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This study investigates the relationship between child gender and a CEO’s top management hiring decisions.

Hypotheses were tested using secondary data on 121 S&P 500 male CEOs, their children, and their top management teams.

Results indicate that child gender is associated with a male CEO’s TMT hiring decisions. Specifically, we find that male CEOs with only daughters were significantly more likely to hire women to their TMTs than male CEOs with only sons and those with both sons and daughters.

This study provides evidence for the roles of familiarity, learning, and empathy in reducing gender biases in selection decisions. Top management hiring decisions have wide implications for organizational settings in general and for the breaking of the glass ceiling in particular.

Reducing gender bias in top manager hiring decisions directly relates to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 5 of achieving gender equality as women are consistently under-represented at the top of organizations across the world.

By focusing on the hiring of top managers, this study includes hiring decisions that directly impact firm operations. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship between child gender and executive hiring decisions with a US S&P 500 sample.

Although organizations are investing heavily in digital transformation (DT) of the sales function, implementation and exploitation at the sales force level are ongoing challenges. As sales managers serve as conduits of influence between top management and the sales force, the success of strategic initiatives, such as DT, hinges heavily on leveraging their influence to promote change adoption at the sales force level. Accordingly, this research is guided by the research question: how can sales organizations secure the buy-in of sales managers and induce their championing behaviors directed toward the sales force?. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organizational and psychological resources influence sales managers' DT change champion through their change readiness.

Construing DT in sales as an organizational change that creates contextual job demands, the theoretical framework offers several hypotheses linking organizational and personal resources with sales managers’ change readiness and championing behaviors. The perceived impact of change is included as a moderating variable. Using data from a sample of 176 business-to-business sales managers, the hypotheses are tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The authors demonstrate that two change-related organizational resources (change communication and change mobilization) and a personal psychological resource (psychological capital) facilitate sales managers’ emotional and cognitive change readiness, which, in turn, enhances their championing behaviors toward DT initiatives. Further, the authors find that perceived change impact augments the effects of organizational and psychological resources on change readiness, thus highlighting the importance of effective positioning of the outcomes of change.

This study provides practitioners with actionable guidance on securing the buy-in of sales managers for change initiatives such as DT. Specifically, communication and mobilization are critical inducements. Managers who score high on psychological capital can be targeted as change agents. Further, the impact of change needs to be framed positively, as the resultant perceptions magnify the effects of organizational resources.

While prior research has examined salespeople’s response to change, very little is known about the antecedents of change readiness and championing behavior among sales managers. Based on the results, the authors identify theoretical and managerial implications as well as future research directions.

This case is based on secondary information and data about the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women initiative and youth entrepreneurship programs from press releases, news articles and websites. The protagonist has been disguised. This case has been classroom-tested in a core MBA course in both face-to-face and online delivery methods.

In March 2021, Goldman Sachs launched its One Million Black Women initiative which expanded its inclusive growth goals to support Black women entrepreneurs who were under-represented and under-resourced. This initiative is one of Goldman Sachs’s sponsored programs that aid existing entrepreneurs. This program would invest $10bn over the next decade to advance racial equity, promote entrepreneurial activity and increase and economic opportunities for these highly motivated and resilient Black women. With the buzz from this initiative, Johnnetta who was a Black female manager at a financial services competitor of Goldman Sachs conceived another approach to groom and grow future generations of women of color entrepreneurs. Her idea was to implement youth entrepreneurship programs in middle schools in states with high populations of students of color. Based on a psychological theory of entrepreneurship approach, these students would learn about entrepreneurship and gain hands-on experience with starting and operating a business. The program was called “Planting 1000 Seeds of Entrepreneurs” to develop a pipeline of savvy, well-prepared future women of color entrepreneurs. Johnnetta’s dilemma was whether to pitch this new youth entrepreneurship program as an employee at her employer as a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiative or start this program as an entrepreneur of a nonprofit in which she would have sole autonomy to administer this program. This case will enable students to develop ideas into a compelling business pitch while sparking debate about approaches to foster DEI initiatives that will have impactful economic benefits for women of color entrepreneurs.

This case is best suited for upper-level undergraduate or graduate students taking business administration courses in management, entrepreneurship, women studies or other courses that cover topics or modules related to DEI initiatives involving women in business.

This study explores the integration of corporate reporting by Mitsubishi, a large Japanese company, using a culturally sensitive narrative that combines and reconciles Japanese and Western corporate values in one story.

We use an analytical framework drawing on insights borrowed from narratology and the notion of wrapping – the traditional art of packaging as communication.

We find that Mitsubishi is a survivor company that uses different corporate reporting frameworks during its reporting journey to construct a bespoke narrative of its value creation and cultural values. It emplots narratives to convey a story presenting the impression that Mitsubishi is a Japanese corporation but is compatible with Western neo-liberal ideology, making bad news palatable to its stakeholders and instilling confidence in the future.

Wrapping is a culturally sensitive form of impression management used in the integration of corporate reporting. Therefore, rather than assuming that companies blatantly manipulate their image in corporate reports, we suggest that future research should focus on how narratives are constructed and made sense of, situating them in the context of local culture and traditions.

The findings should interest scholars, report preparers, policymakers, and the IFRS, considering the recent release of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards designed to reduce the so-called alphabet soup of corporate reporting. By following Mitsubishi’s journey, we learn how and why the notion of integrated reporting was adopted and integrated with other reporting frameworks to create narratives that together convey a story of a global corporation compliant with Western neoliberal ideology. It highlights how Mitsubishi used integrated reporting to tell its story rather than as a rigid reporting framework, and the same fate may apply to the new IFRS Sustainability Reporting Standards that now include integrated reporting.

The study offers a new perspective on corporate reporting, showing how the local societal discourses of cultural heritage and modernity can shape the journey of the integration of corporate reporting over time.

The purpose of this paper is to identify specific practices companies can adopt to unleash the social entrepreneurial spirit of their employees. It is in response to growing expectations from customers, employees, investors and governmental agencies around the world that businesses serve not just the financial interests of their shareholders but the environmental and social expectations of all citizens. By encouraging and supporting employees to pursue innovative products, services and management practices that address both the company’s business interests and the individual’s social passions, corporate social entrepreneurship (CSE) has the potential to do both.

A systematic review (SR) of academic studies published in peer-reviewed journals was conducted to answer the review question: What are the organizational enablers of CSE in large national and multinational corporations? Thirteen relevant high-quality academic research studies were identified. These studies were then synthesized through a multi-step coding process using Atlas.ti. Common themes were identified and actionable management recommendations developed.

Three findings emerged: (a) that while an organization’s values, demonstrated by its leadership, empower CSEs, specific structures and practices are required to enable them to have the intended impact on its environmental and social performance; (b) that CSEs are motivated, but organizations need to invest in developing their skills and capabilities; and (c) when CSE success is recognized and rewarded it positively impacts future efforts by other employees.

Available research has focused on the characteristics of the individual CSEs and the challenges they face. Although that research provided sufficient insights to support the analysis performed in this study, little research has been conducted to establish the extent to which CSE: (a) is used by businesses today, (b) is positively impacting company corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions; (c) may be improved through the application of the study’s recommendations, (d) is affected by leadership styles and business cultures and (e) differs across industry, national and political settings. Both qualitative and quantitative research into these and related topics are needed.

This paper provides a comprehensive view of the relationship between an organization’s practices and CSE success. It recommends that executives communicate their personal and the organization’s values; that they make specific, targeted organizational investments to support CSE; actively identify, recruit and train these employees; and establish, measure and report CSE results.

CSE is an important complementary approach to CSR, environmental, social and governance investing and the United Nation’s sustainability development goals. It can contribute to businesses serving not just the commercial interests of their shareholders but the environmental and social expectations of all citizens.

While previous studies have focused on the personal characteristics and behaviors of CSEs, this is the first to use these insights to develop a comprehensive understanding of the organizational characteristics required for their success. Corporations are increasingly expected to meet the environmental and social expectations of all stakeholders, yet these programs are too often seen as more symbolic than substantive. This paper provides a roadmap for institutionalizing CSE as an important contributor to these efforts.