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1 – 10 of over 32000Prior research suggests that cultural values affect individuals’ preferences in whether work rewards (i.e. pay and benefits) are allocated according to rules based on equity…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior research suggests that cultural values affect individuals’ preferences in whether work rewards (i.e. pay and benefits) are allocated according to rules based on equity, equality, or need. However, this research has focussed primarily on societal-level values or individual-level operationalizations of values originally conceptualized at the societal level. Drawing on equity and social exchange theories, the purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical model and nine propositions that incorporate both individual and societal values as determinants of these reward allocation rule preferences.
Design/methodology/approach
The author briefly reviews of the relevant literature on values and reward allocation preferences and present arguments supported by prior research, leading to a model and nine propositions.
Findings
The author proposes that societal values and individual values have main and interactive effects on reward allocation preferences and that the effects of societal values are partially mediated by individual values.
Research limitations/implications
The model and propositions present relationships that could be tested in future multi-level studies. Future conceptual/theoretical work may also build on the model presented in this paper.
Practical implications
The proposed relationships, if supported, would have important implications for organizational reward systems and staffing.
Originality/value
Prior research on reward allocation preferences focusses mostly on the effects of societal or individual values. This theoretical paper attempts to clarify and distinguish values at these two levels and to better understand their main and interactive effects on individual reward allocation rule preferences.
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Mingming Feng, Tony Kang and Sandeep Nabar
The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between national societal values and corporate governance in emerging markets.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between national societal values and corporate governance in emerging markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample is comprised of 511 firm-year observations representing firms from 22 emerging markets. The authors regress sample firms’ corporate governance ratings, reported by Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA), on national societal value scores (Hofstede, 1980 variables for primary analysis and Schwartz, 1994 variables for sensitivity tests) and firm-level and country-level control variables.
Findings
The authors find that national societal values are associated with corporate governance in emerging markets. Corporate governance is strong in firms from individualistic societies, and weak in firms from uncertainty avoiding and masculine cultures.
Research limitations/implications
The authors extend the stream of literature that has established the link between formal institutions and corporate governance. The authors also extend the literature that examines how societal values influence corporate practices in emerging markets.
Practical implications
The results suggest that informal institutions, in addition to formal ones, shape corporate governance in emerging markets. Corporate stakeholders need to be aware of the different societal values of each market and develop specific strategic plans that best suit both formal and informal institutions.
Originality/value
The findings suggest that national societal values need to be considered in cross-country research on corporate governance. The results should also be of interest to policy makers advocating for or against global governance standards.
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C.A.L. Pearson and S.R. Chatterjee
Societal values are emerging as critical variables in providing context relevance to extending international management research. A hallmark of the 1990s was the widespread…
Abstract
Societal values are emerging as critical variables in providing context relevance to extending international management research. A hallmark of the 1990s was the widespread adoption of market cultures in Asian nations that embraced large‐scale reform and restructuring. These programmes brought about dramatic changes at organisational level, but the links between the societal upheavals of economic transformation and micro level changes have yet to receive sufficient academic attention. For instance, similarity or dissimilarity about held societal values of managerial groups, within an organisation, as identified by gender, age, educational qualification or family upbringing, or even by the size of the company in which they work, requires comprehensive scrutiny if these reform programmes are to succeed. Since 1991 the Indian economy has embraced economic reform to move towards more empowerment for individual organisations in all spheres. The study reported in this paper explores managerial social orientations in the context of micro‐level organisational functioning. The results of this study, with 421 senior Indian managers, demonstrate that in a relatively short time the fundamental attributes of a competitive market economy have subjugated societal qualities reinforced over hundreds of years and thought to be unchangeable.
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Benita Steyn and Lynne Niemann
This paper seeks to explicate the strategic contribution of the corporate communication/ public relations function (PR) to enterprise strategy development at macro‐organisational…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to explicate the strategic contribution of the corporate communication/ public relations function (PR) to enterprise strategy development at macro‐organisational level with the aim of contributing towards its institutionalisation.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach takes the form of a literature review and conceptual analysis, reflective PR paradigm and corporate social performance approach.
Findings
Enterprise strategy is the suggested mechanism and a relevant strategy process for incorporating societal and stakeholder expectations, values, norms and standards into the organisation's strategy development processes. Enterprise strategy explicates corporate communication/PR's strategic contribution at the macro‐organisational level. Societal expectations, values, standards and norms are expressed through concepts such as CSR, corporate governance, good corporate citizenship, sustainability, and the Triple Bottom Line; manifest through non‐legislative measures such as the Global Sullivan Principles of CSR, the Global Reporting Initiative, the Social Responsibility Investment Index of the JSE, as well as voluntary codes such as the Cadbury Report (UK) and the King Reports I, II and III in South Africa (SA); and are addressed through legislative measures such as the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (USA) and the Employment Equity/Broad‐based Black Economic Empowerment/Financial Intelligence Centre Acts (SA).
Originality/value
This article addresses the dearth of literature on enterprise strategy and corporate communication/PR's strategic role at top management level by conceptualising enterprise strategy and explicating corporate communication's strategic contribution within its framework – indicating corporate communication's focus to be on the social (People) and environmental (Planet) pillars of the Triple Bottom Line approach, rather than its financial aspects (Profit).
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The debate on corporate social responsibility (CSR) as shared value creation is trapped between management scholars and business ethics scholars, focusing merely on the…
Abstract
Purpose
The debate on corporate social responsibility (CSR) as shared value creation is trapped between management scholars and business ethics scholars, focusing merely on the distribution of values from an outcome-oriented perspective. The result is a juxtaposition of shared value from either a corporate or a societal perspective, providing only little attention to the actual communication processes supporting the creation of shared value. The purpose of this paper is to re-conceptualize shared value creation from a communicative approach as an alternative to the current situation caught between the management and societal perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
Building upon recent constitutive models of CSR communication, this conceptual paper explores the potentials and implications of re-conceptualizing shared value creation as an alternative approach that recognizes the tensional interaction processes related to shared value creation.
Findings
The paper suggests a new conceptualization of shared value creation, which is sensitive to and able to advance the understanding of the tensional and conflictual interaction processes in which the continuous negotiation of corporate and stakeholder interests, values and agendas may facilitate a new understanding of shared value creation.
Practical implications
In order to succeed with the shared purpose of creating shared value (CSV), the company and the multiple stakeholders should neither disregard nor idealize the interaction processes related to shared value creation; rather, they should acknowledge that processes filled with tensions and conflicts are prerequisites for CSV.
Originality/value
A re-conceptualization of shared value creation that provides an alternative approach that is sensitive toward the tensions and conflicts occurring between corporate voice and multiple stakeholder voices.
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Sunil Venaik, Yunxia Zhu and Paul Brewer
The purpose of this paper is to critically examine, theoretically and empirically, the two time orientation dimensions – long‐term orientation (LTO) and future orientation (FO) …
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to critically examine, theoretically and empirically, the two time orientation dimensions – long‐term orientation (LTO) and future orientation (FO) – in the national culture models of Hofstede and GLOBE, respectively.
Design/methodology/approach
Following Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's past‐present‐future theoretical lens, the Hofstede LTO and GLOBE FO measures are analysed to understand the conceptual domain covered by these two dimensions. Next, the authors empirically examine the relationship of Hofstede LTO and GLOBE FO with secondary data from Hofstede, GLOBE, and the World Values Survey.
Findings
This paper shows that Hofstede LTO and GLOBE FO dimensions capture different aspects of time orientation of societies. In particular, Hofstede LTO focuses on past (tradition) versus future (thrift) aspect of societies, GLOBE FO practices capture the present versus future (planning) practices of societies, and GLOBE FO values reflect societal aspirations and preferences for planning.
Research limitations/implications
A specific implication of these findings is that the three dimensions of time orientation are not interchangeable since they represent different characteristics of societies. A wider implication for researchers is to ensure high level of precision in and congruence among construct labels, definitions and measures to avoid confusion and misapplication of cross‐cultural concepts.
Practical implications
In an increasingly globalized world, a clear understanding of societal time orientation will help managers deal more effectively with their counterparts in other countries.
Originality/value
The key contribution of this paper is in identifying and clarifying, both theoretically and empirically, the anomalies in the labels, definitions and measurement of Hofstede long‐term orientation and GLOBE future orientation national culture dimensions. It also shows a useful way forward for researchers on how to use these national culture dimensions to explain other phenomena of interest to cross‐cultural scholars.
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Rachel Mei Ming Wong, Shiet Ching Wong and Guek Nee Ke
The purpose of this paper is to combine the elaboration likelihood model and hedonic/utilitarian values into a coherent model of shopping motivational values for online and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to combine the elaboration likelihood model and hedonic/utilitarian values into a coherent model of shopping motivational values for online and offline Malaysian shoppers. Once these values were identified, they were compared to one another based on shopping channel, gender, and age group.
Design/methodology/approach
The Shopping Motivational Value Questionnaire was developed by the researcher after extensive literature review and measured the respondent’s perception toward shopping motivational values in both shopping channels. Data were collected from 306 Malaysians above the age of 21, and analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and pairwise t-test techniques.
Findings
The factor analysis revealed a three-factor model of shopping motivational values. Gratification Values were the most important to shoppers, followed by Essential and Societal Values. Shoppers perceived all these motivational values as important when shopping offline as compared to online, regardless of gender and age group.
Research limitations/implications
The results of the factor analysis revealed a three-factor model of shopping motivational values: Gratification Values which were the most important to shoppers, followed by Essential and Societal Values. These values were then compared to one another based on shopping channel, gender, and age group. Results indicate that shoppers perceived all these motivational values as important when shopping offline rather than online, regardless of gender and age group. Moreover, the perception of shoppers toward specific product categories and other shopping channels were not taken into account.
Originality/value
This study attempted to combine the elaboration likelihood model and hedonic and utilitarian values into a coherent model. A questionnaire was developed by the researcher with these two theoretical models as its foundation. Additionally, the shopping motivational values of this study have been formulated to be compatible to both shopping channels.
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Anna Åslund and Ingela Bäckström
The purpose of this paper is to study management processes within successful societal entrepreneurship to further understand the role of management in customer value creation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study management processes within successful societal entrepreneurship to further understand the role of management in customer value creation.
Design/methodology/approach
Management in three successful societal entrepreneurship initiatives has been studied. Data have been collected through interviews, direct observation, participant observation and documentation. Management tasks, activities and behaviours have been identified and analysed from a system view.
Findings
The result presents essential management processes important for societal customer value creation, their input, output and main focus. Some management processes are inter-related and are sometimes part of another management process. The management seems driven by “need”, “opportunity”, “interest” and “demand”, when creating societal customer value. From a system perspective, management has an indirect role in societal customer value creation and is important for possibilities to create societal customer value. Both the initiative and the surroundings have been found to be of importance to the management’s scope for contributing to societal customer value creation.
Originality/value
The study provides the possibility to understand and learn from management, the management processes and their role in societal customer value creation. Thereby, it describes how to successfully provide customer value to society and work with societal, environmental and sustainability issues.
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The purpose of this paper is to disentangle the different and sometimes controversial aspects of Generation Y workers’ behavior at the workplace and to provide real-life answers…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to disentangle the different and sometimes controversial aspects of Generation Y workers’ behavior at the workplace and to provide real-life answers to human resource management and the study of employee relations.
Design/methodology/approach
The study makes use of an empirical research framework to assess dominant preferences, values and patterns of behavior in workplaces where Generation Y employees have demographic relevance. The main research questions that this paper will address are: RQ1: What are the main features of organizational culture that are deemed functionally important to their job satisfaction by Generation Y workers? RQ2: Which are the general societal and generational values that affect most prominently their behavioral responses to duties and tasks in the workplace? RQ3: How do millennial workers perceive the gap between a real and an ideal organization in which they work in interactional and behavioral terms? The methodology includes a survey and interviews conducted in a multinational corporation based in Budapest. The theoretical framework is the one developed by Margaret Mead (1970) on value preferences and their generational change.
Findings
When generational values and behavioral patterns are not in harmony with the proper organizational cultural aspects of the company high attrition rates become manifest. Generation Y workers can be defined as cofigurate culture (Mead, 1970) in the sense that this generation encapsulates innovative aspects in some bridging features to the previous generation (Generation X). This is one of the aspects that may account for the conflicting social and work values that characterize work relations between Generation Y and X employees. Moreover, because of the three different domains on which work satisfaction is built (social, organizational and cultural) Generation Y workers will aim to strike a balance between expectations, ideas about what a good organization should look like and real-life experiences.
Research limitations/implications
Since the research concerns only one company case study, its scope is limited. In particular, empirical approaches to the study of employee relations with Generation Y workers are still few and more research is needed to fill this gap.
Practical implications
Millennial workers are not simply part of a different generation, as they actually share some value aspects and orientations of the previous generation. The practical implication is that the behavioral and organizational features that bridge Generation X and Y preferences should be detected in order to improve employee relations. Second, paying attention to the social, cultural and organizational features that Generation Y workers deem as important when describing their daily work experiences, it is possible to limit miscommunication and reduce attrition rates.
Social implications
The study of generational features and tendencies at the workplace is an important social field since it brings new insights into work relations and leadership. Treating the Generation Y as a cofigurate culture helps to bring together cultural and social preferences with values built on the workplace and in the social context of belonging.
Originality/value
The paper provides an original contribution to the study of generational, social and organizational aspects concerning the daily work experience of millennials in a corporation. The study builds an empirical framework in which the value aspects that shape the everyday reality of employee relations are measured and triangulated with qualitative data from ethnographic interviews. This paper can be of interest both to academic and to practitioners, thanks to its strong practical application to human resource management.
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Intractable conflicts are characterized as protracted, irreconcilable, violent, of zero‐sum nature, total, and central. They are demanding, stressful, exhausting, and costly both…
Abstract
Intractable conflicts are characterized as protracted, irreconcilable, violent, of zero‐sum nature, total, and central. They are demanding, stressful, exhausting, and costly both in human and material terms. Societies involved in this type of conflict develop appropriate psychological conditions which enable them to cope successfully with the conflictual situation. The present paper proposes the following societal beliefs which are conducive to the development of these psychological conditions: beliefs about the justness of one's own goals, beliefs about security, beliefs of delegitimizing the opponent, beliefs of positive self‐image, beliefs about patriotism, beliefs about unity and beliefs about peace. These beliefs constitute a kind of ideology which supports the continuation of the conflict. The paper analyzes as an example one such intractable conflict, namely the one between Israel and Arabs, concentrating on the Israeli society. Specifically, it demonstrates the reflection of the discussed societal beliefs in the Israeli school textbooks. Finally, implications of the presented framework for peaceful conflict resolution are discussed.