In the past year, S‐K‐I Ltd. has snowballed into the largest ski resort company in North America—under the guiding hand of strategist Hank Lunde. As COO and president, however…
Abstract
In the past year, S‐K‐I Ltd. has snowballed into the largest ski resort company in North America—under the guiding hand of strategist Hank Lunde. As COO and president, however, Lunde not only helps to plan acquisitions—he implements corporate strategy on a day‐to‐day basis.
Mary Sue Love, Granger Macy and Thomas W. Dougherty
Barnard was acutely aware of the social factors present in organizations and their influence on the effectiveness of organizations. He realized that cooperation, and more…
Abstract
Barnard was acutely aware of the social factors present in organizations and their influence on the effectiveness of organizations. He realized that cooperation, and more specifically that systems of cooperation, were a critical, essential element of effective organizational functioning. This paper extends Barnard’s conception of cooperative systems into what we call the coworker effect. The coworker effect is as an important factor linking positive individual behavior with the broader social context of the work group. In this article we will discuss the outcomes of the coworker effect and the sources that give it its power. In so doing, we can show how cooperative systems behaviorally impact on organizations and how organizations might be able to marshal this important resource more effectively.
Jenny L. Davis, Daniel B. Shank, Tony P. Love, Courtney Stefanik and Abigail Wilson
Role-taking is a basic social process underpinning much of the structural social psychology paradigm – a paradigm built on empirical studies of human interaction. Yet today, our…
Abstract
Purpose
Role-taking is a basic social process underpinning much of the structural social psychology paradigm – a paradigm built on empirical studies of human interaction. Yet today, our social worlds are occupied by bots, voice assistants, decision aids, and other machinic entities collectively referred to as artificial intelligence (AI). The integration of AI into daily life presents both challenges and opportunities for social psychologists. Through a vignette study, the authors investigate role-taking and gender in human-AI relations.
Methodology
Participants read a first-person narrative attributed to either a human or AI, with varied gender presentation based on a feminine or masculine first name. Participants then infer the narrator's thoughts and feelings and report on their own emotions, producing indicators of cognitive and affective role-taking. The authors supplement results with qualitative analysis from two open-ended survey questions.
Findings
Participants score higher on role-taking measures when the narrator is human versus AI. However, gender dynamics differ between human and AI conditions. When the text is attributed to a human, masculinized narrators elicit stronger role-taking responses than their feminized counterparts, and women participants score higher on role-taking measures than men. This aligns with prior research on gender, status, and role-taking variation. When the text is attributed to an AI, results deviate from established findings and in some cases, reverse.
Research Implications
This first study of human-AI role-taking tests the scope of key theoretical tenets and sets a foundation for addressing group processes in a newly emergent form.
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J. Barton Cunningham, Philip Gerrard, Herbert Schoch and Chung Lai Hong
Managers and entrepreneurs are increasingly being challenged to respond to a world where it is harder to effectively make and implement their decisions. Over half the decisions…
Abstract
Managers and entrepreneurs are increasingly being challenged to respond to a world where it is harder to effectively make and implement their decisions. Over half the decisions managers make are never implemented. We have observed entrepreneurs and managers in a wide range of situations in various countries, who illustrate a different set of assumptions for making decisions. They illustrate an entrepreneurial logic, a process of creatively defining and taking action to make sense out of situations which require new frameworks, assumptions and understandings. They assume that many challenges are not predictable and controllable. Certain control‐oriented attitudes and behaviors inhibit people from thinking this way, such as attempts to make decisions without fully understanding the right question, and overly relying on statistics. Certain reframing attitudes and behaviors – diversity in thinking, asking the right questions, and reframing and adapting quickly – illustrate ways to make sense of the paradoxes and uncertainties in the new economy.
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Yuhua Qiao, Khi V. Thai and Glenn Cummings
The use of public procurement as a vehicle for implementing various socioeconomic preference policies has a long history. This article reviews the current state of affairs of…
Abstract
The use of public procurement as a vehicle for implementing various socioeconomic preference policies has a long history. This article reviews the current state of affairs of procurement preference programs with regard to U.S. state and local governments and analyzes their impact on both the recipients and on the public procurement process. Opportunities for further research are noted, and the authors conclude that the ability to navigate the difficult waters of socioeconomic preferences should be a core competency of state and local public procurement officials.
Randal S. Franz and Henry L. Petersen
The purpose of this paper is to explain people's divergent perceptions of companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in order to help organizations strategically…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explain people's divergent perceptions of companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in order to help organizations strategically manage their global responsibilities.
Design/methodology/approach
Combining institutional theory and role‐theory, the authors examine how people's expectations for the role of business (RoB) in society define the standard by which corporate activities are judged. Where conformity to institutional models confers “legitimacy” and compliance to social scripts constitutes “appropriate” behavior, the authors contend that congruence with RoB expectations is what defines corporate responsibility. This research utilized a quasi‐experimental method to explore the effects of stakeholder status and individuals' RoB expectations on their assessments of CSR activities.
Findings
Significant differences were found between stakeholder groups on all but one of the CSR activities scales. Of substantially more impact, subjects' RoB expectations were found to significantly shape their assessment on all CSR activities scales. A factor analysis of the RoB items identified five dimensions to the role business plays in society, which together define a holistic model for global responsibility.
Research limitations/implications
Subjects were recruited by convenience and randomly assigned to the four experimental conditions, so they are not representative of the general population. Future research would benefit from cross‐cultural, longitudinal and qualitative explorations into people's RoB expectations.
Practical implications
The five RoB components provide managers with a tool to strategically manage a multi‐dimensional portfolio of corporate CSR activities.
Originality/value
This research applies role‐theory concepts to the study of CSR, thereby introducing some emergent, situational, negotiated and idiosyncratic dynamics to our understanding of global responsibility.
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Rob Elkington, Noel James Pearse, Jennifer Moss, Madeleine Van der Steege and Suzanne Martin
The purpose of this paper is to develop a clear answer to the question “how is leadership developed?” This research utilized the knowledge of leadership development experts and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a clear answer to the question “how is leadership developed?” This research utilized the knowledge of leadership development experts and their collective expertise to identify the critical elements required for a high-quality leadership development program.
Design/methodology/approach
The Lockean Inquiring System approach to the Delphi technique was used to solicit the views of experts in leadership and leadership development from around the world. Experts for Round 1 of the Delphi were drawn from a random sampling of 100 people, comprising leadership researchers, coaches, and organizational leaders, not personally known to the lead researcher of this project, but in his LinkedIn network. A response rate of 13 percent (n=13) yielded a rich range of qualitative data. Responses from the first round of the Delphi were analyzed using open coding and categorized into four themes, representing four sets of competencies required of leaders.
Findings
The four themes were labeled as contextual, human capital, social capital, and structural capital, all of which were seen by participants as being central to the development of collective leadership. Based on these themes, this paper identifies a useful list of key leadership development tactics from which those wishing to develop a leadership program can work.
Research limitations/implications
As the first round of a Delphi study, the authors are limited to presenting only the key elementary empirical judgments. Subsequent study with an expanded sample size and a refined set of questions rooted in the current data will contribute further to the development of factual propositions related to leadership development for the twenty-first century. The Delphi survey is a “snapshot” approach and presents a holographic-type image of the complex whole. The authors plan to triangulate the data by significantly expanding the pool of Delphi experts and conducting the Round 1 survey a second time with a larger international group of respondents that fit the criteria of expert.
Practical implications
This paper presents four dimensions of an effective leadership development strategy.
Originality/value
Core elements of the best methods for leadership development have been identified by leadership development experts, which serve as a basis for developing leadership as a collective, and for further research.
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Hans W. Klar and Curtis A. Brewer
In this paper, the authors present a case study of successful school leadership at County Line Middle School. The purpose of the paper is to identify how particular leadership…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors present a case study of successful school leadership at County Line Middle School. The purpose of the paper is to identify how particular leadership practices and beliefs were adapted to increase student achievement in this rural, high-poverty school in the southeastern USA.
Design/methodology/approach
After purposefully selecting this school, the authors adapted interview protocols, questionnaires, and analysis frameworks from the International Successful School Principalship Project to develop a multi-perspective case study of principal leadership practices at the school.
Findings
The findings illustrate the practices which led to students at this school, previously the lowest-performing in the district, achieving significantly higher on state standardized tests, getting along “like a family,” and regularly participating in service learning activities and charity events. A particularly interesting finding was how the principal confronted the school's negative self-image and adapted common leadership practices to implement a school-wide reform that suited its unique context.
Research limitations/implications
While the findings of the study explicate the specific ways the principal adapted leadership strategies to enhance student learning, this study also highlights the need to understand how principals become familiar with their community's needs, cultures, norms, and values, and exercise leadership in accordance with them.
Practical implications
The case offers an example of the need for context-responsive leadership in schools. In particular, it illustrates how this principal enacted leadership strategies that successfully negotiated what Woods (2006) referred to as the changing politics of the rural. To realize this success, the principal utilized his understanding of this low income, rural community to guide his leadership practices. Critically, part of this understanding included the ways the community was connected to and isolated from dominant sub-urban and urban societies, and how to build enthusiasm and capacity through appeals to local values.
Originality/value
While it is widely acknowledged that school leaders need to consider their school and community contexts when making leadership decisions, less research has focussed on understanding how this can be achieved. This case provides rich examples of how this was accomplished in a rural, high-poverty middle school.
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Charles J. Coate and Mark C. Mitschow
Economic activity is typically provided by three distinct sectors. For-profit entities seek to maximize owner profit by providing various goods and services. The not-for-profit…
Abstract
Economic activity is typically provided by three distinct sectors. For-profit entities seek to maximize owner profit by providing various goods and services. The not-for-profit sector consists of private or quasi-public entities that provide goods and services without regard to making an explicit profit. Government entities extract resources from the economy and redistribute them to achieve certain public goods.
Recently a fourth or gray sector has developed that combines elements of the other three. As a corporate form that explicitly sacrifices profit maximization to advance some predetermined social good, benefit corporations are one example of this gray sector. Owners are aware of this dual mission but still invest as the social objectives are consistent with their personal goals. Thus, the benefit corporation can be viewed as a for-profit entity subject to an explicit social welfare constraint.
Since the late 1960s governments have spent trillions of dollars on a wide variety of social welfare programs. Nevertheless, poverty persists and government altruism may have made poverty more intractable in some respects. Economic logic suggests that providing social welfare transfer payments with few work or training requirements can make recipients dependent and enable dysfunctional behavior. Over time this may rob recipients of opportunities for labor and self-sufficiency.
Benefit corporations are typically viewed as a form of socially responsible investment that leverages the economic advantages of market-based systems. To date, however, little has been written about the benefit corporation’s potential ethical dimensions. The purpose of this paper is to provide a moral argument based in Catholic Social Teaching to support the use of benefit corporations as a substitute for some government service programs. Our arguments are centered on the primary principle of Human Dignity and will include, but not be limited to: Work, Solidarity and there role social and economic society as well as the Role of Government or Subsidiarity (including the Welfare State).