What does employee ownership effectiveness look like? The case of a Canadian‐based firm

Drawing on agency theory, we explore how 30 employees defined ownership effectiveness in a 100 % employee‐owned Canadian‐based firm. Using a qualitative case‐study, remarkable similarities were found in the factors employees themselves believed contributed most to ownership effectiveness. Despite differences in job roles, employees emphasized confidence in the ownership program, participative decision‐making, ownership identity, and their organization as a family unit. In light of these findings, we discuss how a broader conceptualization of employee ownership effectiveness can be applied for a more comprehensive understanding of how such programs may develop and manifest. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of assertive and defensive impression management tactics on recruiter evaluation: The case of post-failure entrepreneurs in employment interviews

This study investigates how human-resource professionals examine, during a job interview, the application of post-bankruptcy entrepreneurs seeking to rebound as salaried workers. We assume that the way candidates talk about their failure (impression management tactics—IM) impacts the assessment of the recruiter. Thanks to an experimental methodology we compare the impact of three distinct IM tactics on the assessment of the hiring manager (a defensive IM tactic based on excuses, a defensive IM tactic based on justification, and an assertive IM tactic). We demonstrate that recruiters are more inclined to recruit the post-bankruptcy entrepreneur if the candidate has been able to turn the ordeal into an element of self-valorization.     

How Does Legitimacy Operate in Emerging Capital Markets? Investigating the Moderating Effects of Premium Listings and Firm Size on Risk

Drawing on an institutional theoretical perspective, we investigate the impact of the origins of organizational legitimacy on systematic risk using a sample of 358 Brazilian companies between the years 2002 and 2007. We regard three origins of legitimacy—formal–regulatory (presence in premium listings), cultural–cognitive (board of directors), and normative legitimacy (reputation)—to empirically investigate how a company's size and adherence to premium lists moderate other sources of legitimacy. Our results indicate that only under apparently better quality corporate governance conditions—presence in premium listings—do corporate reputation and the board of directors reduce systematic risk. In addition, we show that the effect of reputation on risk is positively moderated by firm size. Copyright © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive Performance: A New Scale to Measure Individual Performance in Organizations

As a component of overall employee performance, adaptive performance refers to the ability of an individual to change his or her behaviour to meet the demands of a new environment. The concept is relevant to firms that face especially complex and volatile business conditions. Research and practice have been hampered by a general lack of a widely available, psychometrically sound, multidimensional scale of adaptive performance that is applicable across a wide range of job contexts. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, we develop and evaluate a 19‐item scale measuring five dimensions of adaptive performance. Copyright © 2012 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Equity recognition of mandatory accounting changes: the case of transitional goodwill impairment losses

This study investigates if and how the use of the retroactive method to account for a mandatory accounting change affects a firm's measurement and recognition choices. We examine if reporting incentives and constraints are associated with the magnitude of transitional goodwill impairment losses reported by Canadian firms implementing Section 3062 on purchased goodwill. Our results indicate firms have an incentive to both overstate and understate transitional goodwill impairment losses. We also show that financially literate and independent audit committees constrain managerial opportunism. Copyright © 2008 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Gendering of Air Canada: A Critical Hermeneutic Approach

Through the use of critical hermeneutics, the paper provides a deep analysis and offers clues as to how management, through the power of communication, can contribute to producing and reproducing embedded gender‐based assumptions and values through organizational culture, which can both enable and constrain organizational members. It examines gender discrimination as it relates to employment equity in a well‐known airline. We show how an organizational culture, supported by society and communicated through language, can impede progress within an organization through the power of language, and highlight a number of clues as to the processes of gender discrimination at work. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of psychological capital on innovative performance and job stress

We investigated the impact of psychological capital (PsyCap) on supervisory‐rated innovative performance and job stress. Data collected from a diverse sample (N = 237 paired responses) of employees from various organizations in Pakistan provided good support for the hypotheses. The results indicate that PsyCap is positively related to innovative job performance and negatively related to job stress. High PsyCap individuals were rated as exhibiting more innovative behaviours by their supervisors than low PsyCap individuals. Particularly, we found that high PsyCap individuals were more likely to generate, acquire support for, and implement novel ideas in their workplace. Similarly, individuals with high PsyCap reported lower levels of job stress as compared to their low PsyCap counterparts. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pop‐management literature: popular business press and management culture in Brazil

As in other emerging countries, the 1990s in Brazil were characterized by profound economic changes. The business press reflected and influenced this process. Newspapers and magazines grew and assumed an important role, disseminating values associated with neoliberalism and managerialism. In this paper, we aim to contribute to the understanding of the content produced by this media and how the readership reacts to this content. To accomplish these objectives, we used the method of fantasy theme analysis (Bormann, 1972) to analyze four business magazines, and we discuss how Brazilian culture mediates the assimilation of foreign ideas and managerial expertise. Our study also helps to understand how the pop‐management literature, disseminated by the business press, echoes and reinforces managerialism and management culture. Copyright © 2008 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of stock split handling rules on returns: Evidence from Canada

Canadian and US stock split handling rules differ. In the US, buying shares is inconvenient before the ex‐date. In Canada, sellers face a miniscule probability of a big loss if the split is cancelled between the ex‐date and payable date. On the ex‐date, Canadian stock returns are positive and the proportion of seller‐initiated trading declines. After the payable date, returns are negative and the proportion of seller‐initiated trading increases. For cross‐listed shares, effects of US and Canadian rules are offsetting as returns are insignificant. We conclude that rules associated with a remote possibility of large losses affect investor behaviour. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crisis management in information system projects: lessons of a case study

This case study is reflective of the action‐research perspective documents applied in an intervention to manage a crisis during an information technology development project. The aim was to better understand how tools used to solve unstructured problems might help resolve such crises. The development and implementation of an intervention utilizing multiple tools is described. As a result of the intervention, a shared meaning of the crisis emerged among the major stakeholders along with a consensus as to appropriate solutions and action steps. Work on the project resumed to the satisfaction of management. Recommendations for future research are offered. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Organizing a precarious black box: An actor‐network account of the Atlantic Schools of Business, 1980–2006

There is a growing use of actor‐network theory (ANT) throughout management and organization studies. While earlier ANT research used ethnography to “follow the actors” in the production of organization/knowledge, more recent studies use archival sources to examine developments over time. We extend the latter approach using qualitative social network analysis (SNA) and apply this to a case study of the Atlantic Schools of Business (ASB). Our contribution is two‐fold: first, through an examination of actors in the ASB networking processes over 26 years, we demonstrate how the seemingly stable surface of an organization can hide the precariousness of organizing; second, we reveal the potential fusion of ANT with SNA as a method for dealing with large qualitative datasets over long periods of time. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Institutional Ownership and Corporate Investment Performance

This paper examines the role of institutional investors in improving firm performance through the channel of corporate investment decisions. We find that the interaction effect between institutional ownership and capital expenditures is significantly related to firm performance. We examine this relationship for different types of institutional investors, and find that investment advisors are most effective monitors in improving firm performance through corporate investment. Moreover, we find that the monitoring role of institutional investors becomes more important when internal governance is weak. Institutional ownership and other forms of corporate governance mechanisms (including CEO incentive compensation and control, shareholder right provisions, and board of director monitoring) operate as substitutes, rather than complements, in improving capital expenditure decisions. Copyright © 2012 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Positive affectivity under work overload: Evidence of differential outcomes

We argue that, although positive affectivity (PA) provides intraindividual benefits when experiencing stress, this resilience to stressors does not necessarily translate into improved evaluations by others. In the context of our research, different outcomes in response to increased role overload are expected on the basis of prior theoretical and empirical research. We found that, under conditions of high role overload, those with high PA did not experience reduced job satisfaction (Study 1). However, supervisor‐rated performance decreased in the context of heightened role overload for those high in PA (Study 2). Thus, PA may help the individual cope, but it may not convert to increased performance ratings as reported by one's supervisor. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The employment selection interview: disparity among research‐based recommendations,current practices and what matters to Human Rights Tribunals

We surveyed Human Resources (HR) professionals (N = 301) on their use of structure in employment interviews. We compared these data with research‐based recommendations and with elements of interview structure considered important by Canadian Human Rights Tribunals. Contrary to research‐informed recommendations, HR practitioners and Human Rights Tribunals appear to attach little importance to job analysis as the foundation for developing interview questions and to interviewer training. While Tribunals and the established research literature on employment interviewing favour standardization, this is of lesser concern to Canadian HR practitioners. Finally, there was convergence on valuing behavioural questions and note‐taking, but not on valuing interview panels. Implications of our findings for research and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2007 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring location‐specific assets and exploiting firm‐specific advantages: an integrative perspective on foreign ownership decisions

Exploiting existing assets and exploring new assets are two major and often concurrent forces driving firms to invest abroad. Moving beyond prior attention to their separate effects on foreign ownership decisions, this study examines their integrative impact. I develop hypotheses aligning a set of firm‐specific advantages with asset‐seeking motives, and test these relationships on a sample of Taiwanese overseas investments. I find that wholly‐owned subsidiaries are preferred to joint ventures when multinationals are able to tap into host innovatory dynamism by employing extant technological capabilities and to access local natural resources by leveraging corporate scales. Nonetheless, multinationals face difficulties in deploying marketing knowledge in different contexts and thus are more likely to choose joint ventures for an aggressive foreign market entry. Copyright © 2007 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How absorptive capacity moderates the value of firm innovativeness in turbulent markets

Drawing on the complementarity perspective and contingent resource‐based theory, this study develops a moderated moderation framework to investigate how absorptive capacity moderates the value of firm innovativeness under market turbulence. The results of the survey data from 402 firms reveal that the efficacy of firm innovativeness is not universal but simultaneously contingent on absorptive capacity and market turbulence. Furthermore, absorptive capacity does not always enhance the value of firm innovativeness; the positive moderating effect of absorptive capacity manifests itself only when market turbulence is relatively high. These findings also highlight that change in customer needs is a key factor affecting the complementarity of relevant resources and capabilities. Thus, this study contributes to advances in theory and has new practical implications. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Corporate governance and accounting conservatism in Islamic banks

We examine whether Islamic banks are more likely to be conservative in their financial reporting than conventional banks, as well as how Islamic banks' unique corporate governance system affects accounting conservatism behaviors. Using a large sample of Islamic banks and their matched non‐Islamic banks; based on total assets and geographic location, in 15 countries, we find Islamic banks are more likely to deploy accounting conservatism as measured by loss avoidance, abnormal loan loss provisions, and C‐score, respectively. Islamic banks are about 95% more likely to be more conservative in accounting practices than their counterparts, depending on different model specifications. In addition, we report several board characteristics, such as size, independence, reputation, tenure, and diversity, are important determinants of accounting conservatism in Islamic banks. This relationship indicates certain board traits lead to greater monitoring roles, consequently reducing unethical behavior and increasing the degree of conservatism in accounting practices.     

CEO Attributes,Board Composition,and Acquirer Value Creation: A Canadian Study

We examined CEO attributes, board composition, and ownership structure for their relationship to the share performance of the acquiring company around the acquisition announcement. Based on 273 acquisitions by Canadian firms from 1998 through 2002, we have shown that the levels of CEO and director ownership as well as the level of board independence were positively associated with the short‐term financial performance of the acquirer. Board size was negatively related to value creation. Finally, cash‐based deals and cross‐border transactions were also positively related to increases in shareholder wealth for the acquirer. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Taking a positive approach to organizational downsizing

We drew from the literature on positive organizational behaviour (Luthans & Youssef, 2007) to test a process model relating generalized optimism (Carver & Scheier, 1999) to the cognitions, affect, and behaviour of 237 Canadian federal government managers during and following a major organizational downsizing. Our data supported a model in which generalized optimism measured 18 months prior to the downsizing (T1) associated positively with managers' cognitions, attitudes, job performance, and self‐reported coping effectiveness measured 12 months postdownsizing (T3). Analyses suggested that some of these associations were partially mediated by a positive thinking coping strategy and expectations for future career and job success reported during the downsizing (T2). We advocate for more research that draws from the positive organizational behaviour literature to study the effects of downsizing on survivors. Copyright © 2008 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of job demands and resources on repatriate career satisfaction: A relative deprivation perspective

Drawing on Job Demands–Resources and relative deprivation theories, we develop a model of repatriate career satisfaction. We examine three job demands (psychological contract breach associated with pay, career derailment, and perceived underemployment) and suggest that each induces feelings of relative deprivation and thus is detrimental to repatriate career satisfaction. We further examine how two job resources, repatriates’ perceptions of how valuable their international assignment is to their careers and their beliefs about how it is valued by their organizations, moderate the job demands–career satisfaction relationships. Using a sample of 84 repatriates, we found some support for our integrated framework.