Herbert Goelzner, Abraham Stefanidis and Moshe Banai
This study aims to generalize the research findings about the impact of individualism-collectivism, ethical idealism and inter-personal trust on ethically questionable negotiation…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to generalize the research findings about the impact of individualism-collectivism, ethical idealism and inter-personal trust on ethically questionable negotiation tactics, such as pretending, deceiving and lying, in a Germanic culture, namely, that of Austria.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey questionnaires translated from English to German were collected from 304 respondents. A regression analysis was used to test the contribution of the independent variables to the explanation of negotiators’ attitudes towards questionable negotiation tactics.
Findings
The research empirically corroborated a classification of three groups of negotiation tactics, namely, pretending, deceiving and lying, in Austria. Austrian negotiators who scored high on vertical individualism tended to score high on the endorsement of the pretending tactic; those who scored high on horizontal collectivism tended to score low on the endorsement of the deceiving and lying tactics; those who scored high on vertical collectivism tended to score high on the endorsement of the deceiving and lying tactics; and those who scored high on inter-personal trust tended to score low on the endorsement of the pretending negotiation tactic. Idealistic negotiators tended not to endorse the use of pretending, deceiving and lying negotiation tactics.
Research limitations/implications
The study investigated the respondents’ perceptions, rather than their actual negotiation behavior. Findings are limited to Germanic culture.
Practical implications
The study provides negotiators in Austria with a tool that has the potential to predict the extent to which Austrian negotiators would use various ethically questionable negotiation tactics.
Originality/value
This is the first study to present a model of the antecedents of negotiation tactics in a Germanic cultural context, where negotiation studies are limited. This study validates in Austria three questionable negotiation tactics groups of varying severity, which had previously been studied only in non-Germanic cultures. This research significantly contributes to the generalization of a model of the antecedents of the endorsement of questionable tactics across cultures.
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Abraham Stefanidis, Moshe Banai, Ursula Schinzel and Ahmet Erkuş
The purpose of this study is to refine theory of negotiation by empirically investigating the extent to which national-, societal- and individual-level cultures relate to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to refine theory of negotiation by empirically investigating the extent to which national-, societal- and individual-level cultures relate to negotiators' tendency to endorse questionable negotiation tactics.
Design/methodology/approach
To assess the hypothesized relationships between culture and ethically questionable negotiation tactics at three cultural levels of analysis, the authors collected data from Turks who reside in Turkey and in Germany and from Greeks who reside in Greece and in Cyprus. Respondents' national-level cultural values were inferred from their nationality, respondents' societal-level cultural values were inferred from their country of residency, and respondents' individual-level cultural values were inferred from their discrete and unique individuality.
Findings
At the national level, the authors found that Turks in Turkey and Germany scored significantly higher than Greeks in Greece and Cyprus on the endorsement of pretending negotiation tactics. At the societal level, the authors found that Turkish negotiators in Germany displayed higher levels of lying negotiation tactics and lower levels of pretending negotiation tactics than Turkish negotiators in Turkey. Greek negotiators in Greece endorsed deceiving and lying tactics more than Greek negotiators in Cyprus. At the individual level, the authors found that negotiators who score high on vertical individualism and collectivism endorse questionable negotiation tactics significantly more than negotiators who score high on horizontal individualism and collectivism.
Originality/value
The authors empirically demonstrate how national-, societal- and individual-level cultures differentially influence negotiators' tendency to endorse questionable negotiation tactics. The study's trilevel analysis allows for integrating the societal-level theories of negotiators' acculturation and cultural adjustment to a host culture, highlighting the importance of bicultural identity.
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Panos Mourdoukoutas and Abraham Stefanidis
This paper aims to underscore the need for developing a model of corporate cycles, which can explain how corporations rise, decline and fall in the marketplace.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to underscore the need for developing a model of corporate cycles, which can explain how corporations rise, decline and fall in the marketplace.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual study that draws on prior theoretical and empirical insights of the entrepreneurial, managerial and social functions of the firm to develop a model of corporate cycles.
Findings
Firms that pass the test of the market and live for a long time, undergo cycles, expansions and contractions, driven by successes and failures in the way they configure and execute their entrepreneurial, managerial and social, functions.
Practical implications
A model of corporate cycles can explain how momentum rises and falls on Wall Street. It can also help predict revenue growth, a key variable in equity valuation models.
Originality/value
The originality of this study stems from a constructive synthesis of different concepts and theories of the firm to explain firms’ growth, decline and fall in the marketplace.
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Abraham Stefanidis, Moshe Banai and Grace K. Dagher
This study refines theory of social capital by nesting it within a cultural context. More specifically, it aims at describing, explaining, and predicting the role of wasta, a…
Abstract
Purpose
This study refines theory of social capital by nesting it within a cultural context. More specifically, it aims at describing, explaining, and predicting the role of wasta, a social capital concept, as a moderator in the relationship between employees' ethical idealism and work engagement in Lebanon.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a survey questionnaire translated from English into Arabic, 317 responses were collected from employees in Lebanon. Confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were employed to test the hypothesized relationships among the examined variables.
Findings
Ethical idealism was found to be positively related to work engagement, and wasta was found to moderate the relationship between ethical idealism and work engagement. Work engagement levels of employees who displayed high levels of ethical idealism were less influenced by the negative effect of wasta than work engagement levels of employees who displayed low levels of ethical idealism.
Practical implications
Human resource managers, international negotiators, and global executives in Lebanon may use the findings of this study to update corporate human resources systems, such as employee recruitment and selection, handbooks, orientation, training programs, and performance appraisal, to better address employee attitudes toward the practice of wasta.
Originality/value
The study adds ethical idealism as an antecedent of work engagement, demonstrating the significant impact that wasta, with its positive and negative characteristics, has on the engagement of employees from the Arab world.
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Abraham Stefanidis, Margaret E. King-Sears, Lina Gilic and Vasilis Strogilos
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between (1) employed parents' work–family conflict (WFC), (2) their children with disabilities' support needs, (3…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between (1) employed parents' work–family conflict (WFC), (2) their children with disabilities' support needs, (3) their children's age, and (4) those parents' levels of school engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 193 US parents of children with disabilities who completed a survey regarding work and family strain as well as school engagement. Descriptive statistical and correlational analyses were used, followed by moderated regression analysis.
Findings
Results indicate that higher levels of WFC have a negative impact on parents' school engagement. Similarly, children with disabilities' increased needs for parental support have a negative impact on school engagement. Moreover, the age of children with disabilities holds a moderating role in the relationship between support needs and school engagement.
Research limitations/implications
Human resource managers can acquire information regarding employed parents of children with disabilities' increased support needs and formalize flexible policies leading to supportive workplace cultures. School personnel can instigate a range of options that facilitate parents' school engagement, such as maximizing use of technology via virtual meetings and activities.
Originality/value
These innovative findings contribute to theoretical underpinnings in work and family strain research as well as conservation of resources theory, given the lack of previous empirical work specific to children with disabilities and their employed parents.
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Cynthia R Phillips, Abraham Stefanidis and Victoria Shoaf
Drawing on legitimacy and upper-echelon theory, this paper aims to investigate the moderating role of corporate governance in the relationship between corporate social performance…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on legitimacy and upper-echelon theory, this paper aims to investigate the moderating role of corporate governance in the relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) and board gender diversity (BGD).
Design/methodology/approach
Using Morgan Stanley Capital International measures of social and governance performance, the authors use 2,950 firm-year observations from US companies for the years 2016–2020 to show that good performance on social issues drives BGD.
Findings
The panel data model indicates that the relationship between CSP and BGD is strengthened when firms display robust corporate governance.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the extant literature through empirical consideration of CSP as a predictor of BGD, a relationship that has rarely been examined. It further highlights the significant role of corporate governance in ensuring that women have access to corporate boards. Discussion and findings highlight that social performance and governance may significantly contribute to the diversity of socially cognizant boards.
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Abraham Stefanidis and Vasilis Strogilos
The purpose of this research is to investigate the role of organizational support, as it is evidenced by supervisor's support and coworkers' support, in the work engagement levels…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to investigate the role of organizational support, as it is evidenced by supervisor's support and coworkers' support, in the work engagement levels of employees who are parents of children with special needs and disabilities (SND).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employed a self-administered survey questionnaire in Singapore and collected 224 useable responses. They used moderated hierarchical regression analysis to assess the relationships among organizational support, employees' child disability severity and levels of work engagement.
Findings
The research results indicated that higher levels of supervisor's and coworkers' support have a positive impact on work engagement levels of employees with children with SND. In addition, the authors observed that supervisor's support and coworkers' support moderate the relationship between employee’s child's disability severity and work engagement levels.
Research limitations/implications
The results contribute to the introduction of a discussion about supportive practices directed toward this diverse group of employees in Singapore. The research findings are country-specific.
Practical implications
The authors propose that human resource management practitioners could craft policies that may trigger tangible and emotional support by supervisors and coworkers of employees with children with disabilities, depending on employees’ children's disability severity.
Originality/value
This research is the first empirical examination that measures the work engagement levels of employed parents of children with SND in Singapore, considering both organizational and family dimensions.
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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Companies aiming to increase female representation in the boardroom should focus on enhancing their corporate social performance. This indicates a socially-oriented organizational culture, which can increase the positive impact on boardroom gender diversity when the firm's corporate governance is strong.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
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The authors said their study was the first to consider the impact of organizational support on parents of children with SND in Singapore. Although there has been a lot of research…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors said their study was the first to consider the impact of organizational support on parents of children with SND in Singapore. Although there has been a lot of research on the effects of organizational support, it has not focused on this area.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data from 224 employees who were parents of children with SND in Singapore. They used a self-administered questionnaire.
Findings
For high supervisor’s support levels, high disability severity was associated with increased work engagement levels, but for low supervisor’s support levels, high disability severity was associated with lower work engagement levels. Meanwhile, the patterns were reverse for co-workers. High coworkers’ support levels were associated with reduced engagement. At the same time, the results showed the impact of coworkers’ support on work engagement was especially beneficial for employees whose children faced less severe disabilities.
Originality/value
The authors argue that the results provided powerful evidence that HR practitioners should strive to create a family-friendly culture in a constructive and understanding way.
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Angelos Stefanidis, Guy Fitzgerald and Steve Counsell
The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a comprehensive study on the specialisations or career tracks supported by the Information Systems (IS) curriculum in the UK.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a comprehensive study on the specialisations or career tracks supported by the Information Systems (IS) curriculum in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilises the recently published IS curriculum guidelines (IS 2010) to develop a method for ranking the career tracks of undergraduate IS courses in the UK.
Findings
The research presents a prioritised list of graduate IS careers by taking into account the entire IS course provision in the UK. At the same time, it offers data about the size of the IS curriculum in terms of universities in the UK and the number/type courses they offer.
Research limitations/implications
The study relies on a previously undeveloped method for measuring career specialisations for UK IS graduates. Additional work is needed to validate the results through comparisons with alternative methods of measuring the careers supported by IS degree courses.
Practical implications
By having concrete data about the state of the IS curriculum in relation to its employability opportunities, the IS academy can make more informed decisions about future curriculum development. Further comparative research can be undertaken to support arguments about the relevance of the IS curriculum to industry needs.
Originality/value
There has been no similar UK study on this scale which examines the state of the IS curriculum in relation to the career opportunities it offers. The development of the method for this study also offers insights into the structure and recommendations presented by IS 2010.