Showing papers in "Proceedings - Academy of Management in 2022"

Surviving Remotely: How the Forced Shift to Remote Work Impacted Work Behaviors and Well-being

Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of job control and work-related loneliness on employee work behaviors and well-being during the massive and abrupt move to remote work amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We draw on job-demands control and social baseline theory to link employee perceived job control and work-related loneliness to emotional exhaustion and work-life balance and posit direct and indirect effects on employee counterproductive work behaviors, depression, and insomnia. Using a two-wave data collection with a sample of U.S. working adults to test our predictions, we find that high job control was beneficially related to emotional exhaustion and work-life balance, while high work-related loneliness showed detrimental relationships with our variables of interest. Moreover, we find that beneficial impact of high perceived job control was conditional on individual segmentation preferences such that the effects were stronger when segmentation preference was low. Our research extends the literature on remote work, job control, and workplace loneliness. It also provides insights for organizations to manage widespread remote work that is likely to persist long after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Linking Digital HRM Practices with HRM Effectiveness: The Moderate Role of HRM Capability Maturity

Abstract: : In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to digital human resource management (HRM) practices. Nonetheless, the impact of digital HRM practices is not yet fully understood by practitioners and researchers. Drawing from adaptive structuration theory (AST), we suggest that HRM capability maturity is a key boundary condition for understanding the effectiveness of digital HRM practices. By employing a path analysis approach on a sample of 1770 enterprises in China, this study found that the use of digital HRM practices impacts HRM effectiveness through the internal consistency of HR practices and external social networking of HR managers with line managers. The positive or negative effects of digital HRM practices depend on the enterprise’s HRM capability maturity. While the majority of previous studies have explored the impact of digital HRM on organizations, including the effects on cost reduction and organizational performance, our study expanded the focus on the outcomes of digital HRM to include employees’ perceptions of HRM effectiveness, which can further influence employees’ attitudes and organizational behaviors. The implications of our findings for research and practice are discussed.

Corporate Activism as PCSR Communication

Abstract: Nike’s campaign featuring the NFL player who kneeled during the national anthem to protest against police violence and racism has very quickly become almost iconic of a new type of politicized corporate campaigns which have evoked a renewed interest in exploring business engagement in political messages. In recent years, we are increasingly seeing corporations take a public stance on social, political, and environmental issues. It is an activism that aims at influencing political, industrial, commercial or cultural agendas and takes place in social arenas such as the media instead of parliamentary institutions. This paper approaches corporate activism as a manifestation of the logic described as PCSR. It draws on advertising spots as an example of corporate activism in the media to illustrate the ways in which corporations adopt responsibilities of societal critique from social movements. On the basis of this, it argues that a new version of a politics of the self emerges. This is a commercial politics of the self to be fulfilled through consumer loyalty to the company, which decouples values from formal structures of governance and, instead, construe their realization as an individualized consumer responsibility. This may not remove the potential of corporate activism for social change. Corporate activism both entails the potential for politicization of the corporate sphere and the risk of depolitization of the political sphere.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about the Metaverse* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)

Abstract: In this perspective paper we discuss the metaverse, a sociotechnical system aimed at providing users with immersive, synchronous 3D experience of reality through interoperable platforms and sensor devices. We first examine the metaverse’s technology and its underlying processes and mechanisms, at the individual, organizational (providers companies) and institutional level. We then move to considering some mainstream theories built in the past decades that explain online behaviors (with social software etc.) and questioning their validity within the metaverse. In the concluding section of the paper, we propose meaningful research questions and lay out a research agenda, mainly addressed to IS scholarship but that may be considered by other neighbor fields such as communication and computer science. Throughout the paper we think of the metaverse as a phenomenon involving relevant business opportunities as well as ethical challenges and we thereby present our theoretical reflections along this overarching conceptual idea.

Neijuan: An Investigation of Overtime Work Among Chinese Urban White-Collar Employees

Abstract: This paper focuses on the issue of overtime work among Chinese urban white-collar employees and aims to explain why employees are willing to work overtime and why the Red Queen Effect phenomenon (neijuan) has become so common in the Chinese workplace, from employees’ subjective perspective. Through a review of prior research on overtime, we identified problems in the logic of supply and demand that has often been employed, and introduce Baudrillard’s logic of social differentiation as an alternative. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data about work, overtime, and daily life conditions from 22 white-collar participants from diverse backgrounds, who routinely work overtime despite relative material affluence. Our analysis of the data revealed the source of overtime work in a context of material affluence to be social differentiation processes constructed by signs with strong relevance with overtime activity including consumption, career ethic, interpersonal relationship, job keeping, and company market position improvement. Differentiation of professional capability was shown, on the other hand, to be an inadequate explanation for overtime work. Our findings are summarized in a conceptual framework describing the relationships between overtime and multiple forms of social differentiation.

Identity Implications of Cross-Sector Partnerships: A Case Study in the Nonprofit Sector

Abstract: Nonprofit organizations increasingly engage in various forms of collaboration with corporate actors. Business collaborations can aid nonprofit organizations in fulfilling their mission; however, they are also likely to bring about internal tensions, particularly, when nonprofit members feel that partnerships are not aligned with the nonprofit’s mission or core values. Indeed, previous research has indicated that “who we are” as an organization has important implications for “what we should do” and thus, who “we” should associate with, highlighting the role of organizational identity in assessments of inter-organizational relationships. To date, we still have a limited understanding of how nonprofit members perceive corporate collaborations and their implications for member perceptions of organizational identity. To address this important gap, we examine how nonprofit members make sense of nonprofit-business partnerships and how they manage identity tensions arising from them. Our study employs a qualitative research design including 40 semi-structured interviews across 15 nonprofit organizations over two phases of data collection. We show the identity tensions arising from corporate partnerships and identify four identity work tactics that nonprofit members engage in to alleviate these tensions. By offering a grounded model of identity work in cross-sector partnerships, we bring attention to relational elements of organizational identity.

Managing Multi-Unit Firms in Uncertain Environments: The Role of Trusted Managers

Abstract: This study examines how multi-unit firms manage uncertainty across heterogeneous units through the internal redeployment of trusted managers—those whom the owners trust to act in the firm’s best interests—to units where agency costs are high. Using a novel data set of over 30,000 internal managerial redeployments in multi-unit firms in 15 European countries, we find that diversified and partly owned units are more likely to be allocated trusted managers, especially in regions where institutions are weak. We also find that firms are more likely to send trusted managers in response to exogenous shocks that increase uncertainty, especially where institutions are weak. We discuss the implications of our findings on how a corporate strategy lens can enrich the strategic human capital allocation literature.

Changing Careers to Pursue a Calling: How People Make Career Pivots

Abstract: Management scholarship is rife with accounts of people pivoting from steady jobs and “good” careers into occupations they view as more personally and socially significant. However, existing organizational theory cannot explain how people make these career pivots. Through a longitudinal qualitative study of 69 individuals associated with When to Jump, a global community for people making career “jumps” to pursue their passions, this paper explores how people construct a “career pivot self-narrative”—an account for the unconventional career change to pursue a calling. Drawing on 201 interviews, conducted in three waves over 18-months, as well as archival and observational data gathered over 3.5 years, I found that individuals substantially revised their self-narratives over time, leading them to minimize their initial uncertainty about their callings, and ultimately downplaying the importance of playing with possible selves to find one. This study, which casts light on the real-time evolution of career pivot self-narratives as they are initially developed, subsequently revised, and eventually maintained, has theoretical implications for research on role transitions and callings. It also has practical implications for individuals seeking to change careers, who often look to others’ self-narratives as a source of guidance.

Corporate Digital Responsibility Needed? Digitalization Meets Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract: Digitalization is a technological evolution and a social phenomenon that offers tremendous potential but also uncertainties for companies and stakeholders. Practice and research increasingly propose that a new concept called Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) is needed to elaborate how corporates may take responsibility to avoid negative and promote positive outcomes in the process of digitalization. In this paper, we take a step back and ask, ‘How does digitalization influence Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?’ Drawing on the most prominent theoretical perspective in CSR research – the stakeholder perspective, we argue that CDR is a redundant concept that dismisses the chance to ground the crucial debate on responsible digitalization on already developed theoretical and empirical knowledge. Instead, we propose that digitalization changes stakeholder relationships in at least three important ways that should be incorporated into the furthering CSR and connected strategies in a digital age: (a) the ratio between the information and proximity related to stakeholders, (b) the roles of the company and stakeholders, and (c) decision-making power in the relationship. Those changes in the stakeholder relationships are fundamental, however, we argue that they do not necessitate a new concept of CDR. Rather, the changing stakeholder relationships open new avenues for future research systematically proposed in this paper.

Digital Transformation for Green Growth: Evidence from Micro Firms

Abstract: In this paper we explore whether pursuing a digitalisation strategy, adopting advanced digital technologies, and building internal digital skills positively moderate the relationship between firms’ eco-innovation efforts and growth performance. Our econometric analysis of a sample of 5,015 micro firms from 39 countries accounts for selection bias and endogeneity via the estimation of an instrumental variable two-stage least squares (IV-2SLS) approach. The results provide evidence that eco-innovations boost firm growth when coupled with a well-defined digitalisation strategy. We also find that eco-innovations improve firm growth only for firms that adopt advanced digital technologies (such as big data and Artificial Intelligence applications) rather than basic ones. Finally, our results reveal that the positive relationship between eco-innovation and firm growth is enhanced by improvements in internal digital skills and capabilities. Our findings contribute to the literature and policy debates by underlying a new strategic alternative for micro firms that differs from traditional sole focus on eco-innovation driven growth. Instead, this paper advocates the viability and performance benefits of a twin digital and ecological transformation and showcases the need to align eco-innovation investments with digital transformation efforts for an economically successful net-zero transition.

Probing Non-Linear Three-Way Interactions

Abstract: Testing of three-way interactions is increasingly common in the organizational literature. When linear three-way interactions are found, they are often probed and interpreted using the Dawson and Richter (2006) slope difference test. However, this test was developed only for linear regression. In this paper I develop an equivalent version of the test based on testing linear combinations of coefficients, and demonstrate how this can be used for other types of models, including multilevel and generalized linear models. I then extend the logic of the test to consider methods for probing three-way quadratic interactions, explaining why a formal slope difference test is less relevant here, and provide two different tests that can lead to more formal probing of such interactions. I provide syntax for conducting all of these tests in SPSS and R, and give examples of applying these methods to two data sets. Recommendations for researchers are given.

Double Machine Learning and Automated Confounder Selection — A Cautionary Tale

Abstract: Double machine learning (DML) is becoming an increasingly popular tool for automated model selection in high-dimensional settings. These approaches rely on the assumption of conditional independence, which may not hold in big-data settings where the covariate space is large. This paper shows that DML is very sensitive to the inclusion of even a few “bad controls” in the covariate space. The resulting bias varies with the nature of the causal model, which raises concerns about the feasibility of selecting control variables in a data-driven way.

Publish or Procreate: The Effect of Motherhood on Academic Performance (WITHDRAWN)

Abstract: Women are underrepresented in science and representation deficits are even greater for more senior positions and in STEM fields. The dominant explanation is that male and female scientists, even within the same field, publish at unequal rates. Prior studies on select fields suggest that the gender gap in academic productivity reflects differential effects of childbearing on men and women, as women face tensions between the two greedy institutions of family and academia. We study the full population of STEM academics in Denmark and investigate parenthood penalties on scientific productivity of mothers and fathers, who are active in research after the birth of their first child. We employ an event-study approach on annual research publications, an outcome especially relevant in the science domain, and rely on a unique combination of Danish registers and granular bibliometric data on publications from the database Scopus. We find that, on average, the first childbirth results in an annual penalty of 24 percent on scientific productivity of mothers in STEM fields relative to fathers in the first 5 years after birth. This reflects a drop in annual research publications of mothers relative to their own pre-birth productivity. Hence, unequal impacts of parenthood may be an important driver of gender inequality in Science.

Hiring During Change: A Dynamic Consideration of Person-Environment Fit

Abstract: A good fit between person and environment (PE fit) is a fundamental criterion for successful recruitment and employment. However, what if an organization in change is looking for employees who fit the planned new organizational model, rather than the existing organizational characteristics, to deliberately drive the change? It remains unclear how personnel can be attracted during an organizational change process. Our study extends the knowledge on attraction mechanisms during change by treating PE fit as a dynamic construct. We use a metric conjoint experiment with 149 potential job seekers to explore the impact of individual advancement opportunities, leadership style, organizational climate and proactiveness of change on employer attractiveness as well as the moderating influence of personal initiative on the relation between proactiveness of change and employer attractiveness. The anticipated fit of individual advancement opportunities and leadership style affect employer attractiveness the most, followed by the fit of the organization's climate and proactiveness of change. Thereby, personal initiative moderates the relationship between proactiveness of change and employer attractiveness.

Building a Better World Together: Understanding the Future of Work with Algorithms, AI, & Automation

Abstract: Technological advancements, such as the increasing use of algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI), have become embedded in organizations. This introduction of algorithms and AI is drastically changing the nature of work, impacting organizations, the individuals within them, and the work itself. Given the importance of understanding the impacts of such technological advancements on the future of work, more research has started focusing on this topic. This symposium brings together papers identifying the impacts and outcomes of AI and algorithms upon individual perception, cognition, and behavior across various organizational domains, such as advice taking, management, and the automation of work. The research showcased in this symposium explores how (1) AI influences employees’ perceptions of the meaning of work, (2) automation affects individuals’ valuation of employees’ skills, (3) algorithms impact employees’ perceived status, and (4) people show different anticipated preferences for algorithmic versus human judgment and actual use of those sources. Furthermore, this set of papers demonstrates ways to harness the benefits of AI and algorithms while mitigating the adverse consequences that can arise when AI and algorithms are implemented in organizations without consideration for individual cognitive processes and perceptions. Taken together, this symposium features the effects of the implementation of technological advancements on individual perception, cognition, and behavior and the resulting consequences for individual and organizational outcomes. Does Automation Lower Meaningful Work? Presenter: Sarah Ward; U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Presenter: Roshni Raveendhran; U. of Virginia Darden School of Business The Impact of Automation on Creative Skills Presenter: Monica Gamez-Djokic; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management When Algorithms Replace Human Bosses: Algorithmic Management Diminishes Workers' Anticipated Status Presenter: Arthur S. Jago; U. of Washington, Tacoma Presenter: Roshni Raveendhran; U. of Virginia Darden School of Business Presenter: Nathanael Fast; U. of Southern California Presenter: Jonathan Gratch; U. of Southern California Algorithmic Management Aversion: A Potential Gap between Anticipation and Experience Presenter: Menchang Dong; Max-Planck Institute for Human Development Presenter: Jean-François Bonnefon; U. Toulouse 1 Capitole Presenter: Iyad Rahwan; Max Planck Institute for Human Development Preferring People but Listening to Algorithms: Anticipated Preferences vs. Utilization of Advice Presenter: Jennifer Marie Logg; Georgetown U. Presenter: Rachel Schlund; Cornell U.

Understanding the Aging Workforce: Defining a Research Agenda

Abstract: Ageism manifests in responses that range from explicit and overt bias (regular, reportable attitudes) to implicit, latent bias (subtle, modern, covert incivilities). Social psychology distinguishes among key indicators of both explicit and implicit bias: simple evaluative attitudes (preferences), cognitive stereotypes (beliefs, expectations), emotional prejudices (specific affect, such as pity or resentment), and discriminatory behavior (constraining action).

Computer Aided/Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software in Management and Organizational Research

Abstract: This paper analyses 128 journal articles, published in the field of management and organizations between 2011 and 2020, which articulated the use of CAQDAS programs in their data analysis. Our analysis of these articles revealed that scholars are using CAQDAS in many novel ways to support their data analysis process. Yet, many scholars tend to over-legitimize the role of CAQDAS in their study, without a detailed description of the CAQDAS techniques used in the data analysis. We provide examples and exemplars of CAQDAS explanations and point to the continued need to grow and refine CAQDAS terminology in order communicate our data analysis effectively and enable readers to both understand and learn from other researchers.

Gender Disparity in COVID-19 Impacts on Academic Careers: An Agent-Based Model

Abstract: The gender gap in academia has arguably been widened by the COVID-19 pandemic, but little systemic data exists to quantify this gap, let alone to predict how it will play out in the near future. This study sets out to answer the research questions, “What are the short- and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the gender gap in academia?” and “How effective would institutional policies designed to help faculty during the pandemic be?”. To answer these research questions, we use agent-based modeling (ABM) coupled with secondary data from various sources to develop a simulation of academia before and after the pandemic. Drawing from existing databases, this simulation uses demographic parameters such as gender, partner status, and parent status as determinants of productivity and ultimately, promotion and tenure. Our simulation helps us understand the immediate impacts of COVID-19 on productivity and career trajectories of male and female academics, simulate its long-term impacts on gender (in)equality in academia as a whole in 3, 5, 10, or 20 years, and explore how much institutional interventions such as tenure clock extension, support for dependent care, and holistic wellbeing initiatives would relieve such systemic inequality. This study presents concrete data to institutions and administrators to critically re-examine faculty performance evaluation policies and how they can be improved to minimize systemic inequality.

How Institutions Moderate the Effect of Board Gender Diversity on Firm Performance

Abstract: Using data on 7,642 firms in 71 countries, we employ a multilevel linear regression with fixed effects to examine the moderating effect of formal as well as informal institutional characteristics on the relationship between board gender diversity and firm performance. Research investigating this relationship has so far reported conflicting evidence: Some studies find firm performance to benefit from gender diversity, others find negative results or no effect at all. Taking this inconclusive evidence as a sign for moderators influencing the effect of gender diversity on firm performance, we investigate the moderating influence of institutions on this relationship. We find that institutions indeed moderate the relationship between gender diversity and firm performance. In particular, informal institutions seem to moderate the effect of diversity on market valuation (Tobin’s Q), while formal institutions moderate the effect of gender diversity on firm financial performance (ROA). These results have important theoretical implications for the academic debate on gender diversity and firm performance as well as practical implications for both businesses and lawmakers.

CEO Overconfidence and Corporate Social Performance: The Moderating Effect of TMT Overconfidence

Abstract: Overconfident CEOs play a key role in shaping corporate strategies by making biased and risky strategic decisions. In contrast, corporate social performance is initiated by firms to reduce corporate risks and to enhance their reputation. This study, therefore, aims to explore the impact of CEO overconfidence on firms' corporate social performance. In addition, we investigate how the interplay with other top management team (TMT) members' overconfidence moderates this relationship. Based on a sample of publicly traded US firms from 2003 to 2017, we find that CEO overconfidence increases the levels of corporate social performance. Remarkably, our findings show that the overconfidence of the other TMT members mitigates this effect. Our study thus contributes to a better understanding of the CEO-TMT interface research by investigating the interactions between the CEO and the other senior executives' overconfidence in the context of corporate social performance.

The Art of Blending Stakeholders: Bootlegger & Baptist Coalitions in Corporate Constituency-Building

Abstract: Constituency-building is an important yet underappreciated corporate political strategy. In contrast to conventional strategies, such as lobbying and campaign contributions involving direct interactions with policymakers, constituency-building expands the scope of conflict by mobilizing stakeholders to pressure policymakers. Although prior studies of constituency-building have highlighted how enlisting stakeholders in political battles creates unique opportunities and risks, what has often been overlooked is the importance of blending “strange bedfellows” of economically- and morally-motivated constituents, sometimes called bootlegger-and-Baptist coalitions. Drawing on theories developed in political science, regulatory economics, and corporate political strategy, we advance a theoretical framework to examine (a) the motivations of policymakers and stakeholders, which constitute the theoretical basis for constituency-building strategies; (b) the tradeoffs of creating blended coalitions consisting of parties who have distinct motives for moral legitimacy or economic interest; and (c) how blended coalitions may take distinct overt, covert, or tacit forms. We also differentiate between campaigns that take place at the firm- versus industry-level. We develop propositions to advance theory development on constituency-building, linked to stakeholder mobilization and social movement approaches. We offer wide-ranging real-world examples to provide guidance to empirical research.

Normalization of Process Virtualization in Technology Driven Remote Working Practices

Abstract: In recent times businesses have started gearing up with the managers and their respective teams to embrace remote working practices. With special focus on technology enabled work-from-home (WFH) process, this research has offered a setting for advancing understanding of the context driven technology-enabled virtualization of remote working practices followed by its implementation and then normalization. Drawing upon the process virtualization theory (PVT) for evaluating context dependent behavior of determinants quantitatively and normalization process theory (NPT) for understanding the normalisation of new technology-driven remote work practices under such contexts, current study is investigating the context resistant static and context driven dynamic factors that impact the technology-enabled virtualization of processes in employee’s WFH process followed by its implementation and then normalization, through multiple surveys conducted on managers and business executives from leading business organisations. Results show that sensory requirements, relationship requirements and control requirements turned out as context-driven dynamic factors and enablers to the technology-enabled virtualization of WFH process; and relative normalisation of this work transformation was sustained through flexible co-construction, legitimation, contextual integration and good leadership.

Robotic Technologies and Well-being for Older Adults Living at Home

Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the benefits for aged care providers of adding affordable robotic technology to their services packages to enhance the well-being of older adults from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds who choose to live at home. Design/methodology/approach This study, adopting a transformative service research lens, was performed with a group of older Australian adults from CALD backgrounds aged approximately 70 years. This study conducted four rounds of home trials with three different, commercially available robotic technologies from January to November 2020. Each trial lasted seven days. Findings The findings reveal that older adults from CALD backgrounds are open to learning about new technologies and can successfully interact independently with multiple robotic technologies in their own homes. The results indicate that robot technology has the potential to increase the well-being of older people by enhancing a sense of belonging, independence and quality of life while living at home. Research limitations/implications This study shows a promising future involving the use of available technology to assist older people from CALD backgrounds to live better lives at home. Ageing at home can be central to a person’s sense of identity and independence, and this study is a big step towards a new aged care system desperately needed in a society with a rapidly ageing population. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to introduce three different commercially available robots, each designed to satisfy companionship, cleaning and/or communication needs in the homes of older adults from CALD backgrounds to increase their overall well-being.

How Entrepreneurs in Socially Contested Contexts Develop Social Ties to Access Opportunities

Abstract: Social ties are important sources of resources and opportunities for entrepreneurs. However, in socially contested settings, it is often more difficult to connect with (diverse) others, and it is unclear how entrepreneurs in these contexts may develop the social ties that previous research has shown to be valuable. We studied this subject matter in Kenya, an ethnically fractionalized society that recently experienced the decentralization of government. This contextual change required entrepreneurs who were previously providing IT services to the central government to deal with both in-group and out-group ethnicities on the local county level. Our inductive case study of four ICT firms contributes a process model of how and why entrepreneurs in socially contested settings select and manage social ties in order to access opportunities.

Framing the Change and Changing Frames: Tensions in Participative Strategy Development

Abstract: Participative strategy development serves to integrate the interests and perspectives of multiple stakeholders involved in today’s complex environmental challenges, aiming at a better-informed strategy for tackling these challenges, increased stakeholder ownership, and more democratic decision making. Prior research has however observed inherent tensions between the need of such participative strategy to be open to stakeholders’ input, and the need for closure and guidance. Drawing on case study evidence, we extend this reasoning and argue that tensions can emerge between strategy openness and several unintended consequences - the persistence of different interpretations of the strategy as well as stakeholders’ perceptions of lacking knowledge, guidance, and control. These tensions are important because they affect stakeholders’ willingness and ability for change and therefore counteract the strategy’s aim for major change. We propose how multi-stakeholder workshops, as interactive spaces, have a key function in mitigating the tensions inherent in strategy openness and in facilitating stakeholders’ willingness and ability for change.

The Effect Of Female Employees Employment On Corporate Performance Study Under The Two-Child Policy

Abstract: The adjustment of the birth policy also influences the organization’s performance and female employment. Under the background of the birth policy, the discrimination of female employees in work and its underlying mechanism are the core issues of the academic community and concern. Based on the data of listed companies in China from 2010 to 2020, using ROA and TobinQ as performance indicators and empirical research methods examines the relationship between female employee employment and corporate performance under the two-child policy. The results show that: (1)Female employees positively affect corporate performance; the two-child policy has a negative regulatory impact on female employees and corporate performance; (2)The employment of female employees by enterprises has increased; (3)State-owned enterprises have a positive regulatory effect on female employees and corporate performance; (4)The marketization index and private enterprises have a negative regulatory impact on female employees and corporate performance. This research has significant reference value for achieving gender equality in the labor market and promoting the employment of female employees.

Stakeholder Orientation as a Quality Signal in the Labor Market

Abstract: A firm’s stakeholder orientation is an instrument to acquire, govern, and retain human capital. This paper particularly focuses on how a firm utilizes its attention and activities with various stakeholders to prevent leakage of its newly acquired human capital through mergers and acquisitions (M&As). The findings from my analyses of a sample of 10,728 corporate scientists from 1,463 unique acquirors indicate that an acquiror’s stronger stakeholder orientation delays its target corporate scientist’s departure. Such an empirical setting helps solve the potential biases from self-selection and information asymmetry, and I thus conducted several supplementary analyses to rule out multiple alternative mechanisms (e.g. using different stakeholder orientation measures, using target’s stakeholder orientation). The main effect is moderated by the corporate scientist’s quality as an inventor, the pre-M&A alliance experience between the acquiror and the target, and the pre-M&A co-patenting experience between the acquiror and the acquired corporate scientist.

Peer Coaching Groups to Bring Development for Everyone.

Abstract: Peer coaching in groups (PCG), also called peer advisory groups or personal board of advisors by practitioners, has been praised as an effective tool for staff and leadership development. It is used by hundreds of business communities, such as Young Presidents’ Organization or Vistage; dozens of Fortune 500 companies, including Microsoft, Walmart, and Amazon; and prominent business schools. Since organizations’ approaches and settings vary widely, they could benefit from empirical data on the factors that make PCG effective for personal and professional development. However, there is scarce research on PCG in a business context, leaving practitioners without sufficient evidence-based answers. This empirical study employs critical incident interviews and thematic analysis to investigate the experiences of participants from 61 groups in 24 different PCG settings in a business context. The findings help to understand factors of engagement of peer coaches, relevant characteristics of matching peers in a group, nature of peer accountability, proper group size, and role of friendship in a peer growth group. A new research-based definition of PCG is provided. The results will facilitate further scholarly discussion in the field and better understanding among scholars and practitioners.

Coalition Support and Priority of Multiple Goals

Abstract: Organizational goals are interdependent and follow a priority order to enable decision makers to fulfill the top priority goals before they proceed to pursue the succeeding ones. Previous research has shown that profitability is the top priority goal of firms. However, what determines the pursuit of lower priority goals after the profitability goal is met has remained unexplored. We leverage dominant coalition theory in the behavioral theory of the firm to theorize that whether a lower priority goal is subsequently pursued depends on the power of its supporting coalition on the board of directors. In particular, we identify resource allocations to the shareholders and to the society as two goals secondary to profitability goal and examine whether firms’ pursuit of these goals depends on the power of coalitions supporting or opposing them. By examining 2,071 Chinese listed firms, we find that the fulfillment of the profitability goal encourages the pursuit of two secondary goals. We also find that the membership of different board coalitions, namely, shareholder-value coalition and state-endorsement coalition, affects firms’ engagement in rewarding the shareholders and rewarding the society differently. These findings support our theory that coalitions shape the prioritization of multiple secondary goals in organizational decision making.