Search results
1 – 10 of over 4000Janet R. McColl-Kennedy, Paul Patterson, Michael K. Brady, Lilliemay Cheung and Doan Nguyen
The purpose of this paper is to explicate professionals’ giving backstory, identifying what motivates and hinders professionals’ undertaking of pro bono service activities…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explicate professionals’ giving backstory, identifying what motivates and hinders professionals’ undertaking of pro bono service activities. Examples are provided of different pro bono giving styles, as professionals struggle to resolve inter-institutional tensions, thus addressing this little understood yet vital form of giving, and meeting an important research priority.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a discovery-oriented grounded theory approach, this paper draws on narratives from interviews with 31 professionals to explicate, from the professional’s point of view, the backstory of pro bono service.
Findings
The authors provide an integrative institutional logics-based framework for understanding the backstory to professionals’ giving. Three distinct pro bono giving styles are revealed: first, an individual logic (self-centric), an “I” logic; second, an organizational logic (organization-centric), “We” logic; and third, a societal “All” logic (where the greater good to society in general is the dominant logic). The paper concludes with recommendations for how professionals and professional service firms (PSFs) can better align their pro bono giving styles with non-paying not-for-profit clients for multi-party benefit.
Originality/value
The originality of this research lies in addressing an important yet little understood form of giving through delving into the backstory to pro bono service. First, the paper theorizes the characteristics of a formerly unarticulated form of giving, distinguishing it from individual-to-individual close consumer gifting, individual to organizational charitable giving, sponsorship, and volunteering. Second, the different inter-institutional logics of pro bono giving are identified, with three main pro bono giving styles uncovered. Third, the authors link professional services theory, theoretical perspectives from giving, and institutional logics theory to develop an integrated framework to explain service professionals’ pro bono activities. Furthermore, a compelling agenda for future research is provided to guide future work.
Details
Keywords
This article aims to analyze, from a theoretical point of view, if organizational caring and organizational justice are compatible and complementary. It proposes a link between…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to analyze, from a theoretical point of view, if organizational caring and organizational justice are compatible and complementary. It proposes a link between justice and care, expanding the common notions of organizational justice, to find a relational concept of organizational justice that can lead to organizational caring.
Design/methodology/approach
The article reviews the literature on the common notions of organizational justice. To find a relational concept of justice, it refers to Lévinas’ thoughts. Therefore, it develops two complementary approaches to organizational caring and analyzes their practical implications.
Findings
The article shows that the relational approach based on the logic of gift and on a Lévinasian concept of organizational justice can constitute the ethical basis, which will most likely lead to the creation of a caring organization.
Research limitations/implications
The article is a starting point of a conceptual path that should be directed toward the theoretical and practical use of an approach about organizational caring based on the logic of gift. It is necessary to support the theoretical considerations with future empirical investigation showing the possibility of practical applications of the concept analyzed.
Practical implications
The main implication for organization theory is the possibility to propose organizational caring through the logic of gift and Lévinasian ethics as a new approach in managing relationships in the organizational context.
Originality/value
In the past, organizational justice has been analyzed as a way to an end and not as an end in itself. This concept of justice can make it difficult to find a link with organizational caring, unless it is based on organizational rules and norms. In this paper, the author proposes another concept of organizational justice rooted on philosophical basis, which can lead to a more effective approach to organizational caring.
Details
Keywords
Ludivine Adla, Virginie Gallego-Roquelaure and Ludivine Calamel
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relation between human resource management (HRM) and innovation in small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) through gift/counter-gift…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relation between human resource management (HRM) and innovation in small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) through gift/counter-gift exchanges.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the theory of the gift/counter-gift, the authors study the case of a French SME, specifically, a technological innovation project developed from 2013 to 2016. The authors structure the data and create a model using the Gioia method.
Findings
The results reveal that the logic of giving evolves in three key stages: freeing up gifts, mobilizing gifts and rethinking gifts.
Originality/value
These stages highlight the importance of an enabling organizational environment, gift/counter-gift relationships and the role of a number of HRM practices.
Details
Keywords
Lamberto Zollo, Guglielmo Faldetta, Massimiliano Matteo Pellegrini and Cristiano Ciappei
The purpose of this paper is to investigate, through the lens of the gift-giving theory, volunteers’ motivations for intending to stay with organizations.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate, through the lens of the gift-giving theory, volunteers’ motivations for intending to stay with organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 379 volunteers from 30 charitable organizations operating in Italy’s socio-healthcare service sector. Bootstrapped mediation analysis was used to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
Volunteers’ reciprocal attitudes and gift-giving intentions partially mediated the relationship between motives and intentions to stay.
Practical implications
Policy makers of charitable organizations are advised to be more responsive to behavioral signals revealing volunteers’ motivations, attitudes, and intentions. Managers should appropriately align organizational responsiveness with volunteers’ commitment through gift-giving exchange systems.
Originality/value
The findings reveal that reciprocity and gift giving are significant organizational variables greatly influencing volunteers’ intentions to stay with organizations. Signaling theory is used to explain how volunteers’ attitudes are linked with organizational responsiveness. Furthermore, this study is the first to use an Italian setting to consider motives, reciprocity, and gift giving as they relate to intentions to stay.
Details
Keywords
Ludivine Adla and Virginie Gallego-Roquelaure
The purpose of this paper is to understand how the relationship of gifts/counter-gifts between actors enables us to build an HRM policy that we call “shared and ethical”. It is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand how the relationship of gifts/counter-gifts between actors enables us to build an HRM policy that we call “shared and ethical”. It is shared because it is co-constructed by both owner-manager and employees, and ethical because it is deemed desirable by the players and meets their expectations. This approach aims to make HRM more responsible in view of the commitments made by stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing upon the Maussian theory of gift/counter-gift, a longitudinal and retrospective study was conducted over a period of three years with a French SME.
Findings
The authors highlight two key stages in the gift process: the initial gift of the owner-manager, which is reflected in the establishment of a social pact, and the gap in perception between employees’ contribution and the counter-gift expected of the owner-manager. The authors show the complexity of the gift-chain by building a shared and ethical HRM and highlight the tensions identified between the existence of tools and mutual adjustments in HRM through gifts and counter-gifts.
Originality/value
Usual HRM in SMEs is centred on the owner-manager. On the contrary this research highlights how an SME can develop an alternative HRM. A longitudinal and retrospective study, carried out with a French SME, led to the construction of a process modelling of a shared HRM ethics.
Details
Keywords
Martina L. Yanga and Isaac O. Amoako
Purpose — This chapter investigates how dishonesty may be legitimized in organizations through customary practices of gift giving, patronage, and non-meritocratic employment…
Abstract
Purpose — This chapter investigates how dishonesty may be legitimized in organizations through customary practices of gift giving, patronage, and non-meritocratic employment practices.Design/methodology/approach — A survey of managers was undertaken in four sub-Saharan African countries: Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.Findings — Gift giving was perceived to be widespread in organizations in all four countries and yet the vast majority of managers we surveyed, rejected the proposition that the practice of gift giving causes dishonesty in organizations. There were cross-country variations as to whether the expectations of the society on individuals “glorify and endorse” dishonesty as they may feel pressured to accumulate and (re)distribute wealth among their wider social groups. Non-meritocratic employment practices were unanimously perceived to engender incompetent workforce, lack of accountability and transparency without necessarily improving trust, and loyalty in organizations.Research limitations — This study used quantitative methods to gauge managers’ perceptions of the relationship between customary practices and dishonest behavior in only four African countries. Further qualitative research is required to gain a deeper insight into how customary practices may inform dishonest behavior in organizations.Implications for managers — Managers should be clear about the distinction between customary practices and dishonest behavior in order to facilitate the development of appropriate organizational strategies to minimize their negative impacts.Originality/value — This paper explores the relationship between dishonesty and customary practices of gift giving, patronage and nepotism in African organizations from the managers’ point of view, an approach that had not been undertaken previously.
Details
Keywords
Purpose – This chapter asks what we should make of the gift exchanges that take place between workers and their managers on the floor of a massive offshore manufacturing unit in…
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter asks what we should make of the gift exchanges that take place between workers and their managers on the floor of a massive offshore manufacturing unit in South India. Such exchanges appear anomalous in the ethnography of global manufacturing yet here they underpinned the organisation of hyper-intensive production processes.
Findings – Following diverse acts of giving, this chapter shows how these transactions constituted the performative and relational grounds on which workers came to know themselves and sought to shape the world around them. In doing so it extends the anthropology of work and labour by showing that acts of giving are integral to global commodity production.
Guglielmo Faldetta and Sergio Paternostro
This paper aims to conceptualize business relationships so as to include in these dimensions of both gift and gratuity, to develop the concept of “bonding value”, and to offer…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to conceptualize business relationships so as to include in these dimensions of both gift and gratuity, to develop the concept of “bonding value”, and to offer some ideas for the use of this within firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyses the concept of “bonding value”, distinguishing it from the concepts of “exchange value” and “use value” that are normally used in business, and attempts to investigate its practical implications.
Findings
The paper shows how evaluating both the relationships within the organization and between firm and stakeholders in terms of “bonding value” can have effects on the economic, organizational and social aspects of a firm's activities.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is a starting point of a possible conceptual path that should be directed toward the theoretical and practical use of “bonding value” in business. It is necessary to support the theoretical considerations with future empirical investigation showing the possibility of practical applications of the concept analysed.
Practical implications
The main implication for business management is the possibility to propose “bonding value” and “gift logic” as new parameters in assessing whether or not a firm has achieved its institutional purposes.
Originality/value
In the past, “bonding value” has been studied mainly from a philosophical and sociological point of view. In this article we try to begin to address this issue specifically from a perspective of business management.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to analyze corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices from the epistemological position advocated by the MAUSS. The latter, beyond paying tribute to Marcel…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices from the epistemological position advocated by the MAUSS. The latter, beyond paying tribute to Marcel Mauss, refers to the project of combating all utilitarian and economistic reductionism.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper discusses the question of the definition of CSR practices by basing the analysis on the definition proposed by Etogo, which considers CSR practices as all forms of key-giving transactions, material or immaterial, which update the primary and secondary links between the company and its human and non-human environment.
Findings
The sociology of CSR practices is seeking the notion of gift in companies which are places of profit and utilitarian calculus. This research emphasizes that the triple duty of giving-receiving-returning structures CSR practices. The approach extends the perspective of Godbout’s gift, which recalls how Homo donator, along with Crozier and Friedberg’s Homo strategus, is at the center of CSR practices.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed approach comes up against a particular limit. Despite its sociological fruitfulness, the gift paradigm is not immediately operational from a managerial point of view.
Practical implications
This reflection suggests to consider that CSR practices participate in a form of reconfiguration of the efficiency of the company insofar as they call into question the partial analysis of the efficiency of the company for the benefit of the shareholders. For CSR practices to be effective, managers must understand the interdependence between society and business: the well-being of society and business development cannot be opposed. Managers therefore need to integrate CSR practices into the company's strategy.
Social implications
This reflection can have interesting implications in terms of building citizen identity. Specifically, it is a question of rebalancing the link between social and economic logics, by legitimizing the social utility of companies as well as their involvement in the organization and functioning of the city.
Originality/value
This note seeks to emphasize the fecundity of the epistemological position advocated by the MAUSS to reconstruct the role of CSR practices by adopting a balanced approach.
Details
Keywords