Showing papers in "Academy of Management Journal in 2017"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors contribute to the microfoundations of organizational paradox with a theoretical model and robust measures that help unpack individuals' varied approaches to tensions, and demonstrate that a paradox mindset -the extent to which one is accepting of and energized by tensions -can help individuals leverage them to improve in-role job performance and innovation.
Abstract: Competing tensions and demands pervade our work lives. Accumulating research examines organizational and leadership approaches to leveraging these tensions. But what about individuals within firms? Although early paradox theory built upon micro-level insights from psychology and philosophy to understand the nature and management of varied competing demands, corresponding empirical studies are rare, offering scarce insights into why some individuals thrive with tensions while others struggle. In response, we contribute to the microfoundations of organizational paradox with a theoretical model and robust measures that help unpack individuals' varied approaches to tensions. Following rigorous scale development in Study 1, including samples from the US, UK, Israel, and China, we test our model in a large firm in the US using quantitative and qualitative methods. We identify resource scarcity (i.e. limited time and funding) as a source of tensions. We also demonstrate that a paradox mindset - the extent to which one is accepting of and energized by tensions - can help individuals leverage them to improve in-role job performance and innovation. Our results highlight paradox mindset as a key to unlocking the potential of everyday tensions.
359 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use a social identity theory perspective to study the mechanisms through which internal and external corporate social responsibility (CSR) influence employee identification and it is shown that CSR influences employee identification.
Abstract: In this paper, we use a social identity theory perspective to study the mechanisms through which internal and external corporate social responsibility (CSR) influence employee identification and it...
355 citations
TL;DR: In the space of two centuries of industrial development, human civilization has changed the chemistry of the atmosphere and oce... as discussed by the authors, the challenge of climate change represents the grandest challenge facing humanity.
Abstract: Climate change represents the grandest of challenges facing humanity. In the space of two centuries of industrial development, human civilization has changed the chemistry of the atmosphere and oce...
315 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a field study conducted on question-and-answer interactions at TechCrunch Disrupt New York City during 2010 through 2016 reveals that investors tend to ask male entrepreneurs promotion-focused questions and female entrepreneurs prevention-focused ones, and that entrepreneurs tend to respond with matching regulatory focus.
Abstract: Male entrepreneurs are known to raise higher levels of funding than their female counterparts, but the underlying mechanism for this funding disparity remains contested. Drawing upon regulatory focus theory, we propose that the gap originates with a gender bias in the questions that investors pose to entrepreneurs. A field study conducted on question-and-answer interactions at TechCrunch Disrupt New York City during 2010 through 2016 reveals that investors tend to ask male entrepreneurs promotion-focused questions and female entrepreneurs prevention-focused questions, and that entrepreneurs tend to respond with matching regulatory focus. This distinction in the regulatory focus of investor questions and entrepreneur responses results in divergent funding outcomes for entrepreneurs whereby those asked promotion-focused questions raise significantly higher amounts of funding than those asked prevention-focused questions. We demonstrate that every additional prevention-focused question significantly hinders ...
309 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the co-existence of government regulations and guidelines has been investigated in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure, and the coexistence of con...
Abstract: While research on the disclosure of CSR (corporate social responsibility) recognizes the influence of government regulations and guidelines, less attention has been given to the co-existence of con...
294 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors study two organizations, each attempting to create two novel ecosystems around new technological enablers deep in their industry architecture, and highlight how ecosystem creation in such conditions is a systemic process driven by coupled feedback loops, which organizations must try to control dynamically.
Abstract: Innovation ecosystems are increasingly regarded as important vehicles to create and capture value from complex value propositions. While current literature assumes these value propositions can be known ex-ante and an appropriate ecosystem design derived from them, we focus instead on generative technological innovations that enable an unbounded range of potential value propositions, hence offering no clear guidance to firms. To illustrate our arguments, we inductively study two organizations, each attempting to create two novel ecosystems around new technological enablers deep in their industry architecture. We highlight how ecosystem creation in such conditions is a systemic process driven by coupled feedback loops, which organizations must try to control dynamically: firms first make the switch to creating the ecosystem following an external pull to narrow down the range of potential applications; then need to learn to keep up with ecosystem dynamics by roadmapping and preempting, while simultaneously enacting resonance. Dynamic control further entails counteracting the drifting away of the nascent ecosystem from the firm's idea of future value creation and the sliding of its intended control points for value capture. Our findings shed new light on strategy and control in emerging ecosystems, and provide guidance to managers on playing the ecosystem game.
278 citations
TL;DR: The authors developed a role-resource approach-avoidance taxonomy that integrates and extends the dominant role-and resource-based perspectives of job crafting according to characteristics of approach and avoidance.
Abstract: Job crafting refers to changes to a job that workers make with the intention of improving the job for themselves. It may include structural (i.e., physical and procedural), social, and cognitive forms. We draw on two studies to develop a role–resource approach–avoidance taxonomy that integrates and extends the dominant role- and resource-based perspectives of job crafting according to characteristics of approach and avoidance. Study 1 used both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze job crafting activities described during employee interviews to understand the nature and outcomes of specific job crafting activities. Study 2 provides quantitative support for the specific job crafting types emerging from Study 1, and further explores job crafting outcomes. Approach role crafting includes role expansion and social expansion, while avoidance role crafting includes work-role reduction. Role crafting outcomes include: increased enrichment, increased engagement, and decreased strain through changes in w...
224 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a behavioral agency model with the aversion to loss realization logic is proposed to explain how family owners' decision frames and preferences change during the IPO process, depending on initial losses of current socioemotional wealth and new expectations of future SEW.
Abstract: There are competing theoretical explanations and conflicting empirical evidence for the initial public offering (IPO) underpricing phenomenon in family firms. The behavioral agency model predicts that loss-averse family firms discount their shares more than nonfamily firms to minimize losses of socioemotional wealth (SEW). Conversely, the endowment effect in prospect theory suggests that family owners maximize their financial wealth (FW) by including SEW in perceptions of firm value and demanding a higher IPO price to relinquish it. We reconcile these seemingly incompatible predictions by examining dynamic properties of the reference point in decision framing. Conceiving IPO pricing as a two-stage gamble, we theorize that initial SEW losses entailed by the listing decision increase the disposition of family owners to underprice IPO shares to possibly offset these losses, or "break even." We thereby advance the behavioral agency model with the aversion to loss realization logic to explain how family owners' decision frames and preferences change during the IPO process, depending on initial losses of current SEW and new expectations of future SEW. Our analysis of 1,807 IPOs in Europe supports our theoretical expectations, clarifying the trade-off between FW and SEW and explicating the dynamic properties of mixed gambles in family firms.
185 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the challenges people face in pursuing a calling and how they negotiate those challenges in the process of choosing a calling, and this process may be especially inten...
Abstract: An important and underexamined issue in the study of callings concerns the challenges people face in pursuing a calling and how they negotiate those challenges. This process may be especially inten...
173 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an approach to incorporate external feedback in the process of entrepreneurship and to that of creative work more broadly, because individuals may view aspects of their creative ideas differently.
Abstract: Efforts to incorporate external feedback are central to the process of entrepreneurship and to that of creative work more broadly, yet, because individuals may view aspects of their creative ideas ...
169 citations
TL;DR: The authors suggest that this race-and sex-based status and power gap persists, in part, because ethnic minority leaders are disproportionately White men, and that ethnic minority women are disproportionately less likely to vote for women.
Abstract: We seek to help solve the puzzle of why top-level leaders are disproportionately White men. We suggest that this race- and sex-based status and power gap persists, in part, because ethnic minority ...
TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive synthesis of the research on how female representation in the upper echelons (i.e., top management teams and chief executive officer positions) might affect firm performance is presented.
Abstract: We conduct a comprehensive synthesis of the research on how female representation in the upper echelons (i.e., top management teams and chief executive officer positions) might affect firm performa...
TL;DR: Research has consistently demonstrated that organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) produce a wide array of positive outcomes for employees and organizations as mentioned in this paper, however, recent work, however, has suggeste...
Abstract: Research has consistently demonstrated that organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) produce a wide array of positive outcomes for employees and organizations. Recent work, however, has suggeste...
TL;DR: This paper found that family motivation enhances job performance when intrinsic motivation is low, in part by providing energy, but not by reducing stress, and concluded that supporting a family provides a powerful source of motivation that can boost performance in the workplace, offering meaningful implications for research on motivation and the dynamics of work and family engagement.
Abstract: Supporting one’s family is a major reason why many people work, yet surprisingly little research has examined the implications of family motivation. Drawing on theories of prosocial motivation and action identification, we propose that family motivation increases job performance by enhancing energy and reducing stress, and it is especially important when intrinsic motivation is lacking. Survey and diary data collected across multiple time points in a Mexican maquiladora generally support our model. Specifically, we find that family motivation enhances job performance when intrinsic motivation is low—in part by providing energy, but not by reducing stress. We conclude that supporting a family provides a powerful source of motivation that can boost performance in the workplace, offering meaningful implications for research on motivation and the dynamics of work and family engagement.
TL;DR: Workplace humor is ubiquitous, yet scholars know little about how it affects employees' behaviors in organizations as mentioned in this paper, and they draw on an emerging psychological theory of humor (benign violation theory) to s...
Abstract: Workplace humor is ubiquitous, yet scholars know little about how it affects employees’ behaviors in organizations. We draw on an emerging psychological theory of humor—benign violation theory—to s...
TL;DR: Research on organizational justice has predominantly focused on between-individual differences in average levels of fair treatment experienced by employees as discussed by the authors, however, some researchers have also demonstrably demonstrated that the difference between individuals' experiences of unfair treatment can be significant.
Abstract: Research on organizational justice has predominantly focused on between-individual differences in average levels of fair treatment experienced by employees. Recently, researchers have also demonstr...
TL;DR: In this paper, a unique, multi-source, and multi-method study of R&D projects in a leading professional services firm was conducted, and the authors developed the argument that organizations are more likely to fund projects with...
Abstract: Building on a unique, multi-source, and multi-method study of R&D projects in a leading professional services firm, we develop the argument that organizations are more likely to fund projects with ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that executives' belief in the business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) is built on two premises: the first is that, in order to believe in business case, executi...
Abstract: Existing research on executives’ belief in the business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) is built on two premises. The first is that, in order to believe in the business case, executi...
TL;DR: The authors found that perceived underemployment had an inverted U-shaped relationship with task crafting and that this relationship was moderated by organizational identification, and that task crafting was positively related to creativity and organizational citizenship behavior.
Abstract: Based on the job-crafting perspective, we theorized a serial curvilinear mediated moderation model that links underemployment to two outcomes that benefit the organization: creativity and organizational citizenship behavior. A three-waved time-lagged survey of teachers and a field study of technical workers provided convergent support for this model. In Study 1, using data from 327 teachers and their immediate supervisors, we found support for our hypotheses that perceived underemployment had an inverted U-shaped relationship with task crafting and that this relationship was moderated by organizational identification. When the teachers’ organizational identification was high, they engaged in more task crafting for the organization at intermediate levels of perceived underemployment. We also found that task crafting was positively related to creativity and organizational citizenship behavior. In Study 2, the simulation tasks for 297 technical workers provided convergent evidence for the idea that objective...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore how organizations dealing with institutional complexity manage internal tensions triggered by environmental turbulence, based on a longitudinal comparative study, and extend pre-existing pre-constrained models.
Abstract: This paper explores how organizations dealing with institutional complexity manage internal tensions triggered by environmental turbulence. Based on a longitudinal, comparative study, we extend pre...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors extend stewardship and agency theories to test competing propositions about the impact of family on employment practices using data from 14,961 private Belgian firms over a 19-year period.
Abstract: Family firms employ about 60 percent of the global workforce. While it is widely assumed that they are good employers, data about their conduct is mixed. In this study, we extend stewardship and agency theories to test competing propositions about the impact of family on employment practices using data from 14,961 private Belgian firms over a 19-year period. Higher investments, lower dividend payout, and higher risk tolerance indicate that family firms are better financial stewards of their companies than nonfamily firms. However, family firms are worse organizational stewards than nonfamily firms: They offer lower compensation, invest less in employee training, and exhibit higher voluntary turnover and lower labor productivity. Further, and contrary to earlier research, we find that financial practices in private family firms do not change over time, and that the deleterious influence of family on employment practices rises with both firm age and with heightened family involvement. Together, our findings suggest that a more nuanced understanding of stewardship and agency theory is needed to understand the impact of family on the governance of private firms.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors contribute to abusive supervision literature by testing supervisors' self-regulation impairment as a key mediator of the relationship between subordinate managers and their supervisors, and demonstrate that this impairment is a predictor of abusive supervision.
Abstract: Drawing on self-regulation theory, we contribute to the abusive supervision literature by testing supervisors’ self-regulation impairment as a key mediator of the relationship between subordinate d...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors place important boundary conditions on the generally accepted notion that CSR will reduce turnover, and argue that the CSR approach is more effective at reducing turnover that is...
Abstract: This study places important boundary conditions on the generally accepted notion that CSR will reduce turnover. Our primary argument is that CSR will be most effective at reducing turnover that is ...
TL;DR: This paper presents a meta-analyses of the decision-making patterns of eight major investment firms in the United States over the course of a sustained period of time and indicates that among the firms that choose among actions to be taken, three are likely to be M&A firms.
Abstract: Institutional theory has explained the greater prevalence of many strategic actions by increases in their legitimacy over time, but it has not explained how firms choose among actions backed by com...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore how emotions influence organizations in situations of institutional complexity, and study members' and leaders' emotive responses and influence activities in the context of complex organizations.
Abstract: In this paper, we explore how emotions influence organizations in situations of institutional complexity. In particular, we study members’ and leaders’ emotive responses and influence activities in...
TL;DR: The role of leaders' affective states has received little attention as mentioned in this paper, although researchers have argued that employees often carefully examine social contexts before speaking up to leaders, and that the role of emotional states has been overlooked.
Abstract: Although researchers have argued that employees often carefully examine social contexts before speaking up to leaders, the role of leaders’ affective states has received little attention. The curre...
TL;DR: In this paper, the person-environment fit paradigm is invoked to examine on a daily basis follower affective, attitudinal, and behavioral responses to transformational leadership needed and received.
Abstract: We invoke the person–environment fit paradigm to examine on a daily basis follower affective, attitudinal, and behavioral responses to transformational leadership needed and received. Results from ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors develop a theoretical mode to understand why an organization may pursue membership in an organizational category, yet forego opportunities to subsequently promote that membership, based on prior research.
Abstract: Why would an organization pursue membership in an organizational category, yet forego opportunities to subsequently promote that membership? Drawing on prior research, we develop a theoretical mode...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated how professional role identity change can be accomplished in highly institutionalized contexts characterized by resiliency, and they showed that the collective professional role identities of professionals can be changed.
Abstract: We investigated how professional role identity change can be accomplished in highly institutionalized contexts characterized by resiliency. We show that the collective professional role identity of...
TL;DR: This paper explored the impact of two types of voice and gender on peer-rated social status and subsequent leader emergence across two studies and found that both types of voices and genders had a significant impact on leader emergence.
Abstract: This paper explores the impact of two types of voice and gender on peer-rated social status and subsequent leader emergence. Across two studies—a three-wave field study and an experiment—we find th...