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1 – 10 of 634
Article
Publication date: 13 February 2017

Kelly Pledger Weeks, Matthew Weeks and Nicolas Long

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between stereotypes, in-group favoritism, and in-group bolstering effects across generations.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between stereotypes, in-group favoritism, and in-group bolstering effects across generations.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the trends found in a qualitative study on generational stereotypes, questions on work ethic, work-life balance, and use of technology were administered to 255 participants identified as Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers. Hypotheses predicted that with a strong stereotype, traditional in-group favoritism will not be found; however, an in-group bolstering effect will emerge. In the absence of a strong stereotype, traditional in-group favoritism is expected.

Findings

Generally, there was a strong stereotype that Baby Boomers are worse at technology than Generation X and Generation X is worse than Millennials. There was also a strong stereotype that Millennials do not do what it takes to get the job done as much as other generations. In the presence of these stereotypes, traditional in-group favoritism was not found, but in-groups bolstered themselves by rating themselves more favorably than other groups rated them. Although these findings did not hold for every item studied, there was moderate support for all three hypotheses.

Practical implications

As employees become aware of their biases, they can collaborate better with employees who are different than they are. Practical recommendations are suggested.

Originality/value

The paper applies theory of in-group favoritism to the perceptions of generational cohorts.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 36 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2011

Jae‐Eun Chung and Byoungho Jin

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether preference toward in‐group members can serve as opportunism governance in channel relationships in a collectivist culture. This…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether preference toward in‐group members can serve as opportunism governance in channel relationships in a collectivist culture. This study proposes a model of opportunism incorporating in‐group preference and trust as antecedents of opportunism. Based on Transaction Cost Economics and Social Exchange Theory, transaction‐specific investment and relationship length are employed in the model as confounding variables of in‐group preference for opportunism and trust.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 109 Korean department store buyers and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (EQS 6.0).

Findings

The results showed that buyers' in‐group preference increased buyers' trust toward suppliers and decreased suppliers' opportunistic behavior. Buyers' increased trust toward suppliers was found to reduce suppliers' opportunistic behavior. Further, Trust was significantly influenced by supplier TSI, but not by length of relationship. On the other hand, opportunism was significantly influenced by length of relationship, but not by supplier TSI.

Research limitations/implications

This study examined only the positive side of in‐group membership. Some criticisms of in‐group preference are favoritism, interference with fair competition, and collective blindness, any of which might decrease the efficiency of business operations. These impacts should be examined to gain a balanced view of the implications of in‐group preference in business settings.

Practical implications

Multinational companies should understand that in‐group membership is an important source of building trust and oppressing opportunism in the Korean market. Multinational companies can strategically approach in‐group members of business partners to become members of those in‐groups.

Originality/value

This is the first empirical study to examine collectivists' tendencies toward in‐group preference as opportunism governance.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 26 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 April 2023

Jason Ryan

The aim of this study is to develop a better understanding of how the transferability and recognition of host country professional experience and educational credentials impact…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to develop a better understanding of how the transferability and recognition of host country professional experience and educational credentials impact the repatriation intentions of long-term self-initiated expatriates (SIEs). To that end, the study interviews a sample of American-educated French long-term SIEs in the United States (US) to assess how both their higher education and professional experience influence their social identity in their home country, France and their perceived repatriation opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies social identity theory to the examination of the combined impact of higher education and work experience abroad on the repatriation expectations of long-term SIEs. The author interviewed twenty-one French SIEs who attended universities in the US and remained there afterward to begin their careers.

Findings

The findings of this study confirm that the repatriation intentions of long-term SIEs are strongly influenced by concerns about the ability to maintain their host country standard of living in their home country. It also finds that foreign educational credentials and professional experience can constrain the ability of long-term SIEs to repatriate easily and gain acceptance. To overcome this, long-term SIEs often feel that they must embrace alternative repatriation strategies to maintain the lifestyle that they enjoyed while abroad when returning back home.

Originality/value

This study examines a sample of long-term SIEs from one home country, France, who left to attend university in the same host country, the US. It assesses how the experiences of those who remained in the US afterward to start their careers impacted their repatriation intentions. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on the context of self-initiated expatriation by examining the influence of host-country educational credentials and work experience on the repatriation intentions of long-term SIEs.

Details

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-8799

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2015

Huilin Xiao and Zhenzhong Ma

This paper aims to explore cross-cultural differences in perceived ethicality of negotiation strategies among China, Taiwan and Canada by examining five categories of strategies…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore cross-cultural differences in perceived ethicality of negotiation strategies among China, Taiwan and Canada by examining five categories of strategies often used in business negotiations.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a survey method to investigate a group of over 600 business students’ opinions on the ethicality of a variety of negotiation strategies often used during the bargaining process.

Findings

The results show that the Chinese both from the mainland and from Taiwan consider it more appropriate to use ethically questionable negotiation strategies than Canadians. In addition, significant gender differences are found for Canadians, in that male Canadians are more likely to consider it appropriate to use ethically questionable strategies in all five categories than females, while no gender differences are found for mainland Chinese in all but one category, with a moderate level of gender differences found for the Taiwanese.

Practical implications

The findings of this paper help explain why there are different understandings toward what is ethical and what is not in negotiations, which can be used to better equip practitioners to accurately label and understand negotiation strategies they may otherwise deem unethical. A better understanding of cross-cultural differences in business ethics can also help practitioners avoid the feelings of anger and mistrust toward their opponents and thus avoid using tactics that might incite more anger and hatred from the other party.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the cross-cultural literature on ethical attitudes and behaviors and helps us better understand cross-cultural differences in business ethics in a negotiation context. This paper narrows this gap by empirically validating some of the Western findings in China and Taiwan. The results also provide support for a set of commonly accepted strategies to be used in business negotiation.

Details

Nankai Business Review International, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8749

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 August 2022

Ozias A. Moore, Beth Livingston and Alex M. Susskind

Hiring managers commonly rely on system-justifying motives and attitudes during résumé screening. Given the prevalent use of modern résumé formats (e.g. LinkedIn) that include not…

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Abstract

Purpose

Hiring managers commonly rely on system-justifying motives and attitudes during résumé screening. Given the prevalent use of modern résumé formats (e.g. LinkedIn) that include not only an applicant's credentials but also headshot photographs, visible sources of information such as an applicant's race are also revealed while a hiring manager simultaneously evaluates a candidate's suitability. As a result, such screening is likely to activate evaluation bias. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of a hiring manager's perceptions of race-system justification, that is, support for the status quo in relations between Black and White job candidates in reinforcing or mitigating hiring bias related to in-group and out-group membership during résumé screening.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from system justification theory (SJT) in a pre-selection context, in an experimental study involving 174 human resource managers, the authors tested two boundary conditions of the expected relationship between hiring manager and job candidate race on candidate ratings: (1) a hiring manager's affirmative action (AA) attitudes and system-justifying attitudes and (2) a job candidate's manipulated suitability for a position. This approach enabled us to juxtapose the racial composition of hiring manager–job candidate dyads under conditions in which the job candidate's race and competency for a posted position were manipulated to examine the conditions under which White and Black hiring managers are likely to make biased evaluations. The authors largely replicated these findings in two follow-up studies with 261 students and 361 online raters.

Findings

The authors found that information on a candidate's objective suitability for a job resulted in opposite-race positive bias among Black evaluators and same-race positive bias among White evaluators in study 1 alone. Conversely, positive attitudes toward AA policies resulted in in-group favoritism and strengthened a positive same-race bias for Black evaluators (study 1 and 2). We replicated this finding with a third sample to directly test system-justifying attitudes (study 3). The way in which White raters rated White candidates reflected the same attitudes against systems (AA attitudes) that Black raters rating Black candidates exhibited in the authors’ first two studies. Positive system-justifying attitudes or positive attitudes toward AA did not, however, translate into the elevation of same-race candidate ratings of suitability above those of opposite-race candidates.

Research limitations/implications

Although the size of the sample is on par with the percentage of Blacks nationwide in private-sector managerial-level positions ideally, the authors would have preferred to oversample Black HR managers. Given the scarcity of focus on Black HR managers, future researchers, using diverse samples of evaluators should also consider not only managers' and candidates' race but also their social dominance orientation. Moreover, it is important that future researchers use more racially diverse samples from other industries to more fully identify the ways in which the dynamics of system-justifying processes can emerge to influence evaluation bias during résumé screening.

Practical implications

Advances in technology pose new challenges to HR hiring practices. This study attempts to fill a void regarding the unintended effects of bias during digital résumé screening. These trends have important HR implications. Initial screening of a job applicant's credentials while concurrently viewing the individual's photograph is likely to activate subconscious evaluation bias, produces inaccurate applicant ratings. This study's findings should caution hiring managers about the potential for bias to arise when viewing job candidates' digital résumés and encourage them to carefully examine various boundary conditions on racial similarity bias effects on applicant pre-screening and subsequent hiring decisions.

Social implications

The study’s results suggest that bias might be attenuated as organizational leaders engage in efforts to understand their system-justifying motives and examine perceptions of the workplace social hierarchy (i.e. responses to status hierarchies) linked to perceptions of the status quo. For example, understanding how system justifying motives influence evaluation bias will inform how best to design training and other interventions that link discussions of workforce diversity to the relationships among groups within the organization's social hierarchy. This line of research should be further explored to better understand the complex forces at work when hiring managers adopt system-justifying motives during hiring evaluations.

Originality/value

The authors address the limitations of prior research by examining interactions between boundary conditions in a real-world context using real human resources hiring managers and more contemporary personnel-screening practices to test changes in the direction and strength of the relationship between hiring manager–job candidate race and hiring manager evaluations. Thus, the authors’ findings have implications for hiring bias and understanding of system-justification processes, particularly regarding how, when and why hiring managers support the status quo (i.e. perpetuate inequity) even if they are disadvantaged as a result.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 42 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 December 2015

Rene Dentiste Mueller, George Xun Wang, Guoli Liu and Charles Chi Cui

Marketing research has focussed more on in-group favoritism and out-group derogation (i.e. ethnocentrism) than out-group favoritism and in-group derogation (i.e. xenocentrism)…

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Abstract

Purpose

Marketing research has focussed more on in-group favoritism and out-group derogation (i.e. ethnocentrism) than out-group favoritism and in-group derogation (i.e. xenocentrism). The purpose of this paper is to explore the xenocentric behavior in the consumer sphere to explain why some consumers have a bias for foreign products even when domestic ones are qualitatively similar or better. As the Chinese economy has experienced more than three decades of near double-digit growth and increased openness to foreign products, it is important to examine phenomena related to the formation of Chinese attitudes toward foreign products with the rising tensions between the seemingly irreversible globalization and Chinese re-awakening nationalism.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on a review of the extant literature and focus groups in three cities in China.

Findings

This study has found that consumer xenocentrism (CX) is prevalent in China, especially among the new emerging wealthy classes, younger consumers, and the local elite. It appears that Chinese consumers are psychologically or sociologically orientated or predisposed toward foreign (Western) goods. The findings from this study suggest that both consumer ethnocentrism and CX are possible or even expected. The short review of Chinese history presented here has shown that these phenomena can be explained by traditional in-group/out-group theories. Specifically, when there are too many xenocentrics, national esteem is threatened and this prompts many individuals to become more ethnocentric.

Research limitations/implications

This study is based on the literature and focus groups data, hence, the findings are not intended to be generalizable.

Practical implications

The findings from this study should be of interest to business practitioners and policy makers.

Social implications

The historical and cultural perspectives taken in this study indicate that understanding consumers’ xenocentric behavior entails knowledge and deep understanding of how cultural values and contemporary social-political forces interplay within consumers’ formation and change of attitudes toward the choice of domestic and foreign products.

Originality/value

This study shows that the ability of foreign products to meet the individual’s need or enhance his/her self-esteem more so than domestic products is indicative of something more than simply an international, cosmopolitan, or modern orientation. The fact that consumer foreign bias is found with both mundane and widely available products, expensive and inexpensive products, and conspicuous and non-conspicuous goods challenges the assumption that this phenomenon is simply traditional prestige-consumption behavior. Future research needs to be directed at measuring the CX construct and examine potential antecedents of such a behavior.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 28 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 March 2020

Hsin-Chen Lin and Patrick F. Bruning

The paper aims to compare two general team identification processes of consumers’ in-group-favor and out-group-animosity responses to sports sponsorship.

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to compare two general team identification processes of consumers’ in-group-favor and out-group-animosity responses to sports sponsorship.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on two studies and four samples of professional baseball fans in Taiwan (N = 1,294). In Study 1, data from the fans of three teams were analyzed by using multi-group structural equation modeling to account for team effects and to consider parallel in-group-favor and out-group-animosity processes. In Study 2, the fans of one team were sampled and randomly assigned to assess the sponsors of one of three specific competitor teams to account for differences in team competition and rivalry. In both studies, these two processes were compared using patterns of significant relationships and differences in the indirect identification-attitude-outcome relationships.

Findings

Positive outcomes of in-group-favor processes were broader in scope and were more pronounced in absolute magnitude than the negative outcomes of out-group-animosity processes across all outcomes and studies.

Research limitations/implications

The research was conducted in one country and considered the sponsorship of one sport. It is possible that the results could differ for leagues within different countries, more global leagues and different fan bases.

Practical implications

The results suggest that managers should carefully consider whether the negative out-group-animosity outcomes are actually present, broad enough or strong enough to warrant costly or compromising intervention, because they might not always be present or meaningful.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates the comparatively greater breadth and strength of in-group-favor processes when compared directly to out-group-animosity processes.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 54 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2021

Annick Hortense Dominique Van Rossem

The present research offers insights into the generational stereotypical beliefs that different generations of nurses hold about the own and the other generations and the…

Abstract

Purpose

The present research offers insights into the generational stereotypical beliefs that different generations of nurses hold about the own and the other generations and the implications on the work floor.

Design/methodology/approach

This cross-sectional, exploratory study employs a cognitive mapping approach known as the repertory grid. The sample consisted of 15 Generation Y, 15 Generation X and 15 Baby Boomer nurses.

Findings

Beliefs of nurses about their own and the other generations direct social categorization and generational stereotypes of the in-group and out groups. These stereotypes mold nurses' beliefs and attitudes towards their coworkers and are enacted leading to self-fulfilling prophecies. Especially Generation Y and Baby Boomer nurses are negatively stereotyped and have their ways to deal with these negative stereotypes.

Practical implications

Nurses and their managers who hold generational stereotypes may unknowingly create cliques within an organization and adopt behaviors and expectations based on generational (self-) stereotypes. The author offers noteworthy insights for fostering intergenerational synergies amongst nurses, which are important since the level of interdependent relations amongst nurses required to provide care.

Originality/value

The present study moves away from the research about the typical characteristics of nurses across the generational workforce. Instead, mental models about how different generations of nurses construe their coworkers belonging to different generations including their own generation are drawn. Employing the repertory grid technique (RGT), an established method for uncovering people's personal and collective belief systems, the present study shows how generational stereotyping and self-stereotyping among nurses belonging to varying generational cohorts occurs and debates its implications.

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2002

Belinda Dewsnap and David Jobber

This paper highlights the opportunity to investigate relations between the marketing and sales departments of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies. Drawing on empirical…

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Abstract

This paper highlights the opportunity to investigate relations between the marketing and sales departments of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies. Drawing on empirical results from social psychology, the authors develop a framework for exploring the social psychological causes and effects of intergroup relations in FMCG marketing. This conceptual model integrates two social psychological theories, the realistic group conflict theory, and the social identity theory. As a development to previous applications of these theories, the model extends beyond the social psychological effects of intergroup relations to consider the implications for organizational effectiveness. A number of research propositions to guide future research are also developed, and the paper concludes with a discussion of managerial and future research implications.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 36 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 July 2021

Desmond Tutu Ayentimi, Robert Ebo Hinson and John Burgess

This paper, grounded on social capital and social networking theory, examines how postgraduate students in Ghana cultivate and utilise social resources towards career development.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper, grounded on social capital and social networking theory, examines how postgraduate students in Ghana cultivate and utilise social resources towards career development.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a qualitative study design, the authors recruited and conducted interviews with postgraduate student-workers undertaking a two-year Master of Science in International Business.

Findings

There was an active engagement and consciously pre-plan mobilisation of social resources and utilisation of social resources among the postgraduates. Despite the diverse processes of social capital development identified, four important key themes emerged underpinning social capital mobilisation and utilisation: (1) the recognition of the importance of social capital acquisition, (2) the strong link between social capital and individual successes in employment and business opportunities, (3) the importance of the utilisation of social resources for emotional support and (4) the use of social capital to reinforce the individual social identity and recognition of an individual's worth.

Practical implications

The authors offer a theoretical and practical contribution with a frame of understanding by demonstrating that there is more to social capital than economic gain.

Social implications

Unlike the findings from prior research in Africa, the strong institutional and cultural conditions did not constrain the key force of education and employability as drivers in attainment and social positioning. This is an interesting and positive finding from the research, especially in terms of the importance of providing educational opportunities to overcome institutional and cultural barriers to workforce participation and career development.

Originality/value

Social networks contribute to career success, and while the participants used social networks that reinforced ethnic and religious bonds, there is the opportunity to develop networks through other identity processes, especially education. Formal education imparts more than formal skills and qualifications. It provides the opportunity to access networks that transcend personal identity such as ethnicity and to get support for career development.

Details

Education + Training, vol. 63 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

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