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Article
Publication date: 15 June 2015

Janet 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…

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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

Journal of Service Management, vol. 26 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-5818

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2016

Guglielmo Faldetta

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…

1340

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

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 December 2019

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

2161

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.

Article
Publication date: 13 October 2017

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.

1007

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

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 32 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 June 2019

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

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. 41 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 28 May 2013

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

(Dis)Honesty in Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-602-6

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 4 October 2012

Jamie Cross

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.

Details

Political Economy, Neoliberalism, and the Prehistoric Economies of Latin America
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-059-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 June 2011

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…

809

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

Journal of Management Development, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 April 2020

Gabriel Etogo

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

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Philosophy of Management and Sustainability: Rethinking Business Ethics and Social Responsibility in Sustainable Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-453-9

1 – 10 of over 4000