAT DO CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY RATINGS REALLY CAPTURE?

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:55:13 +0000

The emergence of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) has led to the development of a large number of methodologies for rating corporate social responsibility and to a growing body of research exploring the link between environmental and financial performance. Increased availability of information potentially generates an abundance of riches upon which to base investment decisions, but also raises issues of commensurability, information overload and confusion. Using a unique dataset combining environmental ratings from three leading purveyors, we identify the principal components of corporate environmental performance. We find that two distinct factors explain 80% of the variance of the data: the environmental processes and practices implemented by firms, and the environmental outcomes they generate. We also find corporate financial performance to be associated to process but not to outcome measures.

AGENCY AND MONITORING CLARITY ON VENTURE BOARDS OF DIRECTORS

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:35:12 +0000

In this Dialogue, we respond to Garg's (2013) recently published paper on venture board monitoring. We argue that application of agency theory to entrepreneurial ventures requires greater clarity in developing the monitoring construct because the separation of ownership and control is not nearly as prevalent as in publicly traded firms. We offer a discussion of board leadership structure as an example of how greater clarity alters the theoretical insights from Garg's model.

Toward Reimagining Strategy Research: Retrospection and Prospection on the 2011 AMR Decade Award Article

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:45:17 +0000

We focus on implications of an agreed-upon yet little-considered conclusion from our 2001 article - that resource value is determined outside the business-level Resource-based View (RBV). Starting with this premise, we argue that knowledge accumulation from strategy research - and especially actionable knowledge about effective versus ineffective managerial judgments - would be stimulated with more balanced attention not only to value capture for the firm, but also to value creation for the firm's customers and, ultimately, consumers. To spur such wider attention, we offer an expanded boundary model that includes the demand side, business models and business ecosystems within the strategy research "umbrella." Our proposal: 1) extends what the current scholarly consensus might consider "normal" strategy research, 2) sets specific boundaries to guide future research, and 3) brings value creation for consumers to a more central position in the field. This broader perspective requires a shift in mindset, from focusing primarily on the firm to focusing more equally on the consumer, and from a primary emphasis on value capture to an equal emphasis on value creation. Such a shift faces obstacles, but likely would spur innovative knowledge generation and result in a more dynamic, yet accumulative and prescriptive, strategy field.

Organizational Decline and Innovation: Turnarounds and Downward Spirals

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:45:14 +0000

We consider four scenarios that can unfold when organizations either innovate or respond rigidly to organizational decline. Two of the scenarios are downward spirals that threaten an organization with possible death, and two of the scenarios are turnarounds. These scenarios are important because they can determine the fate of an organization - survival or death. We explore the conditions under which each of these scenarios is likely to emerge, developing original theory and specifying propositions about those conditions. In developing this theoretical framework, we distinguish between flexible and inflexible innovations as factors in turnaround success or failure. Our model extends current theory on organizational decline to highlight the feedback effects of the consequences of decline, and to explain the circumstances in which particular feedback effects are likely to occur.

Institutional Logic of Business Bubbles: Lessons from the Dubai Business School Mania

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:40:14 +0000

In this essay, we integrate institutional and business bubble perspectives to build a theoretical explanation for the growth and subsequent decline of the business school sector in Dubai during the period 2002-2012. The motivation for our research-based essay stems from the question: How is it possible that the world's top business schools simultaneously judged the market so badly and collectively invested in activities that, in retrospect, were far from economically rational and more closely resembled euphoria and mania? Furthermore, we ask: Why did business school leaders decide to enter the overcrowded Dubai market in particular, precipitating its boom and bust cycle? The novel integration of institutional logics and bubble literatures produces a detailed theoretical understanding of why business school bubbles have emerged in the past and may emerge again in the future. From a practical perspective, our essay also indicates that business schools are not immune to business cycles or to bubbles and bursts. Business schools can even create their own bubbles and bursts.

Competitive Parity, Status Disparity, and Mutual Forbearance: Securities Analysts' Competition for Investor Attention

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:15:13 +0000

Most studies of responses to change in competitive environments focus on competitor-specific adaptations. However, rivals are often acutely aware of one another, and this awareness should influence their competitive behavior. In this study, we focus on three market structures that affect competitive behavior: competitive parity, status disparity, and multipoint contact. In particular, we examine how securities analysts responded to a regulatory discontinuity, Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg-FD), which promoted competitive parity by eliminating privileged access to proprietary firm information as a critical source of competitive advantage. We predict and find that Reg-FD activated mutual forbearance among analysts linked through multipoint contact. We also predict and find that high-status analysts forbear more strongly. Analysts' responses to heterogeneity in competitive advantage thus depend importantly on their competitive overlap and status, with notable implications for their behavior and the information they provide to investors.

CONSCIENCE WITHOUT COGNITION: THE EFFECTS OF SUBCONSCIOUS PRIMING ON ETHICAL BEHAVIOR

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:05:13 +0000

Research in the field of behavioral ethics has traditionally viewed ethical decision making as rational and deliberate. However, some recent research has proposed a dual process model of ethical decision making that has both conscious and subconscious components (Reynolds, 2006). We extend current theory by using subconscious ethical and unethical priming to test the effects of subconscious processes on ethical behavior through an automatic process of schema activation and implicit association. Studies 1 and 2 extend self-concept maintenance theory (Mazar, Amir, & Ariely, 2008) by exploring the mediated process through which subconscious ethical and unethical primes trigger the activation of moral standards, thereby influencing categorization and subsequent responses to morally ambiguous situations. Study 3 demonstrates that both subconscious ethical and unethical priming reduce dishonesty even when participants are unmonitored and are given difficult performance goals that previously have been shown to lead to unethical behavior.

Abusive supervision through the lens of employee state paranoia

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:55:11 +0000

We use insights into the social dynamics of state paranoia to better understand and explain the evolution and effects of perceived abusive supervision. Within our framework, abusive supervision and employee state paranoia are reciprocally related. We explain how perceived abusive supervision can influence paranoid arousal (characterized by extreme distrust, a sense of threat, anxiety and fear of one's supervisor) and paranoid cognition (characterized by hypervigilance, rumination, and sinister attribution tendencies), and has attendant implications for employee behavior. We also identify an intra-personal mechanism of cognitive bias (e.g., sinister attribution tendencies, interpretive bias), and an inter-personal process of victim precipitation, whereby employee state paranoia can influence both experienced and subjective evaluations of abusive supervision. In addition, we identify personal, relational and contextual factors that moderate the relationship of abusive supervision and employee state paranoia. Our analysis brings into focus the psychological and emergent nature of abusive supervision, as well as the mechanisms by which abusive supervision influences employee psychological well-being and behavior.

On Melting Summits: The Limitations of Field-Configuring Events as Catalysts of Change in Transnational Climate Policy

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 18:25:13 +0000

Although field-configuring events have been highlighted as catalysts of institutional change, we still know little about the specific conditions that allow such change to occur. Based on a longitudinal study of a series of United Nations climate conferences in the context of the transnational climate policy field we analyze how different types of field-configuring events interact in producing or preventing institutional change. We uncover variations in event structures, processes and outcomes that explain why these conferences have not led to meaningful solutions to combat human-induced global warming. Results in particular highlight that growing field complexity and issue multiplication compromise the change potential of a field-configuring event series. We argue that events change from field-endogenous catalysts of change into sites of field maintenance when diverse actors find event participation useful for their own purposes, but their activity disconnects from the institutions at the center of an issue-based field. In discussing how field-configuring events can be purposefully staged and enacted, but also how they are influenced by developments in a field our study contributes to a more complete understanding of field-configuring events, particularly in contested transnational policy arenas.

Courage as identity work: Accounts of workplace courage

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 18:20:13 +0000

This study focuses on the intersection of identity dynamics and workplace courage. I examine accounts of courage submitted by business professionals and articulate the identity processes underlying the accounts. The narratives illustrate four storylines that reflect four distinct forms of courage, and one storyline reflecting a lack of courage. In the accounts, identity tensions precipitate courageous acts, and courage-based identity work is used to reconcile the tensions. The findings suggest that in accounts of workplace courage, courageous behavior is viewed as an important form of identity work that helps individuals to minimize incongruities between their self- and social identities.

The "Big Idea" that is yet to be: Towards a more motivated, contextual, and dynamic model of emotional intelligence

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 19:20:12 +0000

The "emotional intelligence" construct has been the focus of enormous scrutiny over the past twenty years (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). Much of this interest is based on the so-called "big idea" that first brought widespread attention to it—an idea popularized by Goleman's (1995) best-selling book, Emotional Intelligence, in which he claimed emotional intelligence can matter more than IQ in predicting important life outcomes. Despite the appeal of this idea, recent meta-analyses indicate emotional intelligence has not lived up to its promise. What are the implications of these findings for emotional intelligence research and for people interested in applying EI research to their organizations? Here we suggest that the predictive validity of Emotional Intelligence can be enhanced by refining the construct through the incorporation of three well-established principles of psychological processing: (a) dual process principles that capture automatic and deliberate processing, (b) motivational principles that highlight the importance of goals for processing social-emotional information, and (c) person X situation principles that delineate how context influences the way people think, feel, and behave. We discuss the implications of this re-conceptualization for emotional intelligence theory, research, and practice.

STYLES OF THEORIZING AND THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE*

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:45:13 +0000

Sexual Harassment Versus Workplace Romance: Social Media Spillover and Textual Harassment in the Workplace

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 21:00:17 +0000

Textual harassment through the use of social media technologies to send offensive or inappropriate text messages to coworkers is on the rise (Baldas, 2009; Hunton Parker-Pope, 2011). Contemporary social media technologies (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, blogs, Instagram, Foursquare) raise unforeseen risks associated with personal as well as professional connectivity, privacy, and intimacy requiring a new look at policy formulation concerning the boundaries of workplace romance vs. harassment in the internet age. A review of the relevant literature on workplace romance and sexual harassment policies, as well as evolving social media policies, legal perspectives, and privacy issues frame this article. This article will advocate the concept of "love contracts" to aid human resource professionals, legal experts, and romantic couples concerning the risks of social media spillover and harassment from romance in the office.

A Theory of Collective Empathy in Corporate Philanthropy Decisions

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:55:12 +0000

Prevailing perspectives of corporate philanthropy are predominantly rational and limit decision making to the executive suite. Recently, however, recognition has grown that employees are also important drivers of corporate philanthropy efforts and that their motives may be more empathic in nature. Integrating arguments from affective events theory, intergroup emotions theory, and affect infusion theory, we develop a framework in which organization members' collective empathy in response to the needs of unknown others infuses executives' decisions, thereby affecting the likelihood, scale, and form of corporate philanthropy. Our theory has implications for research on emotions in organizations as well as for our understanding of the role of organizations in society.

Friends and Foes: The Dynamics of Dual Social Structures

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:55:11 +0000

This paper investigates the evolutionary dynamics of a dual social structure encompassing collaboration and conflict among corporate actors. We apply and advance structural balance theory to examine the formation of balanced and unbalanced dyadic and triadic structures, and to explore how these dynamics aggregate to shape the emergence of a global network. Our findings are threefold. First, we find that existing collaborative or conflictual relationships between two companies engender future relationships of the same type, but crowd out relationships of the different type. This results in (1) an increased likelihood of formation of balanced (uniplex) relationships that combine multiple ties of either collaboration or conflict and (2) a reduced likelihood of formation of unbalanced (multiplex) relationships that combine collaboration and conflict between the same two firms. Second, we find that network formation is driven not by a pull toward balanced triads, but rather by a pull away from unbalanced triads. Third, we find that the observed micro-level dynamics of dyads and triads affect the structural segregation of the global network into two separate collaborative and conflictual segments of firms. Our empirical analyses used data on strategic partnerships and patent-infringement and antitrust lawsuits in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals from 1996 to 2006.

Coerced Practice Implementation in Cases of Low Cultural Fit: Cultural Change and Practice Adaptation During the Implementation of Six Sigma at 3M

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:00:21 +0000

In this paper, we present the findings of a longitudinal study of coerced practice implementation in the face of a low degree of fit between the practice and an organization's culture. Contrary to current predictions that a lack of cultural fit will eventually be resolved through the adaptation of the new practice, our findings portray the implementation of culturally dissonant practices as an ongoing process involving the mutual adaptation of organizational practices and culture. Our emerging model describes the cultural changes induced by the coercive implementation of new practices as involving a partial change in shared beliefs and behavioral patterns, and the more general enrichment of the cultural repertoire of members.

Leviathan as a Minority Shareholder: Firm-Level Implications of Equity Purchases by the State

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:00:19 +0000

In many countries, firms face institutional voids that raise the costs of doing business and thwart entrepreneurial activity. We examine a particular mechanism to address those voids: minority state ownership. Due to their minority nature, such stakes are less affected by the agency distortions commonly found in full-fledged state-owned firms. Using panel data from publicly traded firms in Brazil, where the government holds minority stakes through its development bank (BNDES), we find a positive effect of those stakes on firms' return on assets and on the capital expenditures of financially constrained firms with investment opportunities. However, these positive effects are substantially reduced when minority stakes are allocated to business group affiliates and as local institutions develop. Therefore, we shed light on the firm-level implications of minority state ownership, a topic that has received scant attention in the strategy literature.

Can Business Schools Make Students Culturally Competent? Effects of Cross-Cultural Management Courses on Cultural Intelligence

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:25:13 +0000

ABSTRACT The rapid increase in courses dealing with cross-cultural management (CCM), brought about by economies' globalization and increased workforce mobility motivated us to examine the impact of CCM courses on cultural intelligence. Cultural Intelligence (CQ) refers to individual's abilities and skills to effectively manage interactions in cross-cultural situations. CQ includes four dimensions: Metacognitive, Cognitive, Motivational and Behavioral. In two multination longitudinal studies using matched samples and pre-/post-intervention measures, we assessed the effects of academic CCM courses on students' CQ. We found that, following the courses, students' overall CQ was significantly higher than at time 1. No effects on CQ were detected in the control group, where students worked in multicultural settings but did not take a CCM course. CCM courses had stronger effects on Metacognitive and Cognitive CQ, than on Motivational and Behavioral CQ. We found an interesting pattern regarding students' international experience: while international experience in time 1 positively related to students' CQ, at time 2 this relationship became non-significant (study 1). These findings contribute to understanding the antecedents of cultural intelligence and how educational interventions affect CQ, with practical implications for designing and developing international management education and training programs.

Portrait of an Entrepreneur: Vincent Van Gogh, Steve Jobs and the Entrepreneurial Imagination

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:10:14 +0000

[no abstract provided]

Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Version 2.0: A Review and Qualitative Investigation of OCBs for Knowledge Workers at Google

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:40:13 +0000

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are employee discretionary behaviors that are helpful but not absolutely required by employers. While a great deal of information has been gleaned about the importance of OCBs in the workplace, the nature of work has fundamentally changed; with this shift, the nature of OCB for modern workers is also likely to have changed. Thus, the field is ready for an evolution in how we conceptualize OCB that considers the contemporary nature of work. We describe a multi-stage qualitative study designed to understand a new generation of OCBs as expressed at Google, a high-innovation, fast-paced firm, characteristic of the new form of work common to the high-technology industry and knowledge economy. Findings indicate that some established OCB concepts, map onto knowledge workers' conceptualizations of OCB. However, other common, historical forms of OCB were deemed irrelevant in this context, and a set of new behaviors never before surfaced by OCB research emerged. These findings offer insight into the kinds of behaviors necessary for success in the new world of work. Implications of this research for employee and organizational performance in the knowledge economy are discussed, and an initial instrument to assess these new forms of OCBs is introduced.

Organizational Sponsorship and Founding Environments: A Contingency View on the Survival of Business Incubated Firms, 1994-2007

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:35:13 +0000

Organizational sponsorship refers to attempts to mediate the relationship between new organizations and their environments by creating a resource-munificent context intended to increase survival rates among those new organizations. This includes efforts such as business incubation, venture capital, and governmental policies that create resource munificent environments for entrepreneurial activity. Existing theories are prone to treat such resource munificence as the inverse of resource dependence, indicating that the application of new resources in an entrepreneurial context should always benefit new firms. These existing theories, however, often overlook heterogeneity in both the types of applied resources as well as the founding environmental conditions. By attending to these nuances, we reveal that resource munificence is not necessarily predictive of organizational survival. Employing a dataset of 178 university-based incubators hosting 2110 new organizations from 1994 to 2007, we find that the resource munificence related to sponsorship can potentially decrease or increase survival rates among new organizations, and that these effects are contingent on the fit of the resource type with the geographic-based founding density. These findings confirm the need for a more nuanced theory of sponsorship that attends to the mechanisms and conditions whereby resource munificence is likely to alter new organization survival rates.

The Impact of Social Context on the Relationship between Individual Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism: The Roles of Different Foci of Job Satisfaction and Work-unit Absenteeism

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:40:14 +0000

Building upon recent conceptualizations of different foci of job satisfaction and theories of social-contextual influence, we develop and test an integrative cross-level model of the individual relationships between both externally focused satisfaction (referring to job conditions) and internally focused satisfaction (referring to the work unit) and absenteeism. For both of these foci, we hypothesize differential three-way interactive effects of work-unit absenteeism patterns as characterized by their mean and dispersion levels as well as individual satisfaction levels on subsequent individual absenteeism. Based on two German multi-level samples, our analyses demonstrate that the negative relationship between externally focused satisfaction and individual absenteeism is strongest in the presence of high mean and dispersion levels of work-unit absenteeism, whereas this relationship is weaker when either the mean or the dispersion levels of work-unit absenteeism or both are low. In contrast, the negative relationship between internally focused satisfaction and individual absenteeism is strongest under conditions of low mean and dispersion levels of work-unit absenteeism, whereas this relationship is weaker when either the mean or the dispersion levels of work-unit absenteeism or both are high. The present findings suggest that simultaneously improving individual internally focused satisfaction and reducing work-unit absenteeism is the most promising approach to reducing individual absenteeism.

Finding meaning through volunteering: Why do employees volunteer and what does it mean for their jobs?

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:30:21 +0000

Volunteering is prevalent and on the rise in the United States, but little research has examined the connection between individuals' volunteering and their jobs. In the absence of that research, it remains unclear whether employees volunteer to build on meaningful work experiences or to compensate for the lack of them. Similarly, it remains unclear whether volunteering is beneficial to the job in some way or if it is a distraction, akin to "moonlighting." In this manuscript, several theoretical perspectives from the multiple domain literature - particularly, compensation, enhancement, and resource drain - are employed across two studies to examine the intersection between volunteering and work domains. Results suggested that volunteering was associated with both volunteer and job meaningfulness, and that the pull of meaningful volunteer work was even stronger when employees had less meaning in their jobs. The results further revealed benefits of volunteering for employers. Volunteering was related to job absorption but not job interference, and was therefore associated with better performance on the job. Implications of these findings for future theorizing on volunteering are discussed.

Taking the Cultural Turn: Reading Cultural Sociology

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:20:15 +0000

n/a

Why are Job Seekers Attracted by Corporate Social Performance? Experimental and Field Tests of Three Signal-Based Mechanisms

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:55:13 +0000

Research on employee recruitment has shown that an organization's corporate social performance (CSP) affects its attractiveness as an employer, but the underlying mechanisms and processes through which this occurs are poorly understood. We propose that job seekers receive signals from CSP that inform three signal-based mechanisms that ultimately affect organizational attractiveness: job seekers' anticipated pride from being affiliated with the organization, their perceived value fit with the organization, and their expectations about how the organization treats its employees. We hypothesized that these signal-based mechanisms mediate the relationships between CSP and organizational attractiveness, focusing on two aspects of CSP: an organization's community involvement and pro-environmental practices. In an experiment (N = 180) we manipulated CSP via a company's web pages. In a field study (N = 171) we measured CSP content in the recruitment materials used by organizations at a job fair and job seekers' perceptions of the organizations' CSP. Results provided support for the signal-based mechanisms and we discuss the implications for theory, future research, and practice.

It's Not Easy Being Green: Self-Evaluations and Their Role in Explaining Support of Environmental Issues

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:05:12 +0000

Using a mixed methods design, we examine the role of self-evaluations in influencing support for environmental issues. In study 1, an inductive, qualitative study, we develop theory about how environmental issue supporters evaluate themselves in a mixed fashion, positively around having assets (self-assets) and negatively around questioning their performance (self-doubts). We explain how these ongoing self-evaluations, something we label situated self-work, are shaped by cognitive, relational and organizational challenges individuals interpret about the issue from a variety of life domains (work, home or school). In study 2, an inductive, quantitative, observational study, we derive three profiles of environmental issue supporters' mixed selves (self-affirmers, self-critics and self-equivocators) and relate these profiles to real issue supportive behaviors. We empirically validate key constructs from study 1 and show that even among the most dedicated issue supporters, doubts play an important role in their experiences and may be either enabling or damaging depending on the composition of the mixed self. Our research offers a richer view of both how contexts shape social issue support and how individuals' self-evaluations play a meaningful role in understanding the experience and ultimately the issue supportive behaviors of those individuals working on social issues.

Governing the International Student Experience: Lessons from the Australian International Education Model

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:30:14 +0000

Utilizing the Australian case as an exemplar, this essay argues that a stable education export 'industry' needs to be governed by a robust governance network. It tells of an education sector that was directed by the state to commercialize its international activities but in so doing embraced a model of education supply that prioritized the pursuit of revenue over the need to provide the learning and education experience students have a right to expect. The subsequent crisis that unfolded led to the emergence of a more mature governance regime but problematic aspects of the original model remain. It is argued that to achieve stability a governance network needs to be created, a network that is comprised of a range of stakeholders who have the capacity to countervail each other's power and by so doing curtail practices that place international students and academic values at risk. We suggest the Australian case is an important exemplar of the difficulties that can be generated if the commercialization of international education is inadequately governed and should be accorded due heed by students, faculty, university managers and regulators.

Top Management Turnover Following Mergers and Acquisitions: Solid Research to Date but Much Still to be Learned

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:00:23 +0000

It is commonly believed that retaining target company executives is an important determinant of post-acquisition success. We review existing research, paying particular attention to the different micro-, group-, meso-, and macro-level factors that motivate acquisitions. We conclude that the link between turnover and post-acquisition performance is more complex than implied by existing studies. Retaining executives may lead to higher performance in some acquisitions, as existing studies suggest. There are, however, good theoretical arguments for the opposite view; namely, replacing executives may be an equally important source of value creation in other acquisitions. We develop a framework that provides guidelines for understanding when and under what conditions retaining or replacing target executives may contribute to acquisition success. A research agenda that considers acquisition context and the short-, intermediate-, and long-term performance consequences of leadership instability in acquired firms is suggested as a means of moving this research domain forward. The decision to retain or replace target executives is largely a matter of context. Existing studies have not yet captured this complexity.

The Riddle of Heterarchy: Power Transitions in Cross-Functional Teams

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:30:24 +0000

In this paper, we develop the concept of a power heterarchy, which is a conceptualization of power structures in groups that is more dynamic and fluid than traditional hierarchical structures. Through a study of 516 directional dyads in 45 teams, we demonstrate that heterarchical structures where the expression of power actively shifts among team members to align team member capabilities with dynamic situational demands can enhance team creativity. Our results indicate that this positive effect of power heterarchies on team creativity is contingent on the team perceiving the shifts in interpersonal power expressions as legitimate. We discuss the implications of this heterarchical power structure for research on group functioning, power, and legitimacy in organizations.

On Compassion in Scholarship: Why Should We Care?

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:00:38 +0000

I presented a shorter version of this address on August 5, 2012, at the Academy's annual meeting in Boston. I am deeply grateful for the support and inspiration of many colleagues and friends who helped me prepare this address, including Sara Rynes, Nancy Adler, Andy Van de Ven, Joe Galaskiewicz, Kelly Mitchell, and Anie Miles, as well as my daughter Amelia Tsui and many others who, over the years, have encouraged me to follow my heart. The audio and slides accompanying the address are posted on the Academy's YouTube channel. From September to November 2012, I presented this address to faculty and students in five Chinese universities: Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, South China University of Science and Technology, Nanjing University, and Renmin University. The theme of the address is as relevant for Chinese management researchers as it is for Academy members (Tsui & Jia, in press). This is not too surprising since the challenges I discuss in this address are also relevant to the management research community in China and elsewhere. As the sixty-seventh president of the Academy of Management, I am honored and humbled to speak on an issue that has greatly concerned many of my predecessors.

INFORMATION EXPOSURE, OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION AND ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTION: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF AN ONLINE USER COMMUNITY

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:30:36 +0000

We study how an individual's exposure to external information regulates the evaluation of entrepreneurial opportunities and entrepreneurial action. Combining data from interviews, a survey, and a comprehensive web log of an online user community spanning eight years, we find that technical information shaped opportunity evaluation, and social information about user needs drove individuals to entrepreneurial action. Our empirical findings suggest that reducing demand uncertainty is a central factor regulating of entrepreneurial action, an insight that received theories of entrepreneurial action have so far overlooked.

National Animosity and Cross-border Alliances

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 20:55:33 +0000

We extend cross-border strategic alliance knowledge base by introducing dyad-specific antagonism (animosity between nation pairs), and hold that the formation and the type of firm-level cross-border alliances are nontrivially impacted by the conflicting relations and animosity between their home nations. We examine the formation of alliances between firms among nation-dyads with and without a history of conflicts. The frequency and magnitude of conflicts increases the perception of likelihood of opportunism and dyad-specific risks materially affect the context in which firms make alliance decisions. As animosity between nations increases, the number and the probability of forming alliances within the dyad decreases. Conditional on the expected number of alliances, increased antagonistic actions of nations outside the dyad and the dissimilarity in the historical conflicts that each nation engaged in outside of the dyad (i) increase the number of equity alliances, and (ii) decrease the number of non-equity alliances as a proportion of total number of alliances. We find positive main effects of learning to contract through prior experience only for equity rather than non-equity alliances. The reputation effects for antagonism based on the relationships with nations outside of the dyad negatively moderates the positive learning effects of prior equity-alliance experience.

NEWCOMERS ABROAD: EXPATRIATE ADAPTATION DURING EARLY PHASES OF INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 20:45:33 +0000

Integrating work from the expatriate adjustment and newcomer socialization literatures within a motivational framework, we propose that motivational states and stress cognitions impact expatriates' work adjustment patterns over time, which in turn influence important assignment attitudes. In accordance with our theorizing, analyses of longitudinal data collected from 70 expatriates during their first four months of international assignment indicated that cross-cultural motivation and psychological empowerment related positively to initial levels of adjustment, and indirectly and negatively to work adjustment change. Challenge stressors positively related to changes in work adjustment over time. In turn, changes in work adjustment significantly related to expatriates' assignment satisfaction and premature return intention above and beyond average levels of work adjustment. These findings extend our understanding of how and why expatriate work adjustment evolves over time, as well as the unique influence that differences in adjustment change have on important expatriate outcomes.

Model theoretic knowledge accumulation: The case of agency theory and incentive alignment

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:30:36 +0000

The philosophy of science offers two different understandings of how empirical findings contribute to knowledge accumulation. The 'law-statement' perspective interprets contributions to the extent that empirical research confirms or refutes general axioms of theory. Alternatively, the model-theoretic perspective recognizes contributions from models that improve scholars' ability to represent the world of managers. Management scholars often have limited awareness of the philosophical tradition underlying the model-theoretic perspective, and consequently, useful contributions from improved models of important phenomena may be overlooked. Drawing on model-theoretic philosophy, we identify three ways in which empirical research contributes to theoretical knowledge without necessarily verifying or falsifying theoretical axioms, through the grafting, contextualizing, and repurposing of representational models. We provide examples of each by focusing on studies investigating incentive alignment. Finally, we discuss how the model-theoretic perspective contributes to an ongoing discussion about improving theoretical precision in management research.

Shattering the Myth of Separate Worlds: Negotiating Non-Work Identities at Work

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:05:32 +0000

How much of our self is defined by our work? Fundamental changes in the social organization of work are destabilizing the relationship between work and the self. As a result, parts of the self traditionally considered outside the domain of work, i.e., "non-work" identities, are increasingly affected by organizations and occupations. Based on an interdisciplinary review of literature on identity and work we develop a model of how people negotiate non-work identities (e.g., national, gender, family) in the context of organizational/ occupational pressures and personal preferences regarding this identity. We propose that the dual forces of pressures and preferences vary from inclusion (e.g., incorporating the non-work identity within the work identity) to exclusion (e.g., keeping the identities separate). We suggest that the alignment or misalignment of these pressures and preferences shapes peoples' experience of the power relationship between themselves and their organization/occupation, and affects how they manage their non-work identities. We describe how people enact different non-work identity management strategies—namely assenting to, complying with, resisting, or inverting the pressures—and delineate the consequences of these strategies for people and their organizations/occupations.

Multicultural Employees: A framework for understanding how they contribute to organizations

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:25:32 +0000

Organizations are experiencing a rise in a new demographic of employees - multicultural individuals, who identify with two or more cultures, and have internalized associated cultural schemas. This paper creates a map of possible ways to organize more than one cultural identity, based on identity integration, which ranges from separated to integrated, and identity plurality, which ranges from single to multiple. Cognitive and motivational mechanisms drawn from social identity theory explain how identity patterns then influence both benefits and challenges for multicultural employees, categorized into personal, social and task outcomes. Organizational identification and organizational culture each moderate relationships between multicultural identity patterns and outcomes. The framework presented in this paper offers a theoretical basis for understanding how multicultural employees may contribute to their organizations.

Alumni Effects and Relational Advantage: The Impact on Outsourcing when Your Buyer Hires Employees from Your Competitors

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:40:33 +0000

Research examining the impacts of employee mobility on inter-firm relationships suggests that firms earn positive relational spillovers when their former employees, or alumni, depart to join other organizations. Drawing on the theory of relational advantage (Dyer & Singh, 1998), we extend this line of work by examining how a supplier firm is affected when a buyer hires alumni from the supplier's competitors. Using detailed data on mobility between patent law firms and their Fortune500 clients, we find that supplier firms receive less outsourced business when buyers hire employees from the focal supplier's competitors. Further, this negative effect decreases when the focal supplier has its own alumni already working for the buyer firm, and increases when the buyer firm has higher turnover or hires locally from competing suppliers. The paper thus underscores the importance of former employees (firm alumni) in the competition for valuable business relationships.

FALLING FROM GREAT (AND NOT SO GREAT) HEIGHTS: HOW INITIAL STATUS POSITION INFLUENCES PERFORMANCE AFTER STATUS LOSS

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:30:35 +0000

We investigate how initial status position influences the quality of task performance in the aftermath of status loss. We argue that despite the benefits of having status, high-status individuals experience more self-threat and, consequently, have more difficulty performing well after status loss than do low-status individuals who experience a comparable loss of status. In a field study of professional baseball players (Study 1), we found that while low-status players' performance quality was unaffected by status loss, the quality of high-status players' performance declined significantly after losing status. In a high-involvement group experiment (Study 2) we found that high-status individuals who lost status were less proficient than both high-status individuals who did not lose status, and low-status individuals who lost a comparable amount of status. However, supporting the proposed self-threat mediation, self-affirmation restored the quality of high-status individuals' performance (Study 3). We discuss the practical and theoretical implications of these findings.

Organizational Crises and the Disturbance of Relational Systems

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:55:31 +0000

Various literatures attest to how crises significantly damage how people relate with one another, damage that lasts long past the cessation of those crises. Such relational disturbances are problematic in terms of crisis management theory. If crises are understood to be operationally resolved yet the relational systems that underlie organizations remain disturbed, the crises may not truly be resolved, with implications for ongoing dysfunctional patterns of behavior, organizational vulnerabilities, and longer-term performance problems. The purpose of this article is to conceptualize organizational crises in terms of relational disturbance and crisis management as the repair of such disturbances. We introduce a framework for analyzing the relational health of organizational systems, drawing upon family systems theory to help define the dimensions of relational systems. We describe and illustrate the disturbances of relational systems in the context of crises, and develop a framework for their repair and transformation. We conclude with implications for theory and research guided by an expanded definition of crisis management that links operational and relational dimensions.

What goes around comes around: Knowledge hiding, perceived motivational climate, and creativity

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 16:40:33 +0000

Knowledge hiding prevents colleagues from generating creative ideas, but it may also have negative consequences for the creativity of the knowledge hider. Drawing on social exchange theory, we propose that when employees hide knowledge, they trigger a reciprocal distrust loop in which coworkers are unwilling to share knowledge with them. We further suggest that these effects are contingent on the motivational climate such that the negative effects of hiding knowledge on one's own creativity are enhanced in a performance climate and attenuated in a mastery climate. A field study of 240 employees, nested into 34 groups, revealed a negative relationship between knowledge hiding and the knowledge hider's creativity as well as the moderating role of a mastery climate. Study 2 replicated these findings in an experimental study of 132 undergraduate students, testing a reciprocal distrust loop and comparing it with an alternative intra-psychic explanatory process based on situational regulatory focus. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Value Capture and Crowdsourcing

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 14:45:34 +0000

This is a dialogue piece and abstracts are not required in dialogue pieces

Crowdsourcing: Useful for Problem Solving, but What About Value Capture?

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 14:45:34 +0000

Information for Contributors requests that no Abstract be included for Dialogue manuscripts.

When worlds collide in cyberspace: How boundary work in online social networks impacts professional relationships

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:15:33 +0000

As employees increasingly interact with their professional contacts on online social networks that are personal in nature, such as Facebook or Twitter, they are likely to experience a collision of their professional and personal identities that is unique to this new and expanding social space. In particular, online social networks present employees with boundary management and identity negotiation opportunities and challenges, because they invite non-tailored self-disclosure to broad audiences, while offering few of the physical and social cues that normally guide social interactions. How and why do employees manage the boundaries between their professional and personal identities in online social networks, and how do these behaviors impact the way they are regarded by professional contacts? We build a framework to theorize about how work-nonwork boundary preferences and self-evaluation motives drive the adoption of four archetypical sets of online boundary management behaviors (open, audience, content, and hybrid), and the consequences of these behaviors for respect and liking in professional relationships.

A Longitudinal, Multilevel Study of Leadership Efficacy Development in MBA Teams

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 15:30:37 +0000

Simulations in which MBA students can practice decision-making and leadership skills in team contexts are commonplace in modern business schools. This longitudinal study explored the development of confidence in one's ability to lead (i.e., leadership efficacy) over time in the context of 40 self-directed MBA teams (198 individuals) participating in a four-day immersive business simulation. Using random coefficient growth modeling (Bliese Ployhart, Holtz, & Bliese, 2002), two manifestations of leadership efficacy were examined: the individual-level variable and team-level dispersion. Findings at the individual level indicated that extraversion and cognitive ability were predictors of the initial level of leadership efficacy, and emotional stability, agreeableness, and openness to experience were predictors of the change in leadership efficacy over time. Midpoint feedback received by the team was also related to leadership efficacy. Findings at the team level indicated that dispersion increased over time within teams, but teams that began their lifespan with strong action and transition processes experienced less dispersion from the outset. Also, more positive midpoint feedback caused greater dispersion in the second half of the team's life. Implications for leadership development are discussed.

Doing Good and Doing Well: On the Multiple Contributions of Journal Editors

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 17:25:32 +0000

We investigate four facets of the post-editorship research performance of journal editors (i.e., number of articles in refereed journals, books, book chapters, and presentations at professional conferences) and their relationship with non-research performance at the university (i.e., department, school/college, university) and professional (i.e., professional organizations, journal editorial boards) levels. Our sample included 31 of the 32 journal editors from the mid-1950s to the mid-2000s of Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, and Personnel Psychology who have not retired or passed away studied by Aguinis, de Bruin, Cunningham, Hall, Culpepper, and Gottfredson (2010). Results based on robust regression analysis indicate that post-editorship productivity does not involve a simplistic dichotomy and mutually exclusive choice between research performance versus other types of contributions. Results show that past editors can do well—be productive researchers—and also do good—make meaningful non-research contributions to their universities as well as their professions in general.

ON THE MISUSE OF REALISM IN THE STUDY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 22:30:41 +0000

The AMR decade award to Shane and Venkataraman's "Promise" recently stimulated a number of commentaries around the burning issue of "entrepreneurial opportunities". Among them, Alvarez and Barney extend their earlier analyses on the philosophical foundations of entrepreneurial opportunities to critique the "critical realist" underpinnings of the discovery approach to entrepreneurship, due to critical realism's alleged unsuitability for understanding the nature of opportunities. The present intervention intends to explain why germane conceptions of "critical realism" are grounded on a misreading of realist philosophy of science that, as a matter of fact, subverts the very raison-d'être of realism and perpetuates popular confusions.

What the Academy is Reading: Reinventing the Book Review at AMR

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:31:07 +0000

Almost since its invention, pundits have been predicting the book's demise. Derrida, the French philosopher credited with discovering semiotic deconstruction, famously predicted the "death of the civilization of the book" and it's associated "convulsive proliferation of libraries" (Derrida, 1974: 8). Derrida of course, made the claim without a hint of irony, in a book. Which perhaps best demonstrates the stubborn persistence of books as an amazingly effective vehicle for the creation and diffusion of knowledge.

Rational and Reasonable Microfoundations of Markets and Institutions

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:30:36 +0000

This paper proposes that individual rational behavior (from neo-classical economics) and collective reasonable behavior (from jurisprudence) serve as the microfoundations of markets and institutions, respectively. We propose that incorporating a collective standard of reasonable behavior can significantly enrich mainstream theories of organization and management that are largely based on a model of individual rational behavior. We examine this proposition in the cases of behavioral theory of the firm, transactions cost economics, organizational institutional theory, and population ecology theory. In each case we find that important new advances can be made in these maturing theories by incorporating both rational and reasonable models of behavior.

From Preeminence to Prominence: The Fall of US Business Schools and the Rise of European and Asian Business Schools in the Financial Times Global MBA Rankings

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:35:32 +0000

Rankings have grown in number and influence in the business education field over the past decades. Studies show that US Business School rankings are stable over time. However, we empirically examine the Financial Times Global MBA rankings and find that significant shifts have occurred at the international level: US schools have declined, to the advantage of European and Asian schools. This shift corresponds to an erosion in the salary difference of MBA graduates between the regions. We examine macro factors that may have played a role in this process: aggregate economic demand, overall supply of MBA graduates, student migrations, and shifts in visa policies. We observe that, over time, European MBAs have experienced a sustained rise in graduate salaries despite low aggregate economic demand and a rising supply of graduates. We conclude the article with a discussion on the implications of our findings for Deans, business school administrators and prospective MBA students, and highlight future research avenues.

Lords of the Harvest: Third-Party Influence and Regulatory Approval of Genetically Modified Organisms

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:20:38 +0000

Little is known about the factors that influence regulatory-agency decision making. We posit that regulatory agencies are influenced by the firms they regulate, but not exclusively via dyadic exchanges as is traditionally argued in the regulatory capture and business-government literatures. Instead, regulatory decisions are indirectly shaped via third-party actors who shield agencies from legitimacy threats. Focusing empirically on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's approval of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), we find that product assessments by powerful stakeholders and peer agencies influence product approval and that their effects vary under different threats. We also discuss the implications of these findings for business-government relations, nonmarket strategy, and organization theory.

Abusive supervision and retaliation: A self-control framework

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:10:36 +0000

There are conflicting perspectives on whether subordinates will or will not aggress against an abusive supervisor. To address this paradox we develop a self-control model of retaliatory behavior wherein subordinates' self-control capacity and motivation to self-control influence emotional and retaliatory reactions to provocations by enabling individuals to override their hostile impulses. In Study 1, we demonstrate that self-control capacity, motivation to self-control (supervisor coercive power), and abusive supervision interact such that the strongest association between abusive supervision and supervisor-directed aggression occurs when subordinates are low in self-control capacity and perceive their supervisor to be low in coercive power. In Study 2 we extend this finding, testing a moderated mediation model wherein hostility towards a supervisor represents the hostile impulse resulting in retaliatory behavior, mediating the relation between abusive supervision and supervisor-directed aggression. Results from Study 2 indicate that self-control capacity allows individuals to regulate the hostile feelings experienced following abusive supervision, while self-control capacity and supervisor coercive power jointly moderate the tendency to act on one's hostile feelings towards an abusive supervisor. Implications for retaliatory behaviors at work are discussed.

Corporate Control and the Speed of SBU-Level Decision Making

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:10:36 +0000

Decision speed has long been recognized as a critical determinant of firm performance, particularly in dynamic environments. Extending prior studies, which have largely focused on firm-level decision speed in small- and medium-sized organizations, this study explores how control mechanisms set by corporate headquarters in multi-business firms influence decision speed at the strategic business unit (SBU) level. Using a multi-method approach, we first inductively derive six types of corporate control, before deductively examining their effects on SBU-level decision speed in five international multi-business organizations. Our results suggest that three corporate control types enhance decision speed (goal setting, extrinsic incentives, and decision process control), two have no effect (negative incentives and conflict resolution), and one has a negative effect (strategy imposition). By integrating results from our qualitative and quantitative analyses, we are also able to identify transparency/alignment, outcome orientation, participation, trust, and timely feedback as the key mechanisms accounting for these effects.

Using Instructional Features to Enhance Demonstration-Based Training in Management Education

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:30:38 +0000

The role of the modern manager is changing—work environments and demands are becoming increasingly complex and dynamic. In line with these changes, approaches to management education should also adapt if they are to remain effective. As such, the purpose of this article is to reexamine a commonly used educational approach—demonstration-based training (DBT)—and to explore techniques for enhancing it. Specifically, we present a theoretical framework for understanding how and when various instructional features can be used to enhance DBT, and review the literature pertaining to such instructional features, linking them to current practices in the management education literature, and providing guidelines for how they can best be implemented.

The Costs of Ambient Cultural Disharmony: Indirect Intercultural Conflicts in Social Environment Undermine Creativity

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:00:41 +0000

Intercultural tensions and conflicts are inevitable in the global workplace. This paper introduces the concept of ambient cultural disharmony—indirect experience of intercultural tensions and conflicts in individuals' immediate social environment—and demonstrates how it undermines creative thinking in tasks that draw on knowledge from multiple cultures. Three studies (a network survey and two experiments) found that ambient cultural disharmony decreases individuals' effectiveness at connecting ideas from disparate cultures. Beliefs that ideas from different cultures are incompatible mediate the relationship between ambient cultural disharmony and creativity. Alternative mechanisms such as negative affect and cognitive disruption were not viable mediators. Although ambient cultural disharmony disrupts creativity, ambient cultural harmony did not promote creativity. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for research in workplace diversity and creativity.

EXPLAINING DIFFERENCES IN FIRMS' RESPONSES TO ACTIVISM

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 00:30:35 +0000

Activist campaigns describe efforts to modify socially or environmentally detrimental industry practices by contesting prominent industry members' versions of those practices (i.e., target firms). We adopt a socio-cognitive perspective to account for variance in when and how the managers of target and non-target firms attend to, interpret, and respond to pressure from activists. Overall, we enhance theory by explaining why firms in an industry differ in their reactions to activism, even when subject to common campaigns and strategies.

The Family Innovator's Dilemma: How Family Influence Affects the Adoption of Discontinuous Technologies by Incumbent Firms

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:45:36 +0000

We integrate research on family business and discontinuous change to better explain why incumbents vary in when and how they adopt discontinuous technologies. Family influence induces companies to strive for continuity, command, community, and connections, and thus alters the mix of constraints under which firms operate. Consequently, family influence weakens several of the inertial forces described in the discontinuous change literature, particularly the level of formalization, dependence on external capital providers, and political resistance. However, it also aggravates critical sources of organizational paralysis, specifically emotional ties to existing assets and the rigidity of mental models. We aggregate these seemingly contradictory effects to show that, overall, discontinuous change conflicts with essential goals and values of the family system and, therefore, family influence entails fundamentally different dilemmas than those described in extant research. In turn, although highly family-influenced companies recognize discontinuous technologies later than their less family-influenced counterparts, they implement adoption decisions more quickly and with more stamina. Moreover, family influence reduces adoption aggressiveness and flexibility. We discuss important implications of our research for conversations on discontinuous change as well as for the debate on the advantages and disadvantages of family influence in firms.

The Business Group as an Information Resource: An investigation of business group affiliation in the Indian software services industry

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:50:36 +0000

While business groups benefit firms when markets fail, does group affiliation continue to be an advantage for firms in deregulated, globally competitive industries? I argue affiliation allows firms to tap into the knowledge and connections of sister affiliates. This enables them to attract clients from across more industries and foreign markets than can unaffiliated firms, and attain higher international sales as well. Using data from the Indian software industry, I find support for these hypotheses but only for 2000-2002, when competition increased due to additional deregulation. These results suggest business groups continue to provide benefits to group-affiliated firms including information on market opportunities and reputation signaling to clients.

SHOOT FOR THE STARS? PREDICTING THE RECRUITMENT OF PRESTIGIOUS DIRECTORS AT NEWLY PUBLIC FIRMS

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:40:35 +0000

This study explores how CEOs' and outside directors' desires for the benefits of signaling and homophily intertwine with their concerns over maintaining power and preserving local status hierarchies to affect the likelihood a firm recruits prestigious outside directors to its board. Using pooled cross-sectional data on the five years following the IPOs of 210 firms that went public between 2001 and 2004, we found that prestigious CEOs and directors viewed the recruitment of prestigious new directors differently, and that these perceptions were moderated by factors that increase the salience of risk of the potential losses to the CEO and existing board members.

Understanding Aesthetic Innovation in the Context of Technological Evolution

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:30:41 +0000

The paper theorizes the co-evolution of technology and design by integrating research on the evolution of technology with ideas from sociology, marketing, and psychology that explain the effects of design. Specifically, it applies work arguing that visible design attributes, such as color, shape, or texture allow producers to explain what their products do and how best to use them, to excite users in a way that generates sales, and to extend the basic functionalities of their products by highlighting their symbolic meanings. It then theorizes that the relevance of these three uses varies in the context of technological evolution such that affecting products' design-related attributes is a more central organizational process as product technologies emerge and when they are very mature, suggesting a U-shaped relationship between technological evolution and design. Next, the paper elaborates the moderators of this relationship: the frequency of successive product introductions, the social dynamics affecting consumption, the users' level of technological knowledge, and the volume of discourse attending to design. Thus, the paper offers a holistic theory for understanding the strategic use of design in the context of technological production and as such, advances recent work positioning design as a primary strategic challenge.

"I Care About Nature, but...": Disengaging Values in Assessing Opportunities that Cause Harm

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 15:10:36 +0000

Some managers and entrepreneurs decide to act in ways that result in harm to the environment despite the fact that such actions violate their own values. Building on moral self-regulation theory (Bandura, 1991), we propose that entrepreneurs' assessments of the attractiveness of opportunities that harm the natural environment depend on the simultaneous impact of values and personal agency. By cognitively disengaging their pro-environmental values, decision makers (i.e., entrepreneurs) can (under certain circumstances) perceive opportunities that harm the environment as highly attractive and thus suitable for exploitation. The results of a judgment task that generated 1,264 opportunity assessments nested within 83 business founders offered support for this general prediction and also indicated that the extent of founders' disengagement of their pro-environmental values was stronger when they had high, rather than low, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and stronger when industry munificence was perceived as low rather than high. We discuss our new measure of moral disengagement in a decision-making context and the implications of the study's findings for extant literatures on moral disengagement and sustainable entrepreneurship.

Broken When Entering: The Stigmatization of Goodness and Business Ethics Education

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 14:10:39 +0000

We propose that some of our students are socialized with destructive thinking toward ethics and virtue that distorts their mindsets long before they enter our classrooms. Students are exposed to a plethora of language and thinking that espouses materialistic values and emphasizes power and winning at any cost. We delineate the "baggage" that students may carry into our classrooms, including disparaging virtue and vilifying people who need help. Ultimately, this socialization leaves some students morally broken and suspicious of those living ethical lives. We label this phenomenon the stigmatization of goodness, a process in which moral people are condemned because they are seen as threats to an organization's bottom line. We close with suggestions to confront this problem in our classrooms, including the need to teach students the ethics of care, which emphasizes the benefits of interconnection, caring, and shared interests.

Rocking the Boat but Keeping it Steady: The Role of Emotion Regulation in Employee Voice

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:10:49 +0000

Employees are often driven to speak up by intense emotions such as frustration, anger, and dissatisfaction. Yet the very emotions that spur employees to express voice may compromise their ability to express it constructively, preventing managers from reacting favorably. I propose that to speak up frequently and constructively, employees need knowledge about effective strategies for managing emotions. Building on theories of emotion regulation, I develop a theoretical model that explains the role of managing emotions in the incidence and outcomes of voice. In a field study at a healthcare company, emotion regulation knowledge (1) predicted more frequent voice, (2) mediated by the emotional labor strategies of deep acting and surface acting, and (3) enhanced the contributions of voice to performance evaluations. These results did not generalize to helping behaviors, demonstrating the unique role of emotion regulation in challenging rather than affiliative interpersonal citizenship behaviors. This research introduces emotion regulation as a novel influence on voice and its consequences.

Management Education Journals' Rank and Tier by Active Scholars

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 18:15:33 +0000

Management education is a distinct field of study with its own set of journals representing its body of knowledge. To date, no one has ranked journals in this field using either citation or peer-assessment based approaches. This paper fills this gap by carrying out an on-line survey of active scholars in the field and using respondent data to endogenously rank and tier the complete set of 84 management learning and education journals. Respondent data from the on-line survey (35.5% response rate representing 38 countries) are used to rank the 84 journals by quality and importance. Journals are further tiered into four groups (A-D) and stratified into "upper", "middle" and "lower" tier categories (e.g. A+, A and A-) by estimating a nested regression with random journal-within-tier effects. Results from the ASA study are also compared to ranking available from the ISI Journal Citation Reports and the Association of Business Schools (ABS) Academic Journal Quality Guide. The comprehensive and endogenous ranking based on the Active Scholar Assessment methodology offers useful information to authors, libraries, editorial boards, as well as promotion and tenure committees.

The Theory of Purposeful Work Behavior: The Role of Personality, Higher-Order Goals, and Job Characteristics

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 14:40:41 +0000

The Theory of Purposeful Work Behavior integrates higher-order, implicit goals with principles derived from the Five-factor Model (FFM) of personality and the expanded job characteristics model to explain how traits and job characteristics jointly and interactively influence work outcomes. The core principle of the theory is that personality traits initiate purposeful goal strivings and when the motivational forces associated with job characteristics act in concert with these purposeful motivational strivings, individuals experience the psychological state of experienced meaningfulness. In turn, experienced meaningfulness triggers task-specific motivation processes that influence the attainment of work outcomes. Testable propositions derived from the theory are described and directions for future research are discussed.

The benefits of climate for inclusion for gender diverse groups

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 19:50:36 +0000

I introduce the construct of Climate for Inclusion, which involves eliminating relational sources of bias by ensuring that identity group status is unrelated to one's access to resources, creating expectations and opportunities for heterogeneous individuals to establish personalized cross-cutting ties, and integrating ideas across boundaries in joint problem-solving. I show that within inclusive climates, interpersonal bias is reduced such that gender diversity is associated with lower levels of conflict. In turn, the negative effect that group conflict typically has on unit-level satisfaction disappears. This has important implications, as unit-level satisfaction is negatively associated with turnover in groups.

From Bench to Board: Gender Differences in University Scientists' Participation in Corporate Scientific Advisory Boards

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 15:25:32 +0000

This paper examines the gender gap in the likelihood that academic scientists join corporate scientific advisory boards (SABs). We assess (i) demand-side theories that relate the gap in scientists' rate of joining SABs to the opportunity structure of SAB invitations, and (ii) supply-side explanations that attribute the gap to scientists' preferences for work of this type. We statistically examine the demand- and supply-side perspectives in a national sample of 6,000 life scientists whose careers span more than 30 years. Holding constant professional achievement, network ties, employer characteristics and research foci, male scientists are almost twice as likely as females to serve on the SABs of biotechnology companies. We do not find evidence in our data supporting a choice-based explanation for the gender gap. Instead, demand-side theoretical perspectives focusing on gender-stereotyped perceptions and the unequal opportunities embedded in social networks appear to explain some of the gender gap.

WHAT MATTERS WHEN: A MULTISTAGE MODEL AND EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF JOB SEARCH EFFORT

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 14:15:32 +0000

We develop a multistage self-regulatory perspective on job search effort assuming active job seekers conducting job searches within a job search goal life span. Specifically, we propose that time pressure increases as the goal of finding employment becomes more proximal, while job search uncertainty decreases. Based on these premises, we integrate social comparison theory, control theory, and the attentional focus model of time pressure to hypothesize how various intrapersonal (i.e., prior effort, job search progress) and socio-contextual (i.e., effort put forth by peers in one's social network) factors relate to job seekers' self-regulation of effort at different stages (i.e., preparatory, active-extensive, and active-intensive) of a job search process. In two studies of job seekers, we find that (1) prior job seeker effort is positively related to current effort across stages, (2) average peer job search effort is more strongly and positively related to job seeker effort earlier in job search, and (3) job search progress (i.e., the ratio of interviews to applications in Study 1 and perceived progress in Study 2) is negatively related to job seeker effort later in job search. Theoretical implications and future research directions are discussed.

The Social Negotiation of Group Prototype Ambiguity in Dynamic Organizational Contexts

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:15:32 +0000

This conceptual paper focuses on how the changing nature of work and working today elicits prototype ambiguity in groups—a shared perception among group members that the attributes, attitudes, and actions that define and describe the typical group member are unclear. We offer a functionalist account of prototype ambiguity that identifies social contexts that reliably trigger ambiguity in group prototypes , group-level consequences of prototype ambiguity that motivate corrective action, and social negotiation processes by which group members adaptively resolve prototype ambiguity. We outline how group members' social negotiation efforts unfold in different but predictable ways (in response to specific triggers of prototype ambiguity) to yield emergent prototypes based on either central tendencies (as exemplified by the average group member) or ideals (as exemplified by the extraordinary group member). Implications for research on social identity processes, group prototypes, and social hierarchies in organizations are discussed.

Professional Doctorates in Management: Towards a Practice-Based Approach to Doctoral Education

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:00:40 +0000

Professional doctorates, particularly in Australia and the UK have been a significant growth area over the last twenty years. In this paper we discuss the emergence of professional doctorates in management education and their contribution to a more practice-based approach to doctoral education, with particular reference to the Doctor of Business Administration degree. Professional doctorates were developed by some universities in the face of rising criticism about the relevance of PhD research to practice and the changing context and content of knowledge in the new economy. We conclude by discussing implications for doctoral education and directions for future research.

Strategic Cognition and Issue Salience: Towards an Explanation of Firm Responsiveness to Stakeholder Concerns

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 04:30:37 +0000

As a new perspective for understanding firm responsiveness to stakeholder concerns, we propose a strategic cognition view of issue salience, i.e., the degree to which a stakeholder issue resonates with and is prioritized by management. More specifically, we explain how a firm's cognitive structures of organizational identity and strategic frames utilize differing core logics to influence managerial interpretation of an issue as salient. We then present a typology of firm responsiveness and suggest that firms will respond more substantially to those issues perceived as salient to both cognitive logics and more symbolically to those issues salient to only one logic. This paper fills key gaps in our understanding of how firms manage and respond to stakeholders by focusing on the salience of the issue and incorporating strategic cognition as a key mediating mechanism.

Variations in Practice Adoption: The Roles of Conscious Reflection and Discourse

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 03:55:33 +0000

We argue that our understanding of practice adoption has been limited by the prevailing view that variations in adoption stem from consciously made decisions. We counter this position by arguing that a key, and neglected, aspect of the adoption process concerns understanding the level of conscious engagement of those involved. In so doing, we theorize that there are two distinct institutional dimensions necessary for understanding how practice adoption takes place: acceptance and implementation. We develop these dimensions to provide a framework showing that different within-organization responses will be associated with differing levels of acceptance of the need to adopt a practice, the acceptance dimension, and differing levels of conscious reflection during implementation of the practice, the implementation dimension. We then unpack this framework to explain how variations in discourse play a determining role in how practice adoption unfolds. This reveals an interesting institutional paradox: the discursive characteristics that make a practice more easily accepted also reduce the conscious engagement needed for its implementation. The balance of the paper is spent developing the implications of our theorizing for understanding the process of practice adoption.

INSIDE THE HYBRID ORGANIZATION: SELECTIVE COUPLING AS A RESPONSE TO CONFLICTING INSTITUTIONAL LOGICS

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 17:15:36 +0000

This paper explores how hybrid organizations, which incorporate competing institutional logics, internally manage the logics that they embody. Relying on an inductive comparative case study of four work integration social enterprises embedded in competing social welfare and commercial logics, we show that, instead of adopting strategies of decoupling or compromising, as typically suggested in the literature, these organizations selectively coupled intact elements prescribed by each logic. This strategy allowed them to project legitimacy to external stakeholders without having to engage in costly deceptions or negotiations. We further identify a specific hybridization pattern that we refer to as "Trojan horse", whereby organizations that entered the field with low legitimacy because of their embeddedness in the market logic strategically incorporated elements from the social logic in an attempt to gain legitimacy and acceptance. Surprisingly, they did so more than comparable organizations originating from the social logic. These findings suggest that, when lacking legitimacy in a given field, hybrids may manipulate the templates provided by the multiple logics in which they are embedded in an attempt to gain acceptance. Overall, our findings contribute to a better understanding of how organizations may survive and thrive when embedded in pluralistic institutional environments.