Christopher Agyapong Siaw, David Sugianto Lie and Rahul Govind
The purpose of this study is to examine how corporate communication of their social programs on their websites affects the ratings of those programs by independent rating…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how corporate communication of their social programs on their websites affects the ratings of those programs by independent rating agencies. Firms expend resources on corporate social programs (CSPs) to promote their corporate social responsibility and sustainability credentials. Stakeholders, however, often respond to such “self-promotion” with skepticism because they believe that there are inconsistencies between corporate claims and actions. This research draws on attribution theory as a framework to examine how the perceived CSP performance of firms by uncontrollable sources are affected when firms disseminate CSP information on firm websites, i.e. a controllable source, where their claims may not be verifiable.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a two-step, mixed method study for the analysis using data from Fortune 500 companies. A qualitative content analysis process identifies the interfaces of CSP and their communications on firms’ website. The process allows the authors to collect CSP data systematically from firm websites and to identify relevant variables through the patterns that emerge from the analysis. The findings are used in a quantitative analysis to study how the patterns underlying CSP communication on their websites affect the ratings of firms’ CSP by independent rating agencies.
Findings
Results show that the location, the manner, the content and the scope of CSP information dissemination on firm websites, as well as perceived commitment to CSP identified on the website are important drivers of perceived CSP performance. A robustness check using an alternative independent rating of CSP also provides results that are supportive of the findings. In addition, the effects are found to differ by sector of operation, firm age and profitability.
Research limitations/implications
This research suggests that communication of CSPs at controllable sources of firm information dissemination can have a significant effect on the evaluation of CSP at uncontrollable sources when such communication facilitates the assessment of other information from a firm to determine the motive underlying a firm’s CSP.
Practical implications
The findings show that firms and managers can influence the perceived ratings, rankings or scores of their CSP by stakeholders when they put the right information at the right place on their corporate websites. One of the findings shows that even moderate levels of CSP commitment demonstrated on firm websites result in positive perceptions of CSP, which has marked practical implications.
Social implications
The findings show that integrating even a medium level of commitment to CSP increases the positive perceptions of a firm’s CSP. Thus, society benefits from the firm’s action without a substantial impact on the firm’s profits.
Originality/value
This research shows that firm-controlled sources of CSP information dissemination to stakeholders can affect uncontrollable sources of CSP information evaluation.
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This is an empirical study of a business ethics issue. It examines the question of when an untrue statement in a negotiations context is considered unethical behavior. Four types…
Abstract
This is an empirical study of a business ethics issue. It examines the question of when an untrue statement in a negotiations context is considered unethical behavior. Four types of untrue statements are considered. A questionnaire was used to determine (1) if the types of untrue statements were distinct, (2) if they formed a continuum, and (3) whether the collective perspective of reasonable people was able to “draw a line” in such a continuum between ethical and unethical behavior. The results showed a consensus of moral intuition and the ability to draw a line between ethical and unethical behavior. Implications and future research directions are discussed.
Against a backdrop of legislative and policy changes, this paper assesses the extent to which the over-65 age-group is moving from the margins to the mainstream of UK employment…
Abstract
Purpose
Against a backdrop of legislative and policy changes, this paper assesses the extent to which the over-65 age-group is moving from the margins to the mainstream of UK employment. The purpose of this paper is to fill a gap in HR research and practice which, it is argued, has paid relatively little attention to the over-65s.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis draws on three waves of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) (2001, 2008, 2014), to explore the extent to which organisational, occupational and sectoral marginalisation of the over-65s has changed in the twenty-first century.
Findings
The results show that the share of 65-69 year olds working as employees doubled between 2001 and 2014, primarily because long-term established employees worked longer. Overrepresentations of lower-level “Lopaq” occupations reduced, and over-65s became more integrated across occupations and sectors.
Research limitations/implications
More research is needed to understand the factors driving the steady move from the margins to the mainstream (e.g. LFS does not measure pensions), and future research on the older workforce should automatically include workers in this age-group.
Practical implications
The discussion considers the implications for managerial practice, in a context of increasingly age-diverse workforces.
Originality/value
This paper addresses a gap in research into later life working and also demonstrates the ways in which the nature of employment among the over-65s is changing, thereby challenging some of the assumptions about those who work into later life and how they are – or should be managed.
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David Lain, Kari Hadjivassiliou, Antonio Corral Alza, Iñigo Isusi, Jacqueline O’Reilly, Victoria Richards and Sue Will
This paper aims to evaluate internships in terms of governance structures. Internships are being promoted as a European Union policy lever to address high youth unemployment…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to evaluate internships in terms of governance structures. Internships are being promoted as a European Union policy lever to address high youth unemployment. However, concerns exist that internships often have few developmental opportunities and poor employment outcomes, something this conceptual paper examines.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop a conceptual framework for distinguishing between different types of internships based on “dimensions of governance” (contract, agreed duration and partnership). A distinction is made between “open market”, “educational” and “active labour market policy” internships, drawing on examples and evidence from Spain and Portugal.
Findings
The authors argue that “governed” internships, linked to educational programmes or genuine active labour market policies, are much more likely to have beneficial outcomes than “open market internships”. This is because they provide the positive governance conditions relating to contract, duration and partnership arrangements under which employers, interns and third parties understand how they can benefit from the internship and what their responsibilities are.
Research limitations/implications
The strength of the paper lies in outlining an analytical framework for future research. The evidence presented from Spain and Portugal provides support for the conceptual framework; future comparative internship research should further test the propositions made across a range of countries and contexts.
Social implications
By increasing understanding of internship governance, employers, policymakers and educationalists will be in a better position to design successful internships.
Originality/value
The paper broadens the focus beyond educational internships alone and proposes a conceptual framework for future research.
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Sophie Hennekam and Olivier Herrbach
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of perceived human resource management (HRM) practices on affective organizational commitment, job performance and preference for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of perceived human resource management (HRM) practices on affective organizational commitment, job performance and preference for early retirement.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 414 older employees with a low occupational status, in the graphical, arts, information and media sectors in the Netherlands, filled out a survey measuring their perception of five human resource practices related to flexible work options, job design, training, evaluation of their performance and recognition and respect, their commitment, job performance and preference for early retirement.
Findings
The results show that employees’ perception of HRM practices related to job design and recognition and respect have a positive influence on their affective commitment to their organization. Second, their perception of the HRM practices related to recognition and respect are also shown to have a positive relationship with job performance. However, it was found that perceived HRM practices do not influence preference for early retirement.
Originality/value
These findings show that the provision of HRM practices enhances job performance and affective organizational commitment. However, in contrast with the common assumption that HRM practices will influence the retirement decision in the sense that it will delay their retirement, it might not be a useful tool to keep older employees longer in the workforce.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the degree to which there have been changes during the recession in the behaviour of employers with regards to their employment of older…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the degree to which there have been changes during the recession in the behaviour of employers with regards to their employment of older workers. The paper aims to show that there has been substantial change since the last recession and that there are, potentially, significant developments still occurring.
Design/methodology/approach
A small group of employers from a range of sectors were interviewed twice, once at the outset of the (first) recession and once towards its end.
Findings
The situation for older workers in employment is better than in previous recessions, mainly because employers are less likely to resort to redundancies for workers of all ages. Instead, a range of flexible working options are being utilised, including flexible retirement and adjustments to work processes. In the main the flexibility was instituted and controlled by the organisations. Employers are looking for alternative strategies to deal with a shift in control over the retirement process as a result of the abolishment of the default retirement age.
Research limitations/implications
The research was undertaken with a small sample, which has implications for the generalizability of the results. Although it would be difficult to further investigate the developments of employer behaviour during the recession, the long‐term implications and the effects of the recession, in particular on older workers, are yet to emerge.
Originality/value
The paper shows a new development in dealing with older workers during a recession.
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The purpose of this paper is to draw upon empirical research in order to demonstrate the ways in which trade unions have responded to the so‐called current UK pension crisis.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw upon empirical research in order to demonstrate the ways in which trade unions have responded to the so‐called current UK pension crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses both theoretical approaches to neoliberalism, and empirical research in the form of interviews, to examine the contradictions between the rhetoric and reality of government policy towards, and trade union responses to, pension reform in the UK.
Findings
That trade unions have been constrained by: the fact that the labour party, which they support, has been in government but has increasingly become receptive to neoliberal economic policies; and by the broader discourse of pension reform, advanced by elites that are committed to neoliberal reforms to the British welfare state.
Research limitations/implications
The scope of the paper is large and thus certain issues regarding the pension crisis and ideology are not covered in as much detail as would be preferred.
Practical implications
The paper offers forward a unique critique regarding the current favoured pension policies and solutions.
Originality/value
This paper draws upon front‐line theoretical contributions and combines them with the author's interviews with leading trade union general secretaries. As such, it is a unique insight into not only the current so‐called “pensions crisis” but also the responses of trade unions, and the labour movement more broadly, to this constructed dilemma.
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Dianne Bown‐Wilson and Emma Parry
The purpose of this paper is to explore what drives UK managers aged over 50 to continue progressing in their careers rather than retiring, and their perceptions of career…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore what drives UK managers aged over 50 to continue progressing in their careers rather than retiring, and their perceptions of career progression at a time in life when opportunities for further promotion may have ceased. It examines subjectively significant personal and organizational influences on career progression and the extent to which older managers perceive that motivation for career progression changes over the career.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts a qualitative, inductive approach, comprising semi‐structured interviews with 27 male and 13 female managers, aged 50 and over, from two large, UK financial services organizations.
Findings
The findings show that motivation for career progression in managers aged over 50 is driven by individually diverse patterns of career drivers, personal and work‐related influences, and attitudes towards career opportunities. These can be classified into four different orientations towards future career progression, pre‐ and post‐retirement.
Originality/value
The study contributes to knowledge about subjective psychological mobility in late managerial careers and the balance which individuals maintain between organizational and personal aspects of their career. It demonstrates that motivational drivers of career progression are perceived to change over the career and that perceptions of what constitutes career progression are linked to an individual's past, current and predicted future career experiences, in some cases extending past the traditional retirement transition.