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1 – 10 of over 55000Sarah J. Williams and Carol A. Adams
The purpose of this paper is to examine how disclosure of employee issues by a large UK bank may or may not promote transparency and accountability (as assessed by the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how disclosure of employee issues by a large UK bank may or may not promote transparency and accountability (as assessed by the completeness of the account) toward the employee stakeholder group, and to shed light on the implications of the organisation‐society relationship for employee accountability.
Design/methodology/approach
The intrinsic stakeholder framework forms the basis of the qualitative, longitudinal analysis. It is adopted as the moral ground for the provision of a “complete” account of employee issues. In seeking to shed light on the organisation‐society relationship and its implications for reporting on employee issues the authors build a broader theoretical framework incorporating various social and political theories dealing with legitimacy, political economy, and language and rhetoric. Interpretive and critical approaches are employed. The analysis draws on an extensive review of published materials relating to employment in the UK retail banking industry and NatWest in particular, impacts of workplace changes occurring in the banking sector, and to the economic, social and political environment over the period of the study.
Findings
The findings indicate that what and how NatWest reported on employee issues was influenced by considerations other than transparency and employee accountability. The analysis highlights the complexity of the role of disclosures in the organisation‐society relationship and consequently the limitations of the use of a single theoretical framework to interpret disclosures.
Research limitations/implications
The longitudinal analysis indicates how reporting practices are issue and context dependent and points to the limitations of theorising in corporate social reporting based on a single time frame and a limited analysis of the reported issues.
Practical implications
In highlighting a lack of accountability to employees, the findings have implications for the development of reporting standards on issues relevant to employees. Over time, it is hoped that development of an employee inclusive reporting framework, along with exposure of the contradictory role that reports may play in promoting accountability, will contribute toward improved employee management practices.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the corporate social reporting literature by extending the analysis beyond the firm focused stakeholder management perspective to considering disclosures from a moral perspective and the extent to which the complex organisation‐society relationship might work against the promotion of transparency and accountability toward stakeholders (specifically employees). In this way, through an in‐depth longitudinal analysis of disclosures from multiple perspectives, the paper contributes to theorising of the role of social disclosure in the organisation‐society relationship.
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The paper seeks to focus on operationalising corporate social responsibility in the context of employee governance. Its purpose is to evaluate critically the ethics of…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to focus on operationalising corporate social responsibility in the context of employee governance. Its purpose is to evaluate critically the ethics of “mainstream” human resource management (HRM) and to propose an alternative stakeholder systems model of HRM.
Design/methodology/approach
Stakeholder theory is utilised to critique modes of employee governance, in the light of concepts of stakeholder accountability and organisational justice. Conceptual analysis attests to the need for a different philosophy of employee governance – in particular within knowledge‐intensive organisations.
Findings
The paper identifies the concept of “the responsible organisation” as a means of assessing organisational maturity in employee governance, and relates this to dimensions of organisational justice. Linkage enables employee perceptions of equitable treatment to be combined with effectiveness measures in the employee governance model proposed.
Research limitations/implications
The paper demonstrates the significance and application potential of a stakeholder systems development of current modes of managing people. Conclusions confirm instrumental and ethical rationales for the greater involvement of and accountability to employee stakeholders.
Practical implications
The paper demonstrates a business‐based rationale for the adoption of ethical corporate governance and HRM.
Originality/value
The stakeholder systems model represents a holistic approach to human resource management by its incorporation of employee perspectives at HRM system design, operation and evaluation stages. It responds to the need for a new philosophy of HRM in an era of stakeholder‐accountable organisations.
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Nataliya Podgorodnichenko, Adeel Akmal, Fiona Edgar and Andrè M. Everett
The purpose of this empirical study is to develop an understanding of how human resource (HR) managers employed by organizations with an explicit sustainability agenda view…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this empirical study is to develop an understanding of how human resource (HR) managers employed by organizations with an explicit sustainability agenda view employees as stakeholders, and to explore how such views are operationalized in HR policies and practices.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretive approach using data from 35 semi-structured interviews was adopted for this study. Data were transcribed and analyzed using the Gioia methodology.
Findings
Comparison of approaches to sustainable human resource management (HRM) revealed three distinctive conceptualizations of employees with respect to the sustainability agenda – employees as a driving force for sustainability, employees as consumers of HR practices and employees as members of a community. Strong levels of integration between the HRM and sustainability agendas were only evidenced in those organizations where an attempt had been made to address all three roles simultaneously. Findings suggest that engagement with a sustainability agenda widens the remit of the HRM function, underscoring the importance of employees' roles as consumers of HR practices and as members of wider communities.
Practical implications
By addressing the integration of HRM with a sustainability agenda, this article helps practitioners recognize diversity among employees' roles and the varying associated needs. Examples of policy and practice initiatives that effectively address these needs are provided.
Originality/value
HRM has been widely criticized for overemphasizing shareholder value, thereby lacking in attention to the needs of other stakeholders, including employees. Findings from this study suggest the holistic approach advocated by a sustainability agenda can effectively quell these concerns.
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Hong-Lei Mu, Jiang Xu and Sijing Chen
The main purposes of this research are: first of all, to re-classify the types of corporate social responsibility (CSR) into primary stakeholder-oriented CSR and secondary…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purposes of this research are: first of all, to re-classify the types of corporate social responsibility (CSR) into primary stakeholder-oriented CSR and secondary stakeholder-oriented CSR from the perspective of stakeholders and, second, to investigate empirically how and which types of CSR can better impact employees' job satisfaction and happiness management.
Design/methodology/approach
An online self-administered questionnaire was adopted to test the conceptual model. Questionnaires were sent to Chinese employees and restrict the data to those whose companies had experience implementing CSR. The study employed the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique for data analysis using SmartPLS 4.0 software.
Findings
For factors of happiness management, both primary stakeholder-oriented CSR and secondary stakeholder-oriented CSR had significant and positive effects on happiness management. In addition, both primary and secondary stakeholder-oriented CSR positively and significantly affected job satisfaction, with primary stakeholder-oriented CSR way larger than secondary stakeholder-oriented CSR. Job satisfaction, in turn, was positively and significantly associated with happiness management. The results showed that the control variables of gender and education background had significant effects on happiness management.
Practical implications
First, the results provide useful empirical evidence in support of the feasibility that firms could develop competitive and sustainable development strategies by paying more attention to CSR practices. In terms of the primary stakeholder-oriented CSR, managers are recommended to put employees' benefits as a priority and invest in the to offer a healthy and safe working environment or employee support programs. In terms of the secondary stakeholder-oriented CSR, managers are suggested to denote parts of earnings to charity and to people in need. Second, in order to create job satisfaction, firms should put a stronger emphasis on CSR practices. When considering job satisfaction, managers should treat their employees in a socially responsible way and fulfill their demands and rights and place this at the core of their CSR activities.
Originality/value
First, this study makes a contribution to the existing literature by classifying the four important CSR practices into two types from the perspective of stakeholder theory. By incorporating a series of CSR practices and the stakeholder theory, this study provides a comprehensive and reasonable CSR classification, which has not been considered by prior research. Second, this study adds to the literature by defining the construct of happiness management explicitly along with identifying the dimensions of happiness management. Third, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first studies exploring the relationship between CSR and happiness management. Finally, this study is among the first to investigate the correlation between job satisfaction and happiness management.
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Emerald Edem Sabah Welbeck, Godfred Matthew Yaw Owusu, Samuel Nana Yaw Simpson and Rita Amoah Bekoe
The study examines employee perceptions of CSR relating to stakeholders in the telecommunication industry of Ghana. It also analyses the variations in CSR practices among the…
Abstract
Purpose
The study examines employee perceptions of CSR relating to stakeholders in the telecommunication industry of Ghana. It also analyses the variations in CSR practices among the sampled telecommunication firms.
Design/methodology/approach
By means of a survey, the study explored from the perspective of employees the CSR practices of their firms highlighting the stakeholder group they perceive their firms to be focussing on. A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather data from employees working with leading telecommunication firms in Ghana. A total of 177 valid responses were used for the study analysis. Data was analysed by means of descriptive statistics, and differences in respondent views across the different firms were ascertained using analysis of variance test (ANOVA).
Findings
The study results demonstrate that although telecommunication firms engage in CSR activities in some respect, generally these activities are directed more at the stakeholder group “society” distantly followed by shareholder group. The authors also find from their target respondents that not so much attention is given to issues relating to the stakeholder group “the environment”. The results also suggest variations exist in the direction of CSR practices by these firms.
Practical implications
Managers of telecommunication firms in Ghana seem to balance the interest of stakeholders by focussing on society rather than prioritizing these stakeholders.
Originality/value
This study contributes to CSR studies highlighting the perception of employees on their companies' CSR practices while comparing practices amongst telecommunications firms. This would help management of these firms to map out strategies to direct their CSR activities based on stakeholder prioritization.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of a particular firm’s stakeholder orientation, particularly employee orientation, on corporate communications with stakeholders…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of a particular firm’s stakeholder orientation, particularly employee orientation, on corporate communications with stakeholders concerning financial irregularities.
Design/methodology/approach
This study explores the impact of a particular firm’s stakeholder orientation, particularly employee orientation, on corporate communications with stakeholders concerning financial irregularities. Using a sample of 762 firm restatements, the authors separate their observations by disclosure transparency (high or low transparency of disclosure) and use logit regressions to examine whether companies with stronger employee orientation make more or less transparent restatement disclosures.
Findings
The findings show that higher levels of investment in employee orientation are associated with less transparent restatement disclosures. Further, examining a subsample of restatements in which managers may have greater discretion over how a restatement is disclosed confirms this finding. However, supplemental tests show that increased external monitoring may mitigate these effects.
Practical implications
The findings provide support that other stakeholders, such as shareholders, should weigh the potential pros/cons of management investments in corporate social responsibility (CSR). These concerns are more important now as firms continue to embrace a stakeholder-focused model of management which allocates resources to numerous stakeholder groups.
Originality/value
This paper extends the growing body of research that assesses the impact of CSR on firm outcomes (Kim et al., 2012; Guo et al., 2016; Hmaittane et al., 2019). Further, this paper contributes to the disclosure transparency literature by finding an association between CSR investment levels and the manner in which a firm discloses a restatement.
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Research has not fully recognised the significance of employee stakeholders to the design and effective operation of performance management systems. The purpose of the paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Research has not fully recognised the significance of employee stakeholders to the design and effective operation of performance management systems. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate the centrality of employees within the stakeholder systems model of performance management it proposes.
Design/methodology/approach
Stakeholder theory is utilised to critique current scorecard‐type performance management frameworks with a particular focus on the balanced scorecard as the most popular of these. Conceptual analysis is supported by case study evidence relating to the effectiveness of performance management systems in knowledge‐intensive organisations.
Findings
The paper identifies the concept of the responsible organisation as a means of assessing organisational maturity in performance management, and links it to dimensions of organisational justice. Linkage enables stakeholder perceptions of equitable treatment to be combined with effectiveness measures in the more holistic performance management framework proposed.
Practical implications
The paper demonstrates the significance and application potential of the stakeholder systems development of scorecard‐type performance management frameworks. Conclusions confirm the “why” and the “how” of a more participatory role for organisation stakeholders, and why employee stakeholders merit a “first among equals” status within these.
Originality/value
The paper shows that the stakeholder systems approach represents a holistic approach to performance management through its incorporation of stakeholder perspectives at system design, operation and evaluation stages. The paper responds to the need for a new philosophy of performance management in an era of stakeholder accountable organisations.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore psychological, social and work related health aspects of harm imposed on stakeholders, such as employees, their families and communities…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore psychological, social and work related health aspects of harm imposed on stakeholders, such as employees, their families and communities, by organizations while using efficiency based human resource management (HRM) practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The ethical issues of negative externality (NE) or harm of HRM practices are scrutinized using ethics of care for a stakeholders' perspective. Further, the conceptual framework of NE of HRM is used to analyse the psychological, social and work related health harm of one of the strategic HRM practices, work intensification, a widely used practice to improve the efficiency of employees.
Findings
It is evident from this article that NE of work intensification has become the major contributor to the psychological, social, and work related health aspects of harm on the stakeholders, and they as third parties render the costs for managing this harm.
Research limitations/implications
The harm indicators and the associated costs are drawn from published research that was not conducted for the purpose of identifying the harm of the NE of HRM practices. Hence, it is suggested that it would be useful to develop a tool to measure the harmful effects of HRM practices on the stakeholders.
Practical implications
The analysis of NE of work intensification can help managers to be proactive in introducing sustainable HRM strategies so as to minimize the harms of NE of HRM practices.
Originality/value
The framework of NE of HRM provides a new insight that overutilization of human resources for maximizing an organisation's profit has an unsustainable impact on society.
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Scanning both the academic and popular business literature of the last 40 years puzzles the alert reader. The variety of prescriptions of how to be successful (effective…
Abstract
Scanning both the academic and popular business literature of the last 40 years puzzles the alert reader. The variety of prescriptions of how to be successful (effective, performing, etc.) 1 Organizational performance, organizational success and organizational effectiveness will be used interchangeably throughout this paper.1 in business is hardly comprehensible: “Being close to the customer,” Total Quality Management, corporate social responsibility, shareholder value maximization, efficient consumer response, management reward systems or employee involvement programs are but a few of the slogans introduced as means to increase organizational effectiveness. Management scholars have made little effort to integrate the various performance-enhancing strategies or to assess them in an orderly manner.
This study classifies organizational strategies by the importance each strategy attaches to different constituencies in the firm’s environment. A number of researchers divide an organization’s environment into various constituency groups and argue that these groups constitute – as providers and recipients of resources – the basis for organizational survival and well-being. Some theoretical schools argue for the foremost importance of responsiveness to certain constituencies while stakeholder theory calls for a – situation-contingent – balance in these responsiveness levels. Given that maximum responsiveness levels to different groups may be limited by an organization’s resource endowment or even counterbalanced, the need exists for a concurrent assessment of these competing claims by jointly evaluating the effect of the respective behaviors towards constituencies on performance. Thus, this study investigates the competing merits of implementing alternative business philosophies (e.g. balanced versus focused responsiveness to constituencies). Such a concurrent assessment provides a “critical test” of multiple, opposing theories rather than testing the merits of one theory (Carlsmith, Ellsworth & Aronson, 1976).
In the high tolerance level applied for this study (be among the top 80% of the industry) only a handful of organizations managed to sustain such a balanced strategy over the whole observation period. Continuously monitoring stakeholder demands and crafting suitable responsiveness strategies must therefore be a focus of successful business strategies. While such behavior may not be a sufficient explanation for organizational success, it certainly is a necessary one.
Elaheh Mohammadi, Gianluca Vagnani and Hossein Maleki
The present study aims to explore the concepts involved in the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and customer and employee satisfaction in service…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study aims to explore the concepts involved in the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and customer and employee satisfaction in service industries.
Design/methodology/approach
The research literature over the recent decade has been analyzed using a systematic review. Through thematic analysis and coding the findings of the final selected articles, the authors presented an integrative framework of the relationship between CSR and the satisfaction of critical stakeholders of service companies, namely, customers and employees.
Findings
The research framework encompasses six main categories called CSR, satisfaction, moderators, conditional variables, contextual variables and satisfaction outcomes. All categories but CSR are divided into customer and employee sections to make the research framework further comprehensible.
Practical implications
The results show that in service industries, employees need as much attention as customers, and CSR efforts to satisfy customers and employees can lead to several positive outputs for companies.
Social implications
Failure of service companies to commit to their social responsibility may harm the environment, society’s ethics and laws and long-term corporate profitability. On the other hand, adherence to CSR can lead to social development and economic growth.
Originality/value
This study is one of the most comprehensive studies in the field of CSR and satisfaction, which simultaneously considers the two key stakeholders of a service company. In addition, it provides valuable avenues for further studies.
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